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yellow miss firing

W

wedosigns

New Member
I am running out of patience!
I have a roland sc500 and am running bulk ink. My yellow has started to starve and test print is 1/4 to half full. I have changed the dampers several times, new capping station, new o-rings at damper, and line to cartridge. I have followed the instructions from the service manual when I changed up the capping station but do not have the roland tool to check vacuum, but lots of ink is coming out of pump tubes.
If I create suction with syringe test print is perfect, and no air bubbles!
If I do cleaning from printer test print sucks.
When I get a good test print then go to print yellow will starve with in 1 inch.
My only other idea is the bulk cartridge is faulty, so I am going to try a roland ink cartridge.
Any other ideas please:banghead:
 
S

SqueeGee

New Member
My six year old son suffers from yellow misfiring, also. I might start requiring that he sit down to pee. Have you tried that? :)
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
:omg2:I HAVE YELLOW!!!
I put in a yellow roland cartridge a couple of head cleans, perfect test print, and am now printing a job that is 4 days late!
No there was air getting in but thanks! I think the rubber where the cartridge goes into the needle may be worn from the solvents.
Just my guess for now.
Sueegee in another 10 years or so your boy can start getting some suction and that cures everthing, :ROFLMAO:
 
sfr table hockey

sfr table hockey

New Member
I would bet that the clear line running from that rectangle box on the right side and goes under the captop is plugged. Click on my avitar and look at the bottom writeup. This is the exact thing that happend to me.

You could do a quick test by printing a fill test print (from service menu) which prints a solid block of each color the length of the media. 24" wide is enough to dis charge the heads of ink. Then do a test print and if the Lc and Lm as well as yellow all are missing then you know that clear line is most likely plugged.

If only the yellow did not recharge it may be a Temp issue or a head issue. Is the room colder than 65F?
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
Hi TableHockey
I printed out the system report. The temp is 73.4. I also printed out the test print 52 inch wide all color are there except yellow. There is no yellow at all.
I don't believe the clear line is blocked. I can see it fill up a bit when in clean mode when it is creating suction. Then clears itself when the ink is pumped away. Is it normal for the line to partially fill during cleaning? I do not recall it doing it before, but never really looked that close before.
Also on the system report it states this is a cj500. I think I recall that there is a switch somewhere to change it to a sc500, and if so is there any benifits to changing it?
Thanks
 
Ken

Ken

New Member
My general, uninformed opinion would be to drench the yellow head in cleaning fluid..in and out..however possible..
Interesteing that the Roland cart worked for a bit and then stopped...that should be a clue...
Ken
 
sfr table hockey

sfr table hockey

New Member
I don't think that the clear lines under the captops to that Rectangle Box are supposed to get anything in them. I do howerver tend to get ink in them when the captops do not drain propper and most time caused by a blocked drain line. You would see the ink pooling in the captop during a cleaning just as the heads move off. They will drain after that but that is not normal. Also when this is pooling you get a pile of ink on the wiper as the head is drenched in ink just befor it wipes.

When you print a solid yellow you say the head drops out and eventually quits printing yellow. Is the damper still full or has it also gone dry?

I had what I thought was a bad head on my waterbased still CJ500 where the head would not charge. Replaced the head and it was fine. Then changed a yellow cart and had problems again recharging the head. Found that there was a bit of air bubbles in the line from the cart being changed. Used a syringe to draw ink into the damper till there were no more air bubbles in the line and ist seemed to work after that. I still am fighting with a bit of a ink stavation once and a while on that printer but the head charges propper on the yellow.

One way to test the line to the cartridge is to unscrew the line from the damper (remove brass nut) and attach that line to a syringe and you will notice the ink go back to the cart soon as you remove the brass nut, but hook the syringe to that line with a small bit of tube and draw a bit till you see the ink in the line. Then stop and leave the syringe as is and see if the ink drops back to the cart.

I would take the one step of clearing those clear lines from any ink and make sure the drain lines are both clear and also that the cap tops are not plugged where the tubes hook up to. Mine get plugged so even though a drain line is clear that captop was plugged at the nib.

