Epson GS6000 Head Strike on Scrim Banner

[Brian R]

I’m having problems printing on a new roll of Duratex 13oz Scrim banner vinyl. The material seems to want to "tunnel" or wrinkle which creates a head strike. I've tried reloading the media and carefully making sure it's coming evenly off the roll and lying flat on the platen. I'm using Color Burst with a 3M Banner vinyl Environment, which I have used successfully on one previous roll I've printed. I had the same problem when I first started that roll but using a media weight to keep tension on the media coming off the front of the printe fixed it. Or seemed to. At least the problem went away, maybe it was coincidence. The media weight isn't working now. Neither is using the take-up spool to keep tension coming off.
Some other remedies I’ve tried today:

- raising the Platen Gap
- adjusting the heat settings to suggested settings I’ve found on this forum
- I’m using the Environment for Banner material which worked on most of the last roll (except the very beginning of the roll
- Unrolling – giving some slack to the roll of media behind the printer so the printer doesn’t work so hard to pull the heavy roll
- changed the heat settings to suggested settings I found on this forum to: Pre Heat - 38c/Platen - 41c/ Dry - 50c.

I'm still getting the head strike. It's towards the middle of the media. It will print ok for a few feet then strike for 6-8 inches then go away again then come back again. Any help is appreciated.
We're in an air conditioned room if it matters.

Thanks.

 

[boxerbay]

the roll can be bad. I have seen rolls with problems. sometimes they get flat spots if they are not properly stored.
try also opening the collars that hold the media.

 

[datoshway]

We used to have this issue alot with our GS6000. A few things we do now:

1) When loading the media, i'll pull it all the way down to the feeder, then roll it back from the roll, drop the lever and add the tension bar.

2) Use the higher setting on the head lever.

3) Make sure your media is ended on two of the roller grips, when it's in between them, this kind of wrinkling can happen.

 

[Brian R]

Thanks Datoshway, here are some comments on your suggestions:

1) Using the tension bar seems to cut down on the head strikes but does not eliminate it totally.

2) We use highest setting on the head lever.

3) The wrinkling we see is always in the middle of the roll, so the putting the edges of the media at the middle of the rollers probably isn't an issue.

As time goes on the more I think the air conditioning is the cause. The last few weeks we've had some hot weather and the air is cranking. If the printer sits for an hour or more between jobs we'll get a head strike at the beginning of the roll. Advancing the media before printing seems to solve it. Just enough to avoid printing on the little bit of media that was sitting on the platen.

 

[mudmedia]

I think #3 Is your issue...You dont want your media in the middle of the rollers you want them towards the end...In the middle can cause uneven pressure on the media (more pressure on the end of the middle than in the middle) causing the middle to buckle...I run jetflex 13 oz all day long and havent had issues...Make sure your material is past the notched holes on the heater to give it more weight.

 

[Freese]

Try turning pre-and-post heat off?

 

[Matt-Tastic]

Check this: if you haven't already, take the roll and put it on a flat table. roll it back and forth to see if its got a bend in the core. if it seems to roll evenly for a few feet in both directions, try unrolling a few (5-15) feet off the roll. they should look all perfectly flat. if it looks wrinkled, its a bad roll.

I've seen a lot of cores that get bent because 62" banner is very heavy, and it weighs down the middle, putting a bow in the roll. this ends up giving the same effects that the media tensioner bar was supposed to fix, but its much more difficult to correct.

 

[boxerbay]

did you raise the head height lever to the high position? we run 40-40-40