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What Causes This?????

mbarden

mbarden

New Member
Hi Folks,
Can any one give me difinitive answer on what causes this color banding to appear.
Machine - SP 540
RIP - Flexi 8.1
Design - Flexi 8.1
Type - Both Raster and Vector do the same
Temp - Have messed around with the temp more than Al Gore
Heads Clean - Yes

Help!!!!!

Thanks
Mike B
Big River Sign Co.
 

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TheSnowman

TheSnowman

New Member
How long did you soak the heads when you cleaned them? I had that a few times. It's probably either dirty media, or you could try and soak your heads for 10 minutes, then give it another try.

It doesn't look like banding, as far as just seeing every pass the print head made.
 
B

Brendan

New Member
How about the tension in the material itself? If it has to pull off a full roll you will get this sometimes. Try advancing the material so there is little tension.

is that banner material?
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
It does look like a roll that was sitting too long and has developed some major flats spots which are telegraphing into the print. It doesn't seem to be affecting the copy, but just the lighter colors which would be a little more prone to minor discolorations.

I would also try a totally different media, on the same profile, and if it doesn't happen..... go deeper into the original roll.
 
A

All Star Graphics

New Member
Ahhhhhhh there it is! We're also dealing with this right now. I have material fed out the back so that's not it. This has been getting to me for a couple weeks now. Sometimes it'll do it other times it's great. There's no telling when it will happen. I'd love to hear step by step instructions on how to soak print heads on the sp540. I have an idea but don't wanna take any missteps. I've done some searches but many instructions are vague. Is anyone able to help? Thanks!
 
zmatalucci

zmatalucci

New Member
I had this happen to me as well, and after watching the printer print for 5minutes, I realized that as the print comes out, there is a pause in between. ie: out(pause on heat) out again. Hopefully you get what I mean.
It's not a fluid motion as it comes out... Get me?
 
C

CustomRide

New Member
our 300 did this once and the roll came off of the spindle and the printer was pulling the media through. freaked us out for about a day.:doh:
 
TheSnowman

TheSnowman

New Member
I don't know what to tell ya about soaking the heads on that. My mimaki has a daily cleaning that we do, and it asks how long you want to soak the heads when we clean it...maybe you don't have that if you don't already know about it. Does it do it on any other medias?
 
P Wagner

P Wagner

--
I have seen this on the Roland SP machines as well, almost always in solid colors. This problem is referred to as 'white banding' and appears that the heads are starving for ink for a number of passes, before again firing normally. I don't believe that it's a cleaning-related issue, but rather something that is endemic to the heads used in the SP printer itself (Epson DX3). In other words, I don't believe that you can eliminate it entirely. There are not just enough nozzles per color (180) on the SP to eliminate the problem completely.

Some of the things that will minimize it include:

1. Print at a higher pass count. When printing solids, I would use a 720dpi resolution at 16 passes.

2. Using the Roland Color System seems to minimize the problem for reasons that I cannot explain.

3. A good media profile will minimize the problem as well.

4. Lower heater temperatures may also help somewhat.

5. Use of a tensioned take-up can also help.

Roland recently expanded the use of RIPC, partially to combat this problem. Unfortunately, it's not available on the SP machines.

Bob
 
B

ballardoutdoor

New Member
I agree with Bob, its definitely ink starvation. I've seen the same thing happen on other grand format machines, nur frescoes, vuteks, both solvent and UV. I don't know about Rolands but is there a reservoir on the printhead unit you can check? most of the time there are float sensors on the reservoir that regulate the amount of ink that flows through the heads. if the float is stuck its telling the driver that there is ink even if there's starvation.

Waldo Vega
Ballard Outdoor, Inc.
 
Prism1

Prism1

New Member
How old are your Dampers? Might try changing those. Also, how about your Capping stations? Are they old or dried up??
 
C

ColesCreations

New Member
We had this problem on our Mimaki, were going nuts!

Anyway, found that the media was buckling slightly, almost hitting the head, causing light stripes. So- we raised the head height and turned down the heat a lot, to around 30 deg. C pre and print, the media does not buckle anymore, and no more light stripes.

Just a thought...
 
ericmitchell29

ericmitchell29

New Member
I have an sp540... it looks like its the banner material getting too close to the head. When it buckles a bit... it gets less coverage cause its closer to the head.

Do you have all of your rollers in?
 
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