Do I need new print heads??

[JMDigital]

I have a Roland CJ500 still running original pigment ink. Recently had to replace the motor and while it was being repaired I had some of the parts that were original replaced , so basically all parts are new except the print heads. The Tech that was working on the printer told me he did not believe the heads needed to be replaced. When I got the printer back all seemed OK for about a week, then the problems started. I got it down to noticing that when I print a test image with color and grey scale images the grey scale seems to have a blue tint to it. When doing a print test useing the printer
controls only no computer attached the red will sometimes print purple, to fix it I have to do a medium clean 1 or 2 times. This only fixes the problem for about 3 or 4 printer test prints? Can this be a print head problem? or something else? I spent about 1400.00 fixing the motor and other parts, skipped the print heads at 480.00each plus install and calibration on the advice of the repair tech. Now I am at a loss. Before the motor error the printer was 100% never had color problems like this. I use FlexiSign 7.5 and have ruled out flexi because of the test print from the printer. Any thoughts before I break the bank and replace print heads that may not need to be replaced?

 

[Robert M]

capping station

sounds like the capping station may not be draining and the ink is mixing in the cap. Did they change the pump?

 

[sfr table hockey]

What may have caused this new issue would involve replacing or taking off the dampers from the heads. It may be possible that one of the nibs on the head was cracked when removing the damper. If you are not pulling straight up when you remove the damper (and on water based they are tight) you can damage the head.

Did they replace dampers or remove them?

I think the only way for ink to mix inside the head while printing is to have a damaged head. I am surprised that a regular cleaning can clear the issue and not contaminate the other head if there is a crack.

Do you know how to get into the service menu and print the fill test pattern. Set up a full width 50" or so media. Do that test print as it will print a solid 1" bar of each color (6 total). It takes about a min of a 24: wide media to discharge the head and if you have issues they should show up as the head re charges while printing. Once that is done do a normal test print off the printer menu and see if any lines are contaminated.

A cracked head will also some times drop out during this type of test print and fade to nothing.

Can't think of anything else that would let a head be cross contaminated while printing.

By the way, I always though you were converted to solvent so that profile I sent will not work and you should not need a made profile as the Roland ones are fine on the waterbased setups as long as the ink is not old.

 

[sfr table hockey]

sounds like the capping station may not be draining and the ink is mixing in the cap. Did they change the pump?

Check this as well. Look in the captops right after the heads move from doing a cleaning. Does the ink pool or flood the captops for a few second or at all?

Do I have this right as well, I assume your issue happens while printing or does it happen after the printer sat for a while between jobs?

 

[JMDigital]

I talked to the repair shop. They are Roland certified , The capping station was replaced, the pump was replaced. The print heads were not replaced. I do not believe the dampers were replaced but I will check . They are going to come and check their work for free so we can do testing here. The motor was replaced. When I do A clean I can see ink squirt into the bottle attached to the bottom of the printer. The only color that is changing is the red. it is turning purple. To answer the other question No I do not know how to do the test that required the 50in paper. I currently do not have any 50in paper so unless I can do that test with a smaller roll I will have to wait. In the mean time can someone post the instructions on how to do that test.

The problem happens when I am printing or when it sits between jobs. either way same problem. Hoping the tech can figure out what happened when he replaced 90% of the parts. and why just the red is the main issue.. Thanks for the advice, i would not have thought to call the repair shop if someone did not mention one of the parts that was replaced.

 

[sfr table hockey]

To get into the service menu:

For CJ500,SC500,FJ 42,52 etc

While printers front panel power button is off but main power switch on do the following on the arrow key pad. It's like an "s" and "v" shape to remember easier.

up,left,right,down, left, down, right and after that hold all three (left,down,right) and power on. If you get the error message try again. Once that works press menu and arrow over to the service menu.

This test print (fill pattern) is in the service menu under test prints.

You can take your smaller width media and just cut off 50 or so inches and then flip it to put back into the CJ with the 50 to 54" width. This test only runs about 7 inches of media so if you had even a 24" roll you could use it.

