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Broken Manifold on new head

M

ml4cs

New Member
First Post, Newbie

Just acquired my first roland printer/cutter SP-540i; used; the previous owner had replaced pump, heads, dampers, captops etc as he was planning to put It into long term storage but ended up selling it.

During the initial setup, no ink would flow to the print heads or dampers for that matter. Tried multiple powerful cleans, ink fills from the service menu and nothing, I tried to check if I could feel any vacuum when the pump was running by unhooking the tube to the damper and could feel any suction. so not sure what that problem is/was. I went to re-seat the dampers possible as there was a vac leak, when I unscrewed the metal brace/foam across the dampers 2 just flopped over on head 2, the manifold tips/nipples were broken off inside the dampers. Might have happened during moving the unit, not sure.

Obviously, this doesn't help the suction, tried to see if I could swap the manifold off of an older head in the parts bag I was given but the screw heads on the new head stripped out halfway through removal.....so looks like I am out this new head now. my question is can I send this head somewhere and they can rebuild it and send it back so I have a backup?

I am pretty handy and this was pretty frustrating as I spent 4-5 hours troubleshooting all possible scenarios. Once I get the new head installed if I am still having issues what else might you recommend I check?

Thanks!
 
J

Jim Hancock

Old School Technician
You need to figure out how to get the stripped screws off the new head. They should have come off easily to begin with. Be sure to use the right size Philips screwdriver. Before installing the old manifold on the new head, flush it with acetone until it shows clear, otherwise you may have dried ink particles go inside the new head. FYI, the solvent manifolds are solvent resistant and will not be damaged by acetone, which is the best liquid to dissolve dried solvent ink.
 
M

ml4cs

New Member
Jim Hancock said:
You need to figure out how to get the stripped screws off the new head. They should have come off easily to begin with. Be sure to use the right size Philips screwdriver. Before installing the old manifold on the new head, flush it with acetone until it shows clear, otherwise you may have dried ink particles go inside the new head. FYI, the solvent manifolds are solvent resistant and will not be damaged by acetone, which is the best liquid to dissolve dried solvent ink.
Click to expand...

ok I was able to get some precision pliers and With some patience was able to remove the screws. Cleaned old manifold and put it all back together. Reinstalled

still can’t get ink to the head. Even tried pulling with a syringe at the tube going into the damper. Any other ideas?
 
J

Jim Hancock

Old School Technician
If you are unable to pull ink to the damper with a syringe, you have a supply issue. Check the ink cartridge, making sure it has ink. PLEASE NOT TRY try to get ink to the head by pulling through the cap, as you will possibly damage the head. When you pull on the ink line, are you getting resistance or is it pulling freely. Keep in mind, when pulling ink through an empty line, it may take 5-10 seconds for it to get to the syringe from the ink cartridge. You should be using at least a 50cc syringe. If you are getting resistance, pull the ink cartridge out and pull. If you have resistance, something is clogging the ink line. If it pulls somewhat freely then put the cartridge back in and pull again. If you are now getting a lot of resistance and no ink, it may be a defective cartridge. I chased a supply problem on a Roland where it turned out the problem was a brand new defective white ink cartridge. Which ink lines does this occur on? Was the machine stored with or without ink cartridges installed? Depending upon how it was stored, it is possible the needles that go into the ink line may be clogged with dried ink. I have had this issue on a couple of printers I repaired recently that had been sitting up for awhile. They can be removed and cleaned, but it isn't a job for the faint hearted technically. The best way is to ultrasonic them in acetone. Also, you will need to get the drill bit set for a Dremel tool. The smallest bit in the set fits perfectly in the needles, allowing you to clean them out. Do this by hand, NOT with the Dremel tool, LOL...
All this being said, please respond with answers to all the questions and the members of this board will be able to help you get up and running quickly! All the information we can get helps us narrow in on the issue...
 
N

netsol

Active Member
Jim Hancock said:
You need to figure out how to get the stripped screws off the new head. They should have come off easily to begin with. Be sure to use the right size Philips screwdriver. Before installing the old manifold on the new head, flush it with acetone until it shows clear, otherwise you may have dried ink particles go inside the new head. FYI, the solvent manifolds are solvent resistant and will not be damaged by acetone, which is the best liquid to dissolve dried solvent ink.
Click to expand...


these are pretty good and don't require amy special skill set.
left handed drill bit, leaves tiny burrs, facing the right way in the hole you drill
this makes the removal pretty easy for someone who doesn't do this all the time

https://www.amazon.com/Damaged-Extr...t=&hvlocphy=9004028&hvtargid=pla-964778516847
 
N

netsol

Active Member
no one ever has all the tools they might possibly need
we have a bucket truck, a scissor lift, demolition hammer, hammer drills & a weka drill (concrete core drills) and there are always new toys to acquire

my wife has been telling me i should list everything in an excel spread sheet, with serial numbers. quite an undertaking
 
H

highrolling24

New Member
Not sure if this is the same with the Rolands but with my old Mimaki it has a valve near the cartridge that you needed to go into the menu and open the valve to be able to pull the ink with a syringe. Not sure just putting that out there.
 
M

ml4cs

New Member
Ok thanks for all the advice and tips, I was able to finally get it to pull ink to the head. I swabbed the "pins" that go into the ink cartridge with cleaner. Put the cartridges back in and used a syringe to pull from the line after removing it from the damper. nothing, I then tried removing the cartridge as suggested and pulling and felt the same so was thinking blocked. I put the cartridge back in and pulled with the syringe while pulling I had my wife remove the cartridge and then push it back in, EUREKA it worked, ink came to the syringe. I did this same step with each line and it worked, ran a couple of powerful cleans and a perfect test print came out.

Thanks for the help and advice, I am sure I will have more questions as I move forward in this journey. On a positive note in my first 2 days of ownership, I have learned a TON on how to troubleshoot, as well as not only change a head but even change a manifold. I feel confident in my skills if anything goes wrong in the future!

And you can never have too many tools, even with this project, I found myself using things that I am not even sure why I own them....but now they are invaluable
 
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