Bad print from Roland sp-540v

[Jim Hancock]

Look at the sides of all the pinch rollers. The outer 2 rollers should have a colored dot on the outside, i.e., the left roller should have a dot on the left side and the right one on the right side. The middle rollers should not have any dots.

Perform the following:
Initialize the limit. See attached file.
In service mode: Linear Encoder and Linear Calibration.

Did you do these steps? Don't want to be a pain, but a vital part of remote troubleshooting is a response to specific questions and performing requested actions. I take a very methodical step by step approach to troubleshooting based on symptoms and knowledge of the system. My troubleshooting technique comes from 6 years as a US Navy radar electronics technician, where I repaired to the component level while out at sea where you have to be fast and right.

If you have done those steps, then I would clean the encoder strip. This is the best way to do this. You will need gloves, a clean microfiber cloth and acetone. Yes, acetone... It will not damage the encoder strip in any way. 91% alcohol is ok, but doesn't get all the ink off. NEVER use alcohol less than 91% as the water content in 70% alcohol will soften the emulsion on the encoder strip (it's a piece of graphics film) and can damage it. I have cleaned hundreds of encoder strips with acetone and never damaged one.

Enter the maintenance mode by pressing the cleaning button while turning on the front power switch. Select cleaning so the print head moves to the other end of the printer. Power off the printer with the main switch in the back of the printer. You can now freely move the print head so you can get the entire strip.

Cut several 2 inch squares of the microfiber cloth, wet it with acetone, and fold it over the encoder strip and wipe the stripe gently using your thumb and forefinger to hold the cloth against the encoder strip. Do this several times with a new square of cloth until the cloth is clean. When done, power up the printer, the head carriage will make its way back to home position on its own.

 

[Johanswe]

did / checked both before the decal in the picture was made. I can try to clean with acetone.

 

[Jim Hancock]

Once you have cleaned the encoder strip, redo the Initialize the limit, both encoder calibrations and both cut alignments and see if that fixes the issue.

 

[Johanswe]

Now it works! I did as you wrote and also changed the Eps margin from 0.00 to 0.05 in versaworks. hope it works for a while before the next problem comes. thank you so much for the answers!

 

[Jim Hancock]

Excellent! You're very welcome!

 

[Johanswe]

Today it does not work well again. The print in the middle is well cut, but not the ones on the sides. The three box in cut calibration are strange, the one in the middle is perfect, the two on the sides they cut more outwards so one goes right and the other goes left. So no matter how I set "space" something will go wrong.

 

[Jim Hancock]

In the user menu, run Env. match and the cutting adjustments. If there is still an issue, you might need to remove the encoder strip to really clean it, or replace it, depending upon its condition.

 

[Johanswe]

Not work. how do i change encoder stripe? should I calibrate something after the change?

 

[Jim Hancock]

Here is a decent video on how to remove, clean and replace the encoder strip.
Roland VersaCAMM SP-series Linear Encoder Replacement - YouTube
NOTE - There are a couple of things that were omitted and that I disagree with.
1. Before shutting done the printer, go into service mode and open the caps under cap&wiper control, then power it off with the main switch, not the front power switch. This will allow you to move the print head to get to the screw referenced at 4:45.
2. It is not necessary to remove the top cover referenced at 3:25, just extra work.
3. I use a microfiber cloth and acetone to clean the strip. Alcohol contains a certain percentage of water, and also doesn't clean the ink as well as acetone. Done 100's of encoder strips this way and never damaged a single one.

Do the Initialize the limit and the encoder calibrations and cut calibrations again after cleaning and replacing the strip. If you are still having issues, the replace the strip with a new one.

One thing that slipped my mind - do the ageing step in service mode also.

 

[Johanswe]

Okey thanks Jim

 

[Johanswe]

Hello Jim Hancock

can you help me again? all of a sudden my roland started making a red line around the decals. head alignment is still good.

the red "line" on the decal only EXIST if I make a black square. for example, if I make a yellow or red square, there is no red line. I post a picture below.

 

[Johanswe]