Fuzzy/grainy horizontal bands and color seperation a few feet into the beginning of every print hp latex 360 (update)

[IceTrikes]

Hello, I posted about this issue a few weeks ago and still haven't solved it, but it has actually gotten worse over time and I have a better picture here to show it.

You can see in this image that above the "P" the print becomes grainy and the colors start separating, then the print becomes consistent and sharp again partway through the "U".

Before anyone suggests that I swap out inks or printheads I've already tried all that, and I don't understand how a faulty printhead could cause this issue anyways. Last time I posted somebody told me it was a faulty printhead, but I just want to make it clear that this fuzzy band only appears one time per print and about 2 feet into the print, not consistently throughout so I'm 99% sure it is not a bad printhead.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or has seen this before? I would be eternally grateful. We are on a budget and hiring a tech is expensive and hasn't really solved issues we've had in the past so trying to avoid that.

Thank you!

 

[dypinc]

Have you tried printing with OMAS turned off, and or tried to clean the sensor?

 

[IceTrikes]

Yes, but I'm not sure if I cleaned the right spot. I believe I did. It is the sensor that flashes red, correct?

 

[ToTo]

This looks like an advance problem. You can check using the HP control print embedded in printquality menu. The left and rightmost thin lines should be thin.
Deactivate Omas in substrate setting you are going to use. Or stick something on the sensor surface. Then do an advance calibration and print again. If you still have these various deviation your rotary encoder disc on the left side of the drive roller is dirty or damaged.
The omas sensor should look shiny blue if you look under an angle. If it’s greyed, there’s nothing you can do then replacing.
But even in this case you should be able to print if advance calibration is done on the substrate.

 

[IceTrikes]

This looks like an advance problem. You can check using the HP control print embedded in printquality menu. The left and rightmost thin lines should be thin.
Deactivate Omas in substrate setting you are going to use. Or stick something on the sensor surface. Then do an advance calibration and print again. If you still have these various deviation your rotary encoder disc on the left side of the drive roller is dirty or damaged.
The omas sensor should look shiny blue if you look under an angle. If it’s greyed, there’s nothing you can do then replacing.
But even in this case you should be able to print if advance calibration is done on the substrate.

Hi ToTo I will give this a try. Thank you so much for the advice!