VG3-540 Print quality awful, help!

[Graphics on Demand]

I've just recently upgraded from a BN-20 to a TrueVis VG3-540. To preface, I've been using the BN-20 for 10 years and am very familiar with Roland, Versaworks and how the print profiles work. However, I am so disappointed with the color quality of the VG3, and can't figure out how to fix it. The majority of my products are pretty small, so I can't afford to just look past it. Ive tried adjusting print quality, speed, bi-directional versus single, all the different profiles, and cleaning the machine. I have attached photos of the print on my BN-20 vs VG3. I cannot sell these decals to my previous customers with lower quality prints. The only exception is the black is always super dark, so I am confident its not a print head issue. Any suggestions to get it looking better? I'm really trying to like this machine.

 

[Rmurray321]

We run the VG3 and I can say that that’s very much not VG3 quality. Get with your rep and see if they can figure it out. Try different profiles, but you’ve got something going on.

I assume you’ve tried other media as well.

 

[Roland Certified Tech]

For absolute best printing.
Low head height, proper profile for media, High Quality setting, error diffusion, bi-cubic, unidirectional.
make sure you have dialed in the printer feed calibration and use it correctly in VW. M-gap adjustment not really needed if printing in unidirectional, but good to have it dialed in.
There you go, all of the VW settings. You can also slow the head speed down

 

[Graphics on Demand]

We run the VG3 and I can say that that’s very much not VG3 quality. Get with your rep and see if they can figure it out. Try different profiles, but you’ve got something going on.

I assume you’ve tried other media as well.

Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad I'm not crazy to think this isn't acceptable. I have had the rep out here several times, and he seems to think everything is calibrated and set up correctly. While he was here, we tried pretty much every profile and had the same results. Yes, I've tried several different media types and still get the same result as well.
I'll give my rep a call again and see if he has any other help.

 

[Graphics on Demand]

For absolute best printing.
Low head height, proper profile for media, High Quality setting, error diffusion, bi-cubic, unidirectional.
make sure you have dialed in the printer feed calibration and use it correctly in VW. M-gap adjustment not really needed if printing in unidirectional, but good to have it dialed in.
There you go, all of the VW settings. You can also slow the head speed down

This is exactly how it is set up (I had my rep set it up to his preferred settings) and still producing these results. I did both automatic and manual feed calibration as well as the M-Gap adjustment right before printing these, as I suspected maybe the bi-directional was off a little.
Anything else I can try?

 

[somcalmetim]

I used a VG2 for years on "Generic Vinyl 2" profile with great detail and colors...i have never used the material specific profile.

I had trouble when I first got my VG3, as the black on its Generic Vinyl 2 profile was not very black no matter what i did and 3m did not have a 180c profile for my CMMYKlkOG inkset...I tried the Arlon SLX Cast Wrap for a while for a better black but it's lighter colors had visible dithering like yours...I switched to the Roland DGA PCV4 Premium Cast Vinyl profile and the lighter colors have no visible dithering...works great...I find it's black is still not as black as i used to get on the VG2 but the colour's are nice and smooth...these are both 10 pass 900x600 standard quality and top is Roland profile with Arlon profile on bottom much granier dithering...

I don't usually bother with high quality.

Finger not pointing at anything...just for scale...

 

[cornholio]

Does your Rep know, that he needs to do a manual M-Gap adjustment in service mode, before the automatic M-Gap in user mode really works?
While at it, I'd also check the head slant(called bias on Rolands), vertical and horizontal adjustments.
These are mandantory at installation...
If not done, problems like yours can happen.

 

[Graphics on Demand]

Well don't I feel sheepish now. I thought for sure I'd tried every Roland profile. My rep said that the Roland DGA: Glossy Calendared Vinyl was the best profile, so I didn't question him. In this photo, the top is my original, with the above profile, the bottom is what I just tried with the PCV4 profile. Thank you somecalmtim! This is finally an acceptable decal to sell!

I appreciate everyone's input, and feel pretty lame that it was such a simple fix.

 

[Graphics on Demand]

Does your Rep know, that he needs to do a manual M-Gap adjustment in service mode, before the automatic M-Gap in user mode really works?
While at it, I'd also check the head slant(called bias on Rolands), vertical and horizontal adjustments.
These are mandantory at installation...
If not done, problems like yours can happen.

He just set it up two months ago brand new, I would hope he followed protocol to calibrate both out of the box. However I will ask him for sure.