Send me a PM with a phone# if you want.
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
I think the o-ring was not tight enough. Seems to be printing fine for now.
Thanks for the responses and an extra thank you to table hockey for the extra help and phone call.
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
Well the yellow is fading again!
Printing 12 inches then starts to fade out. It would appear after 12 inches it will go for a wipe then it starts to fade out. I have been able to finish some prints by doing a head clean as soon as it wipes.
Also the line under the capping station is still filling with ink. I do think it appears to be lm filling the bottom line, then sucking back out.
I have changed the damper on the lm in case it was faulty and allowing to much ink out, but it still seems to be the same.
Mabey the new damper is faulty as well?
 
sfr table hockey

sfr table hockey

New Member
What is funny is that if it were something with that captop or the fact the clear line was plugging and not letting the head recharge, all three colors on that head would do it. Again depending on the image you print, the LcLm may not have run out yet in the head and thus still print in a test print but when you did the fill test print, they would be showing missing nozzles by then as well. But just the yellow..... try to switch the dampers on the yellow with one of the other two and see if the problem follows the yellow or stays to that part of the head.

It is possible that there is a crack in that head and letting air in (thus causing that clear line to fill more that I think it should) and then not being able to charge the yellow. Can even be the nib on the yellow that may have cracked.

If the problem stays on that head you could try a new head if you have one or take a shot in the dark and drop some plastics glue round the outer base of the nib to try to plug the leak (and that is only if it is cracked there). See if you can see anything with the damper off and a magnifying glass and a good light and try to move the nib and see if you can feel anything loose.
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
Well still having problems with the yellow! I have new everything lines, o-rings, damper, pump. The only thing not new is the printhead. By doing 2 medium cleans I get a perfect test print. It prints fine until it sits on the capping station whips then starves.
The clear lines under the capping station fill up partially when I do a clean, then is sucked back out. I do not know if this is normal or not.
Tablehockey believes there should not be ink going in those lines.
I know for a fact both lines fill up a bit, but the left head is fine and I am only having problems with yellow.
I now have the head off and have examine it with a led magnifying glass.
I can not find a crack, and this head is super clean!
I did notice the nipples where the damper fits on has a small slot at an edge, which is not uniform. I have some old printheads that I just collected and none of the slots are in the same position. It is like the nipple part is either screwed, or pressed in. I do not know how these printheads are put together, but am wondering if the seal is broke where they connect the nipple parts?
I am also wondering if the nipple itself is worn out from the solvents and not sealing to the o-ring on the damper properly.
I am at the point I am going to glue around where the nipple attaches to the printhead, and glue the damn damper on. Then deal with it if it don't work or the printhead is worn out!
Any help or suggestions are more than needed.
 
sfr table hockey

sfr table hockey

New Member
I might be leaning toward the head being cracked as well.

Can't remember if you did this or not yet. Move the yellow damper over to the Lm and Lm to the yellow spot. Do a couple cleanings to charge the ink into heads and then do that solid test print (min 24" wide ) and do a test print to look for drop out. If the same head still has dropout (now with Lm) but the position where the yellow is now is ok, then you know its the head.

Those clear lines should not get much ink in them and when they do its more because the captops are full as the heads move off the capping station. Once the air lock is gone (by unseatting the heads) this allows the ink to just drain through any hole which that clear line is on the bottom of the cap. You may want to inspect that small rec box that they go to and make sure it has not opened up a bit and causing an air leak or the nibs on the right side of it are not damaged so they can't create a seal and a vaccume. However if there was an issue there the pump would not work propper and not fill the heads with an air leak there.

Swap the dampers first and let us know.

Just thinking that if that yellow head is cracked it could create enough of an air leak through that captop through the clear tube and over to the other clear tube and thus may be why both clear lines fill. I would think the left head line would not fill as much though.
 
W

wedosigns

New Member
Hi Table Hockey
I have glued the nipple area at the bottom, and it still starves.
The ink is going into the bottom lines at the same time and fills them to about 3/4, then drains them.
Yes I crossed the lines and it was fine.
Also when I remove the damper no ink travells back towards the cartridge. So that would tell me it is somewhere between the exit o-ring on the damper and the head.
Mabey I have to glue the damn damper right to it!
Or better yet just ebay it!
 
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