Need Help VersaCamm VS-540i Print only 6 colours instead of 8 colours

[Miftah]

Hi guys

I need your expertise and experience to help me troubleshoot my machine.
I just replace an original Roland print head on 6 January 2018 by Roland authorised dealer.
All seems to be ok till today 2 August 2018.

The head is only managed to print 6 colours only.
Attempted solution:
- Normal cleaning
- Medium cleaning
- Powerful cleaning
- Manual cleaning

Doesnt seem to solve the problem.
Called the technician to come over.
He checked and said the damper all working fine, no ink clogged, cable is working, no nothing. So he is also not sure whats the problem.

Can anyone help me. Maybe there is other thing that the technician didnt see.

Attached the photo of the test print before the incident and after the incident.

Hope to hear from you guys very soon.

Thank you in advance

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

The tests look pretty clean... I'd be thinking some sort of electrical issue rather than head issues. Maybe try re-seat the ribbon cables.

 

[Miftah]

The tests look pretty clean... I'd be thinking some sort of electrical issue rather than head issues. Maybe try re-seat the ribbon cables.

Thank you for the reply
The technician did try to unplug n plug it again
But it doesnt solve it

 

[Miftah]

So today Roland tech replace the printhead and the Connector A : 1000006702 CABLE-CARD,29P1 256L BB HIGH-V
Here is the outcome



Yellow color still not coming out.

Other attempted solution:
- Swapping the cable between 1,2 and 4



But still doesnt solve the issue.

So tomorrow he is going to replace cable no. 3 Connector C : 1000006703 CABLE-CARD,29P1 276L BBR HIGH-V.

So if it still doesnt work, what could be other possibilities?

Really need your help, lots of pending jobs

 

[Solventinkjet]

Did he change the dampers as well when installing the new head? If not, it could just be a bad damper. I have never seen a head cable cause a single channel to not fire and I have been a field and call center tech for ten years. One channel not firing usually means ink flow issue such as a bad damper or if it is electrical it will be a blown component on the main or head board.

 

[Miftah]

Hi,
I asked him few times... But he said the damper is fine as he already did a check on that.
He said if the cable is fine then it could be the carriage board.
How do we test if the carriage board is working or spoilt?

Btw when you said damper, you are referring the damper of the yellow ink only right?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Depending on your ink configuration, the yellow may share a damper with another color but one side of a damper can fail and the other can be fine. An easy way to test this theory is to do a damper swap. Switch the position of the damper with one next to it. Then run a cleaning cycle and see which colors fire. If something fires out of the channel that wasn't before, most likely the damper is bad. Or you can just change it to be sure. Dampers are maintenance items and should be changed at least once every 18 months. When we install heads in the field, we always include new dampers for free so that the head starts out nice and fresh. Dampers act as filters as well.

 

[Miftah]

Depending on your ink configuration, the yellow may share a damper with another color but one side of a damper can fail and the other can be fine. An easy way to test this theory is to do a damper swap. Switch the position of the damper with one next to it. Then run a cleaning cycle and see which colors fire. If something fires out of the channel that wasn't before, most likely the damper is bad. Or you can just change it to be sure. Dampers are maintenance items and should be changed at least once every 18 months. When we install heads in the field, we always include new dampers for free so that the head starts out nice and fresh. Dampers act as filters as well.

Thank you for ur prompt reply
My VSi machine set with dual CMYK
There are 4 dampers altogether?
I did change 1 damper in january this year and it cost me around USD150.
Thought it is too costly not sure how much on your country.

But if changing the damper can solve the problems then i dont mind changing it.

 

[Miftah]

As mentioned, initially the printer missed 2 colours yellow and magenta.
After changing the head the ink missed the yellow only.

 

[Miftah]

In January 2018, after changing to a new head, the yellow color didnt come out.

When the tech diagnose, he said that the yellow valve is not working so he bypass it and it works fine.

Now when this thing happen again, he said the tube is fine including the damper.
I did request to get the valve install with the new one, but he brought a used one instead and the account wants to charge me for a price of a new one.

The tech very confidently said that the problem is not from the bypass tube, so I didnt change the valve since its also a used one.

Inside the printhead, the trace of yellow ink seems to be there just like the other colours.


Really confusing.

 

[Miftah]

Changing the cable doesnt seem to solve the issue either.
Tech said not the damper because the ink still flow out when cleaning and be seen also at the cap top.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Changing the cable doesnt seem to solve the issue either.
Tech said not the damper because the ink still flow out when cleaning and be seen also at the cap top.

Your tech doesn't sound that great to be honest. You can't tell if one channel is firing from looking at the cap top! And you can't see a specific color flow when doing a cleaning cycle! You can tell on a brand new cap top but as soon as any other amount of ink flows through they all get mixed together so it is literally impossible to tell just by looking at a cap top. Also, any tech that is troubleshooting ink flow issues and doesn't immediately go to the damper is not very experienced. It may not be your issue but it is for sure the first thing he should have changed. Also, WTH is going on with that bypass!? It looks to me like ink is just leaking out from somewhere. If that picture you posed is the current state of the line, that's what's causing your issue.

 

[Miftah]

Your tech doesn't sound that great to be honest. You can't tell if one channel is firing from looking at the cap top! And you can't see a specific color flow when doing a cleaning cycle! You can tell on a brand new cap top but as soon as any other amount of ink flows through they all get mixed together so it is literally impossible to tell just by looking at a cap top. Also, any tech that is troubleshooting ink flow issues and doesn't immediately go to the damper is not very experienced. It may not be your issue but it is for sure the first thing he should have changed. Also, WTH is going on with that bypass!? It looks to me like ink is just leaking out from somewhere. If that picture you posed is the current state of the line, that's what's causing your issue.

Thank you very much for ur contribution
I really appreciate it.

I have no comments for the tech because this is not the first time he mis-diagnose and lead me to pay huge some of money.
He seems inexperience but the good things he is willing to learn. But to learn at the expense of customers is really unfair.

Yes that is the condition of my current yellow tube
As mentioned i did ask him to change the valve, but he has no stock. So if I really want to change it he will change with a used valve at the price of new one

Now he recommeded me to continue buying the cable as he said my current cable not in gd condition! But that is not the main issue!

And he said that now either the main board problem or the printhead. He will get his supplier to confirm on that again. It has been a week and I have loss lots of jobs.

He will be coming again on Friday with another tech from the supplier.

Will update again.

Meanwhile Im welcoming all inputs

Thank you

 

[Miftah]

Just want to update and to close the issue...

My tech get help frm another company...
They took out the mainboard and carriage board and tried at another printer.

The mainboard is working
But same issue when using the carriage board at another printer.

Hence they replaced a new carriage board and the problem solved.

Thank you very for all the inputs and help

Great day ahead