Flooded captop

[mharfouch]

Anyone ever had this issue? The captop starts flooding with ink and then causes bubbles to for on the heads, in turn causing banding.

I have explored various avenues
- New dampers, checked manifolds for cracks, none
- Sucked ink through cap with a syringe, no air (indicates no leak in captop)
- Have been able to print properly, but not consistently, meaning the head works

The last thing I imagine it could be is the pump, but I have also pulled out the hoses for the waste ink, to check if they work whilst cleaning, and they do, so I guess the pump is working as well? I'm so confused.

Please see picture of captops attached.

 

[Sharx]

I would remove the lines from the cap station and pump and clean them. I would bet one is partially plugged. Been there done that.

 

[genericname]

I have a partially working pump that's causing this problem as we speak. At first viewing it appears to be working, but when you take it apart, it's evident that the rollers are only being forced over the hose, creating suction, half of the time. Switch it out with a new one, or one you know isn't associated to a flooded captop, and see if the problem persists.

 

[cha88]

i just replaced my captop on my vs-640 (single cap) as i was having similar problem & Results...one of my lines was plugged when i replaced it... but i did notice that the fibers in the captop seemed to be plugged... so you may consider this as an issue also... not just the lines! hope this may help you...

 

[Robert M]

Pump

Which type of pump do you have. Roland had a recall on those early ones with the white tubes.

 

[rjssigns]

Captops may be too close to heads causing capillary action. It will be a manual adjustment. Can't remember how to do it though.

 

[mharfouch]

Sharx: Did this yesterday. Took the entire cap off and removed the line to check to blockages or leaking air. Didn't seem to be an issue.

cha88: Thought this could be a likely scenario, but the captop is only 3 months old, and pulls ink through with a syringe perfectly, just floods for some reason

RobertM: Roland machine is only 12 months old, pump doesn't seem to match the description.

genericname: Definitely popped into mind. Will have to wait for the service technician to come out and check this one though, not game enough to try it.

rjssigns: I think the cap height is set at 1.5, I recall how to change this through service mode but I am not sure what an acceptable height is.

 

[splizaat]

might be a dumb question but is your waste ink bottle full??

 

[mharfouch]

might be a dumb question but is your waste ink bottle full??

No such thing as a stupid question in this field. But no, it's entirely empty.

Is it possible to syringe cleaning solution through a captop just incase there is a blockage? As it is a 1-2 day wait for new captops here.

 

[Robert M]

Cap top

Follow the black tube from the cap top to where it connects to the pump, put the syringe on there and try to pull down. You may want to roll that black tube around with your fingers and loosen things up as the syringe won't pull out a bad blockage.

 

[WCSign]

I had the same issue and they came and changed my captop to a newer version 6 months ago, and changed the head under warranty.

have not had an issue since

 

[mharfouch]

Follow the black tube from the cap top to where it connects to the pump, put the syringe on there and try to pull down. You may want to roll that black tube around with your fingers and loosen things up as the syringe won't pull out a bad blockage.

Just did this. Got this. Still not convinced it's fixed though, just reassures me that the head is fine. I not think it might be the captop.

 

[splizaat]

ur feed needs adjustment too

 

[mharfouch]

I know, blame it on our crappy weather all year round :Australia Printing is pretty much back to normal. Replacement caps ordered. Hopefully it's all smooth sailing thereafter (doubt it though!)

Thank you all!

 

[rjssigns]

I just remembered something my tech said about captop material swelling and causing ink drain. Not sure if it was just a bad run of material or something else. It was a while ago, but it is something to be aware of.