VS-640 issues

[Custom_Grafx]

A local media client who bought a new VS540 about a year ago is having the same issue. He is only using eco max inks. Since Roland Headquarter is local, they(Roland) flew a tech from Japan to find out the problem - No result was ruled out. The machine is near end of warranty. Changed three print heads in one year period of time, problem still there. Stay away from VS at least for now.

Which problems are you talking about in particular? From what I have experienced, the only thing I can think of is out of tolerance heater fluctuations. Either the thermostats are faulty or the heaters are screwy. No one wants to take responsibility and you just get rolodex treatment from Roland (are you using roland ink? what media? what profile? what temperature? what humidity? what time of day? what colour underwear were you wearing when you did the last print?)

In the end, I found working at lower heater temps helps a little, but not entirely.

The fact that the fault was replicated at roland hq on the first try in Sydney and I was told to just run the job without heat... said a lot. Roland not compensating me for anything said even more.

I was told that the material (matte) showed more colour shift with temperature fluctuation...

But later, did a job on my regular gloss polymeric and same problem. Huge colour shift. I'm 99% sure it's a heater temp inconsistency which is beyond tolerance ranges.

Maybe I should try printing without any underwear next time... coz I've tried just about every colour.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

Have you gotten an IR thermometer to check different spots on the platen? I would think you'd need about a five to ten degree difference to affect the color.

One thing you could do if you're feeling gutsy is lift the platen and check the heat core. On my Roland it's a cable and it's held on with HVAC tape. (with a couple fasteners here and there) On some spots, the heater core has dropped off the platen and needed to be re-affixed to the platen. I did see color differences on certain sections of my prints. Like wrapping vinyl and other thin materials. Banner materials were not affected.

It could be that simple, but who knows. If you do it, you're voiding the warranty. It's your call. First things, first. Get a temp gauge. Huge fluctuations in platen temp = new heater core from Roland.

 

[Custom_Grafx]

Thanks for the tip, I do have an IR therm... I remember checking that out a while back... the dryer heater I remember recording a 5 deg C difference. We never got to checking the printer temp. Tech said that when he checked with roland they said that's nothing to worry about... this is the treatment I got. It always just comes back to "something you must be doing". Thing that gets me is... when I went to their hq... the first test print did exactly the same thing... on their showroom machine. lol.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

yeah - Roland US is pretty solid. That said I can sympathize with your problems with corporate. My 745 has some faults with ink starvation. Has been a problem since day one. I've spoken with lots of other SJ series owners and we all report the same problem.

I think that my machine needs a pump system for the heads. The ink lines are about 14 feet long and pressurized by a small plastic spring in the cart. That's not enough.

My 5500 had a air pump for goodness sake!

Best of luck man. I was hoping that the dx5 models would remedy these starvation/fade problems, but I guess it's a Roland problem.