Black prints fuzzy and with lines

[johnnyrod]

Hi. I've had a Roland VersaCAMM for a few years now and I'm stuck trying to figure out how to fix this print problem.

My black has been printing a bit fuzzy for a few months and this month is it really bad.
I've attached some images of my print quality.

A few days ago I did 2 manual cleans, each one followed by a powerful clean. No luck.
I even held a swab of solution up to the head for several minutes. No luck. Cleaned the encoder strip with alcohol and a lint free cloth. No luck.

The following day I poured some solution in the captops and let it sit a bit in solvent ( although I think it soaked down through the captop after a minute or so ). Then I repeated the swab manual clean, followed by 2 powerful cleans. Then I printed several test prints, blocks of black text and black squares. No results. I repeated the swab maual clean and 2 more powerful cleans. No luck. Same streaky black prints.

Had a tech come over and he replaced the captops, swab cleaned & powerful cleaned, and installed a nice little copper static garland in the back to reduce static buildup as he thought it may be a static issue. After he left I printed some more black squares and text as well as a print test. No luck. Same blurry black prints. He told me to lower the heat when printing, but I've noticed no difference.

My Cyan prints fine. Just the black prints blurry and on some thin media it prints with strong stripes in it. Banner print *ok* with just hint of fuzzy edge.

Any ideas? I want to work on this before calling the tech again. He said it is not a head issue as I've not printed enough material to wear out the head.

Thanks

 

[JR Digital]

check the platen , blade and everything for tiny fibers.. its a static issue.

 

[johnnyrod]

I'll check again for fibers. Do you think it may be stuck in the head? Could I use compressed air to blow against the head or would that damage the head?
I cleaned and dusted everything. Maybe I'll change the blade and see if there is dust in there too.

I've got some really blurry black prints lately and those stripes look terrible when I have to do solid black text.

John

 

[J Hill Designs]

when you fill the caps with solution, does only the cap for the black head soak down and the other stays? if so, might be a pump issue, or a broken drain line...

my 2¢

 

[macmedia]

I don't see any pictures regarding your problem....

Stupid question - but did anyone replace the dampers?

Do a test print from the front panel. does the black print fuzzy then?

Kent
Mac Media USA, Inc.
www.macmedia.com

 

[johnnyrod]

I just noticed the pics did not upload. Here they are again.
There is a recent print test after several cleanings, a print of black on a smooth vinyl ( comes out so striped it looks corrugated ) and then a regular black text print.

 

[Jester1167]

On the small text it's all those deflected nozzels on your black head. Too many head strikes. Some of them may come back with a heavy cleaning or over time. Better start saving for a new one.

The print cut black looks like banding and you need to adjust the feed. It could be the nozzle deflections too or a combonation of both.

 

[johnnyrod]

I checked the feed, but only the black gives that problem. None of the other colors do that banding when printing side by side. I tried adjusting the printer feed, but there are so many dropouts I can't even see where the gap is in the figure. I can try to adjust the bidirectional and see if it's got a better setting that I'm not aware of.

I'll get a flashlight and stare at the head for awhile. Maybe I can spot some fibers in there or something. Try another soaking and see what happens.

Is it okay to blow compressed air to remove fibers embedded in the head or just soak it and hope for the best? I don't think using a swab to remove fibers would be safe.

The captops are new and the drain hoses work fine. No backed up liquid -been there before and know what's that's like.

Time to stare at the head and see what I can find. Maybe some fibers are jammed in there.

 

[Jester1167]

I doubt those deflections are from fibers or dry ink. More than likely they are damage from head strikes. That's why you better start saving for a new head. It's about a grand for a tech to replace and align a new head.

 

[johnnyrod]

I bought the extended warranty last year and it's still good for a few months.
Hopefully, it's covered. The heads were supposedly covered, but I hope head strikes won't affect the coverage.

The tech came here last week and said it was just static, but to call him if it's not gone right away. I guess that means it's really messed up. Each time he comes over it's $200, so that head had better be busted and under extended warranty.

I appreciate the help!

 

[GTSTech_1]

Pinch the tubes (I use a paper clip) of the captop. Fill your caps with cleaning solution, after the machine gets back to it's home postion turn it off and unplug it. Let it sit for an hour, remove clips or whatever you used, run a medium clean cycle, if improvements (less deflection) repeat the nozzle wash for another hour (or leave it soaking overnight).

If your under warranty with Roland, then your tech shouldn't charge you, Roland pays the servicing tech.

My .02
GTSTech_1

 

[JR Digital]

I'll check again for fibers. Do you think it may be stuck in the head? Could I use compressed air to blow against the head or would that damage the head?
I cleaned and dusted everything. Maybe I'll change the blade and see if there is dust in there too.

I've got some really blurry black prints lately and those stripes look terrible when I have to do solid black text.

John

you need to get down at a level view with the heads. use a flashlight and you'll see the tiny fibers. check your caping stations, sponge, wipers clean under the blade too.

Use tweezers to pull out any fibers you might see but any fibers around the head should easily be removed when you clean it regularly

its not the dust more than it is the strands of vinyl usually..

 

[Pacific Coast Sign]

Your black head is scratched...no amount of cleaning will improve a scratched head. Replace the head ($995) - scratched heads are not covered by Roland Warranty. Have your technician perform the head replacement and a full service and your printer will be printing like new for a long time.

 

[artbot]

that pattern around the word "scared" is odd. using a loop. does it look like printed dots or are they elongated or washed/dotgained together?

 

[DeeHutch]

I've had the exact same issue, but replacing the encoder strip "fixed" it for a while, but it's coming back.

Tech says it's a head, but I don't understand why it comes and goes. If you print a solid color with black text on top of it, it's really bad. If you print black text on white, it's fine.

I bought the machine brand new (4) years ago (SP-540V) and can count the number of head strikes that it's been through. I'm the only one who operates it.

It's very, very frustrating. The static thing does intrigue me though. My printer is on very thin commercial grade carpet, wonder if this has anything to do with it? It's been on carpet it's whole life though and this problem is just a few months old.

 

[Rooster]

Carpet is baaaad for printers. You should install a grounding strap to your printer to help get rid of static if you can't get rid of the carpet.

That's not your problem though. Your black head is FULL of nozzle deflections. It's simply not laying the dots down where it's supposed to. That's why you're seeing the little random dots around the text. If the solid color you're printing with the black text on top has ANY black in it it will look worse compared to printing on white because it's laying down more black dots.

It's causing the misplaced dots, the lines, everything. Try the head soak recommendations that were posted up. It's the only hope you have of any improvement without replacing the heads. Your black head might not scratched, but it definitely has issues.