bad alignment? - black "bleeding" red + blue

[Sherry2006]

Alright, I've seen this question asked a few times on this site, and i'm sure you guys are sick of seeing it. But, of course, it happens to me, now i'm the one bugging.
I recently changed the manifold on the black/blue head on my SP300. Now, my blacks are looking somewhat 3d, lol. It gives the effect that 3 images (one black, one red, and one blue) are being printed slightly above/below each other. I've tried bi-directional correction, print-cut adjust (manual), calibration, cleaning the encoder strip, head cleanings, and even went inside to make sure all screws are properly tightened. I get the same result EVERY time, absolutely no change. I've done everything the service manual says to properly align everything, but nothing works.
I had a head-hit about a year ago, but even after that, it never gave me results such as this. Any tips? Thanks again in advance guys!

 

[J Hill Designs]

3d lettering - no extra charge!

 

[Sherry2006]

3d lettering - no extra charge!

LOL That would be a great sales pitch if it would work!!

 

[tbaker]

this is a calibration issue, contact your local service tech to get it recalibrated.

 

[Sherry2006]

no way of doing it yourself? We have no service tech's within a 5 hour drive from here, so getting them here is ALOT of $$$$$$ for something that can be done by myself.

 

[tbaker]

from looking at the test print, I seriously doubt you could get them more out of whack then they already are, just remember that in the case of head alignments a little bit goes a long way.

 

[NZDR-Payne]

+1 on the head alignments. You're going to need to do the manual adjustments like tbaker said. I don't think there is any way the electronic adjustments will get those back in line.

Did you use a hammer to replace that manifold?

 

[CarNate69]

Head alignment more than likely...manual adjustment is all you can do. Service mode is your friend on this one.

 

[Sherry2006]

+1 on the head alignments. You're going to need to do the manual adjustments like tbaker said. I don't think there is any way the electronic adjustments will get those back in line.

Did you use a hammer to replace that manifold?

lol It sure looks like I did from the print results!

To manually adjust it, is it a matter of un-screwing the entire print carriage from the printer body itself and lowering/heightening it? I've tried lowering it, thinking the closer the heads are to the vinyl the clearer the image will turn out, but i've gone as far down as I can go without the heads hitting and still nothing.

 

[CarNate69]

No, that isn't what it needs. Making it closer won't help. The head won't actually go any lower. You cannot touch the alignment of the head without knowing what you're doing. I would recommend calling a technician from this point forward.

 

[printing238]

i never fixed a sp300 but there should be a screw to hold the head in losen it a bit and you should be able to move the head in or out to align it.
Then use the head align on the printer to get in spot on.