color drop out on Roland VS-540

[Sylvia]

Hi Guys,

Wondering if someone has had this problem and found a solution. Any help and suggestion is much appreciated.
We run an old Roland VS540 (looking at replacing it, but that's another post!) I would just love to get though the next month or so, so we can figure out what to buy in the meantime.

The problem:
During printing cyan drops out completely. If I'm printing only cyan, I can do about 2 feet before dropping out. (I have attached a file, which shows the print when cyan runs out)
After dropout, the test print shows cyan missing almost completely. No warning or error message at all. Regular and medium clean does not fix it, but 1x powerful clean will and I can print about two feet of cyan again. If I'm not using that much cyan in the file, I can print a lot more.

What have I tried:
There is a brand new cyan ink cartridge installed.
Brand new damper installed.
Almost new captop, print head is about 1 yr old, had no issues with it.
Did a big manual clean.
The printer has been regularly serviced and maintained.

Would anyone have and idea what to try next?
Thanks heaps to everyone

 

[damonCA21]

Check the cyan hose all the way from the ink cartridge to the damper for any leaks or signs of air in the hose. The connectors to the ink cartridge dock can often let air in. A powerful clean will often draw enough ink into the hose to print for a while as it uses a lot more suction than printing does. Also when you replaced the damper, did you fit a new o-ring to the hose as these can fail over time and let air in as well.

Most ink drop outs are caused by air getting into the line somewhere. Also check the needle in the ink dock is clear with no blockages. Also do a medium clean but clamp off the other hoses and check to see if cyan ink is coming out of the pump, and if any air is showing up in the pump hose

 

[Sylvia]

Check the cyan hose all the way from the ink cartridge to the damper for any leaks or signs of air in the hose. The connectors to the ink cartridge dock can often let air in. A powerful clean will often draw enough ink into the hose to print for a while as it uses a lot more suction than printing does. Also when you replaced the damper, did you fit a new o-ring to the hose as these can fail over time and let air in as well.

Most ink drop outs are caused by air getting into the line somewhere. Also check the needle in the ink dock is clear with no blockages. Also do a medium clean but clamp off the other hoses and check to see if cyan ink is coming out of the pump, and if any air is showing up in the pump hose

Thanks so much for trying to help!
We just put in a cleaning cartridge and pulled the cleaning fluid through the cyan line. Hoping to soak it overnight, then put the cyan back, and pull the ink back with a syringe. Will try your suggestions tomorrow when blue is back in the line.

 

[digitalartsabq]

Could be a cracked manifold.

 

[cornholio]

I'd suspect the choke valve.