If you want the service manual let me know.

 

[JMDigital]

ok I will give it a try. thanks!!

 

[JMDigital]

Did the other test. Here is a photo of both tests. The small squares were run first, then no cleaning, then the 2nds longer test. First short test prints the red as purple. The longer test prints the red as red. Also I posted a video of the long test on YouTube. Strange that the colors on the longer test look better on the red then the smaller test?? Now im more confused...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFP5q2sTPX4

I forgot to add.. when I print an image with a white background, it always prints the background light blue.. another example is attached.

Bowwowlogo is the actual file loaded into flexi and printed

the other 2 are a full and closeup shot. you can see the colors are way off and you cant see that the white background is actually a light blue. almost the light magenta was used as white. The photo quality is my ipad2 with bad lighting but you get the problem even with the bad quality photos.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Wow.... so many question for you but might have to do over the phone.

By the look of that test print for the heads, you may not have the latest firmware installed. The latest prints 4 rows of each color. Yours looks like 2 rows only???
Black head is in tough shape but the other look not too bad.

One question.... how full is the magenta cart compared to the cyan?

As for the test print getting better as it prints, that would be a good thing. If it always got better as it printed then it may be just contamination caused by the filter touching the underside of the head while capped and if the Mag. cart is low, it will tend to suck the other color into it. Low carts can do this.

I like to have the cover removed on the area over the print head and capping station. This way you can always clean the wiper every time it cleans and see the heads as they move off the capping station. If you get a bad enough contamination it can fill the damper with the other color and start going back to the cart through the line. You would see this if that cover was removed.

The issue with white area having print show up is not good. I would make sure you have the setup in the printer set for Lc and Lm and not orange and green. Or the setup in the rip. The way the file printed blue instead of green could be that one or the other thinks Or and Gr are installed and it tried to print some green but with Lc in there it got blue.

Any one else with the flexi 7.? know if you can set it up to print CMYK or CMYKLcLm or CMYKOrGr.

 

[JMDigital]

Wow.... so many question for you but might have to do over the phone.

By the look of that test print for the heads, you may not have the latest firmware installed. The latest prints 4 rows of each color. Yours looks like 2 rows only???
Black head is in tough shape but the other look not too bad.

One question.... how full is the magenta cart compared to the cyan?

As for the test print getting better as it prints, that would be a good thing. If it always got better as it printed then it may be just contamination caused by the filter touching the underside of the head while capped and if the Mag. cart is low, it will tend to suck the other color into it. Low carts can do this.

I like to have the cover removed on the area over the print head and capping station. This way you can always clean the wiper every time it cleans and see the heads as they move off the capping station. If you get a bad enough contamination it can fill the damper with the other color and start going back to the cart through the line. You would see this if that cover was removed.

The issue with white area having print show up is not good. I would make sure you have the setup in the printer set for Lc and Lm and not orange and green. Or the setup in the rip. The way the file printed blue instead of green could be that one or the other thinks Or and Gr are installed and it tried to print some green but with Lc in there it got blue.

Any one else with the flexi 7.? know if you can set it up to print CMYK or CMYKLcLm or CMYKOrGr.

Yes Flexi is setup to print Lc and Lm there is a setting I can change to print CMYK, Grayscale, CMYKLcLm, CMYKOrGr

I have it setup for CMYKLcLm.

 

[JMDigital]

Is there a way to still upgrade the firmware?

 

[darren buttery]

Need profiles to correct colours i do them. £50 seen this all before. Also mine did the same.

 

[apexx]

Also I would try to calibrate the printer. I noticed that when Roland LEJ-640 is not calibrated correctly it leaves strike lines and colors change too. S I think detailed would be great. If this won't resolve the problem then I guess it is time to change the print head. I been told that these prints should last pretty long time but they don't. On ours printers we have to replace print heads at least once a year, some twice like white ink print heads. Anyway if you don't have warranty on this unit I would suggest you go to http://www.digiprint-supplies.com/ and order print heads. They are original oem, works fine and half price. Good luck.