Encoder Strip Replacement - SC-540

[Entomber]

Hello All,

I've been coming to this great website since I started my business nearly 2 years ago and I FINALLY took the plunge and registered.

I own a Roland SC-540 and it's giving me some odd banding that I can't get rid of. Seems like when I print fine lines it's not aligning all the colors correctly and it's most apparent when printing black colors. It's several years old (I think 2004) and the Encoder strip has never been replaced (though it has been cleaned). I bought two spare strips (none with holes) and was wondering if there is any notes on replacing them.

However the REAL reason I am posting is my vendor was kind enough to give me the service mode sequence and there is a "linear encoder" option. However when I try to access it, it gives me the error "remove sheet". Sheet or not it gives me the error. I contacted my supplier but he seems to be stumped on this matter. Will a faulty encoder strip give me this issue? I also seem to have a similar problem when I do the ENV MATCH option.

Any help would greatly be appreciated!

 

[woolly]

hi and welcome from the UK

i have a sc540 see if you can load some pics.
all the colours are aligned to the black head which should be the first head.
alignment is made through mechanical adjustments by printing several alignment patterns then adjusting the head position finished of with the bi directional electronic alignment.

when doing a enviro match the pinch rollers have to be down with no media installed.

woolly

 

[FrankW]

A faulty encoder strip will not give you this issue. Perhaps your media sensor do not work correctly.

 

[Entomber]

Thanks guys, you given me some more insight on the issue. How hard is it to replace media sensor? What is the costs?


woolly,

I saw the tech guy (I paid tech to replace the head) do some sort of alignment different from the bi-directional print alignment. Where would I access that? I apologize if I sound green. This was a used machine and worked great for the near 2 years but now this issue has arisen. Attached is what is showing the problem is, the black line shows misalignment on the right.

Again I appreciate any info given to me. Knowledge is gold in this industry.

 

[woolly]

haven't seen one that far out before presume the red is meant to be with the black looks like the black head has moved as the red, - yellow and mag look ok from here.
have you had a head strike or the head separate that's the most common result.
re alignment is a careful fiddly job and the head holding screws are very delicate, you really need to follow the service manual word by word too much to say here.
and is a area where you can do a lot of expencive damage if you get it wrong.

 

[Entomber]

Where can one get a service manual? It sounds like you must make some small incremental adjustments.....or should I be better off paying a tech guy to come in? It is really making the work appear shoddy, I can't produce professional results and charge for it looking like this.

 

[FrankW]

The problem from the picture is shurely not encoder-related, try to do a horizontal alignment of the heads.

 

[Entomber]

Frank, where would I do the horizontal alignment? I presume under the service menu?

 

[Entomber]

Okay so I found where the horizontal and vertical alignment options would be in the Service Menu but I hit another stumbling block. When I try to print a test patter, it gives me the error that hte head height is too low. I move the physical lever on the head height to the highest position but the error is still present. Any ideas?

 

[Entomber]

Oh gosh I sound like a loose cannon...I actually had to set it to the lowest position to get this to function. Happier now that I can at the very least get it to test print. Now to see about adjusting.

 

[Entomber]

Last POST

Guys I want to thank you all for pointing me in the right direction. I was able to adjust and now it's printing fine. I'm so relieved.. sorry for the multiple posts. That adjustment did wonders. When I did the bi-directional test print (which I did prior) it was spot on. I'm doing my reprint and it's all good. Thank you all so much, this has been a huge relief for me, and a learning experience.

 

[FrankW]

Sorry, I wasn't online. I' m shure the message wasn't "head height too low" ... was it "set head height to low"? What means you have to set the head height to position "low"?

 

[woolly]

well done and pleased for you.
always a problem explaining things at a distance when you don't know how capable somebody may be.

 

[luis68]

Is this problem cause by the encoder strip?
i have cleaned it with alcohol... Should i clean any more parts?

Regards