vertical banding? vj1614

[LenXIII]

Alright I have been noticing this more and more lately. It is more noticable with glossy materials. When printing certain dark colors like blues and blacks I can see VERTICAL banding all the way across the print. It looks like the color is lighter on the vertical lines. It is very consistant, the lines are even and approx 1/4" wide, they go all the way across. Like... 1/4"dark - 1/4"light - 1/4" dark - 1/4" light etc..

If I kneel down and look at the print at an angle while it prints its almost as if the vertical lines look more rough then the rest. When using glossy material its almost like it goes glossy matte glossy matte on the lines, but they are most noticable only at an angle.

Anyway, I have tried a few heat settings and various profiles. This is not just a single material issue either, its on everything. I don't really notice it on banners as much as the psa's though.

Any idea on what could be causing these lines? I don't even see how they can be forming, its very confusing. I would say its a material issue if it didn't only happen in certain colors.

 

[luggnut]

on my falcon it seems to be the heaters... we did the metal foil tape modification and it helped. i could get down eye level with the grit rollers and see the slight buckling of the media and it did correspond with the vertical lines. so uneven heat was my guess.

there have been some folks say the encoder strip or t-fence might need cleaning or replacing.

 

[LenXIII]

Im still having major problems with this. I have tried multiple heat settings, no heat setting, cleaning the t-fence, etc.. I am trying to print a dark green color and it is so bad I want to buy a new printer that doesn't do this crap...

 

[Stealth Ryder]

Check the encoder, clean and lubricate the raceways.

 

[randya]

How do all the alignments look?

 

[brush1]

I had similar problem with one of my Versacamm. It was head electrical problem.

 

[Graphics2u]

Does it only do this in Bidirectional mode? If so it could be the repeatability adjustment. At least that's what it used to be called on Mutoh's. It sets the timing of the head firing.

 

[Stealth Ryder]

Can we see some pics?

 

[LenXIII]

HERE are some pictures. i have tried the following things and I am still having the problems. Be advised that these pictures are the best quality I have managed on the issue, not the worst. Please note that I am refering to the VERTICAL banding, not the horizontal banding that looks bad as well.

I have treid:
Various heat settings from none to max.
Lubricated the rails
cleaned t-fense
I have tried many different profiles and settings including waves, bi and uni directional, etc..

It mostly does this on the oracal 3640 gloss, I do not see much of it on the matte. I really need to fix this issue as it is very stressful and has caused reprints already. I am going to try other gloss brand vinyls, but I am real happy with the print quality and sheen other than that vertical banding.

 

[henryp]

Please calibrate your media feed by performing the PF Adjust in media setup, then try printing the same file. First with wave set to None and then once again but this time with wave set to Super Fine&Wave A or B, see if you get the same result.

I read somewhere that Wow1 and Wow2 were created supposedly to fix this vertical banding but they do not seem to do so, in my experience anyway.

 

[randya]

Henry is right on here, do the PF adjust.
It is quite possible that your vertical and horizontal banding are due to the PF.

If you still have vertical turn the wave to NONE.

If you still have it print in UNI, if it goes away, then probably alignments.

 

[LenXIII]

Sorry I am a little new at the PF adjust settings..

I ran the test, and measured the distance. I think it is suposed to be 250mm as it is set in the setup. I didn't have a metric ruler, but here is what I got.
250mm = 9.8425 Inches
I measured 9-27/32 inches which = 9.84375, a difference of .00125.

Also, I just ran the micro pf print with all the color blocks, but I am a little confused on what to look for. I have reviewed the operations manual, maintenance manual, and quick reference manual and have found no info on how to make the adjustment. Can someone give me some tips?

 

[LenXIII]

UPDATE: I just ran another couple prints with wave turned off with the same results. HELP!!

 

[trakers]

I am seeing the same thing with a brand new 1304 most visible in large sections of blues and red and also in the skintone. Bands that follow the length of the material about 1/4"-3/8" wide and about that far apart.

 

[LenXIII]

Anyone have any other suggestions or advice? Im am still stuck on this issue.

 

[jay*doc]

Not to add another variable here, but try this. I use a profile from 3M for 180C, it is a 1440x1440 uni-directional. I changed mine to do by directional, it prints a little slow, but the end result is really nice.

Also, it is definitely time to run to Staples or Office Max and get a metric ruler to dial in that PF Adjust!

 

[randya]

Anyone have any other suggestions or advice? Im am still stuck on this issue.

How does it look in uni?

 

[LenXIII]

If you mean uni directional printing? It looks the same. I have tried uni, bi, wave, no wave, multi heat settings, etc.

I dont get these lines on matte vinyl or banner vinyl, atleast not to any real noticable effect. I have tried three brands of glossy PSA and they all get those vertical lines.

I don't know if I will ever fix this problem. I will have to resort to printing everything on matte and laminating the ones that need to be glossy...