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Question Weird spots in black print...

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Andy D

Active Member
I don't know if it's easier, but everyone of your ICC profiles that's for your printer has different Ink limits, you can
go through them and find one that works best... But honestly, changing your ink limits is very easy & can be done
by eye in about 30 minutes, just youtube "flexi inklimits" (it might be called something else in flexi)
The one thing I would suggest is to not change the one you're using now, make a copy of it and tweek that.
 
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Andy D

Active Member
Regardless if the ink limit is the issue or not, it's something (IMHO) that everyone should do,
too much ink causes all types of problems and wastes ink, too little ink starves your heads....
and as your heads get older you might need to raise the ink limit.
 
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J

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
Andy D said:
Regardless if the ink limit is the issue or not, it's something (IMHO) that everyone should do,
too much ink causes all types of problems and wastes ink, too little ink starves your heads....
and as your heads get older you might need to raise the ink limit.
Click to expand...
Andy, (with all due respect, because I like most of what you have to say) while it may work for you, once you change your ink limits, you've thrown out any calibration that has happened after that point, including linearization, and ICC profiles. So if ink density is your only consideration, this may be acceptable, but if grayscale neutrality is important or color accuracy is important, then arbitrarily changing ink limits will at least make your ICC profile illegitimate. If you're talking about adjusting your ink restrictions (sometimes these two phrases get confused with each other) then you linearization and ICC profile are invalid.
At the very least, you should make any changes to a copy of the profile so that you can always go back safely.
 
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Andy D

Active Member
Joe House said:
arbitrarily changing ink limits will at least make your ICC profile illegitimate. If you're talking about adjusting your ink restrictions (sometimes these two phrases get confused with each other) then you linearization and ICC profile are invalid. At the very least, you should make any changes to a copy of the profile so that you can always go back safely.
Click to expand...

The person who created the ICC profile adjusted their ink limit before creating the ICC profile, if your printer is putting down too much ink, then the ICC profile will be off, correcting the ink limits
would likely bring it closer to a correct profile.

I have created ICC profiles in Onyx, Flexi, & Wasatch, but before learning how to create them, I have had identical printers sitting side by side, using the same pre-packaged profile, on the same material; and there were color shifts.
Pre-packaged profiles are a crap-shoot at best.
If the OP can find a pre-packaged profile that prints perfectly, great, but if not, adjusting their ink limits is their next best option.
 
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ubeny

New Member
This matter is getting more and more interesting by the day! I've tried (I think) every suggestion made here and yet things appear to be getting worse instead of better. Posted are the latest pics today... here is yet more new self adhesive so I'm convinced now it has nothing to do with the media. I heat was cranked up here and a 1440 icc profile was used.

Looking at the patterns it's making now leads me to believe it has something to do with the rollers. Take a look at the pics where I pulled the print back up to the rollers... they match up almost perfectly. I do know if perhaps some of the silicone grease leaked down on them and now they are rolling some sort of film over the media before the ink hits it preventing the ink from adhering to the at area. But again... why is only the black affected??? Can you affectively clean the rollers or replacement is the only option?

Thank goodness this is not my bread and butter... yet... but I am trying to work like heck to make it that way!

Thanks again everyone for your precious time!
 

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E

ewded

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It may sound stupid but did you actually physically check if the print area is hot? Drying area may have separate heating elements.
 
E

ewded

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1440 dpi AND unidir will slow the printing down even further, I'd give it a try to see what effect does that give
 
W

what the

Owner/op
Its definitely not media- the dot pattern is systematic and too perfect. Could be the memory chip on the print head.. I think you mentioned this a new head.. Possibly the connection got jolted and need a reinstall or a defected head?
 
U

ubeny

New Member
Busy, busy weekend so not much time to work on this... however, I did manage to purge the black ink line and change out the black cart... no printing though. Hopefully I can get to that tonight to see the results.

Thanks what the! I guess looking at those things will be the next step if the latest doesn't work!

Manuel Upton said:
I've had that same issue, I always thought it was static....
Click to expand...

Hey Manuel - Do you still have the issue or did you find a remedy? If so, what did you do to clear things up for you?

Thank you!
 
A

Andy D

Active Member
What's the crud on your pinch wheels? Have you cleaned them?
I'm not familiar with your printer, why is your print behind the pinch wheels?
Did you back it up or does it print that way?




upload_2020-2-24_12-16-52.png
 
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ubeny

New Member
Andy D said:
What's the crud on your pinch wheels? Have you cleaned them?
I'm not familiar with your printer, why is your print behind the pinch wheels?
Did you back it up or does it print that way?




View attachment 145676
Click to expand...
Hey Andy D! My printer is a Mutoh vj1324... and yes, I backed it up to show that the patterns seem to line up with the wheels... and yes, I "attempted" to clean them after this pic actually. What's the most effective way you've found to clean them?
 
H

henryp

New Member
ubeny said:
Hey Andy D! My printer is a Mutoh vj1324... and yes, I backed it up to show that the patterns seem to line up with the wheels... and yes, I "attempted" to clean them after this pic actually. What's the most effective way you've found to clean them?
Click to expand...

Looks like the pressure rollers are contaminated. Use a rag moistened with Eco solvent cleaning fluid to wipe and clean the rollers. If that does not fix the problem, replace them.
 
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