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VG 640 test print woes

Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
Every morning the test print looks like the attached and after 1 reg clean comes back perfect and prints like a champ. Replaced all captops and had the tech install and made sure it's seating correctly. Fairly new heads. It also used to jump from one channel to the next. Now its only on the light magenta/ light cyan. Tech says do a "fill damper" but I despise wasting ink with this VG. I look at it sideways and wants to clean! TR2 inks with firmware upgraded. I wish it would clean once a night like my old XC-540. Almost every time I load material: clean. Test print: quick clean. I just watch the waste bottle fill up. Geez. Wish i could change the firmware somehow. Back to fill damper: How does that correct this type of problem?
 

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Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
garyroy said:
Have you tried printing with just that little bit of Cyan missing?
I would think it would print OK.
Click to expand...
No I want to fix the problem not just let it ride. Like I stated before was hoping to find answers on the effectiveness on a "fill damper" to eliminate dropout while sitting overnight.
 
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garyroy

New Member
I'm not saying to let it ride. I have had similar problems in the morning, printed all day, ran a test print at the end of the day, and it was gone for the next 4 weeks.
Sometimes these slightly irregular test prints appear then disappear.
What does your printing look like with the few missing nozzles that you have? If it's not super good, print on high quality in VersaWorks.
That looks really minor to me. I have 3 Rolands, been running them since 2010.
 
Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
Prints look fantastic after 1 clean in the a.m. ..just when it sits overnight, dropout occurs. But the heads always have a perfect test print after that first clean. Just racks my brain to why.
 
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greysquirrel

New Member
When you say clean, are you saying physically with solution and swab or are you talking about an air purge? Air purge of some kind is normal when a printer rests for an extended period of time. If you have to physically clean your printer every morning for the lm and lc head, Id have your tech replace the damper. They are pretty funky on the new Rolands. Almost over engineered iMO.
 
W

weyandsign

New Member
All I can say is these heads are super finicky. I had cyan banding with perfect nozzle prints and new captops. Changed ink, multiple damper fills, manual and regular cleanings, adjusting print settings, nothing worked. Changing the head fixed it. Be glad yours isn't banding yet.
 
J

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
How long has it been since you replaced your cap tops? It might be time for some preventative (though technically it's a little late to be preventative) maintenance.

Good Luck
 
Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
Joe House said:
How long has it been since you replaced your cap tops? It might be time for some preventative (though technically it's a little late to be preventative) maintenance.

Good Luck
Click to expand...
Wiper and Captops are brand new from Roland and seating perfectly per the tech.
 
H

highrolling24

New Member
I just had problems with that myself. I have a roland vg2 and where the little solvent tank where the wiper dips and cleans off was empty, for some reason my machine didnt warn me that my cleaning solvent bag was empty, put new one in and now works good. Might be something to check, not 100 percent sure if yours has the same setup.
 
Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
Update: there was a small leak under the captop where the small tube on the bottom of captop meets the small plastic junction. Evidence of cyan dripping from the bottom. Holding so far! Thanks for the help and input.
 
Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
Joesignshop said:
Update: there was a small leak under the captop where the small tube on the bottom of captop meets the small plastic junction. Evidence of cyan dripping from the bottom. Holding so far! Thanks for the help and input.
Click to expand...
2nd update! The problem I thought was solved but still having dropout on test print exactly as the first photo in this thread and comes back to perfection after a "normal" clean. Each morning while sitting overnight -same thing, dropout and 1 normal clean looks and prints great. As stated before new Roland captops (even switched captops) new wiper. head is aligned perfectly and resistance when pulling gently with syringe. Not sure this is an air problem while seated on captops? The tech says the dampers are good. Otherwise wouldn't I have dropout on both heads on the test print? Should I try replacing the lines to the pump? I cant imagine the head being faulty as it prints perfect after a clean and has a perfect test print. If the head was faulty would the issue happen at all times where dropout remains? Should I replace lines, pump and damper for that channel? Racking my brain on this one.
 
robosigns

robosigns

New Member
Joesignshop said:
2nd update! The problem I thought was solved but still having dropout on test print exactly as the first photo in this thread and comes back to perfection after a "normal" clean. Each morning while sitting overnight -same thing, dropout and 1 normal clean looks and prints great. As stated before new Roland captops (even switched captops) new wiper. head is aligned perfectly and resistance when pulling gently with syringe. Not sure this is an air problem while seated on captops? The tech says the dampers are good. Otherwise wouldn't I have dropout on both heads on the test print? Should I try replacing the lines to the pump? I cant imagine the head being faulty as it prints perfect after a clean and has a perfect test print. If the head was faulty would the issue happen at all times where dropout remains? Should I replace lines, pump and damper for that channel? Racking my brain on this one.
Click to expand...
If not captops or dampers, could be a cracked manifold. Leads to dropout and gets worse over time as the connection between the damper and head isn't sealed properly
 
emhmotorsports

emhmotorsports

New Member
Joesignshop said:
Hi great info, thx! Have the Roland dampers held up since you replaced them?
Click to expand...
Sorry for the delay, got caught up in a landscaping project! Since going with the Roland dampers, I haven't had any issues (which has been about a year now). It seems to take just the smallest of air leaks in the ink path to cause problems. One of the things I've found helpful is to pull the head cover off and watch the damper flags - if they drift out after a couple of hours with the machine off, it seems to be a pretty good indicator of an air leak. Bad cap tops, in my experience, typically come with an error code. When the machine initializes, it actually looks for damper flag movement, and if there isn't a good enough seal to the head, they won't pull in as it expects them too.

I don't fully understand why an air leak causes the colors in a head to print on opposite sides, but it seems to go hand-in-hand. As my other dampers failed, some would graduate to full out ink weeping which made for huge messes.

Take my musings with a grain of salt though; I'm still running TR inks on a VG-640. I can't say how much my experiences apply to the TR2 firmware or the VG2. I suspect they are remarkably the same though.
 
Joesignshop

Joesignshop

New Member
emhmotorsports said:
Sorry for the delay, got caught up in a landscaping project! Since going with the Roland dampers, I haven't had any issues (which has been about a year now). It seems to take just the smallest of air leaks in the ink path to cause problems. One of the things I've found helpful is to pull the head cover off and watch the damper flags - if they drift out after a couple of hours with the machine off, it seems to be a pretty good indicator of an air leak. Bad cap tops, in my experience, typically come with an error code. When the machine initializes, it actually looks for damper flag movement, and if there isn't a good enough seal to the head, they won't pull in as it expects them too.

I don't fully understand why an air leak causes the colors in a head to print on opposite sides, but it seems to go hand-in-hand. As my other dampers failed, some would graduate to full out ink weeping which made for huge messes.

Take my musings with a grain of salt though; I'm still running TR inks on a VG-640. I can't say how much my experiences apply to the TR2 firmware or the VG2. I suspect they are remarkably the same though.
Click to expand...
Thanks for following up. I have the dampers on order and fingers crossed! My problem is "exactly" like yours so there is hope.
 
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