Gerber Edge 2 printing issues

[METAKAYA]

Hello all.
long time reader , first time writer.

just recently purchased an Edge 2 with a new printhead with about 1200 mins or so on it.
it will start printing fine then have issues with the secondary color. usually a black.
cloudiness is all i can describe it as. almost as if there is residue on the poly material (there is not).

I am not sure if this is anything anyone has experienced as i cannot find it anywhere on here.
possible not enough heat as the foils seems as if they are not completely adhering to the poly.

any help please.
Thank you all,
Luke

 

[Jburns]

a few questions:

1. can you post a picture
2. which software
3. which brand of foils and brand and color of vinyl?

 

[METAKAYA]

The software is Composer, the foils are Gerber Gauge or Zero Nine.
i am in the process of trying to recreate the issue as we are a heavy production shop and i have moved on to our backup
printer in the meantime.

 

[Billct2]

Did you try cleaning the printhead.

 

[METAKAYA]

I have attached two images .
i may repost this thread with these images on here again.
i m not sure the best way to go about this. once again, im pretty green at this forum thing.
definitely not that green at printing.
i did clean the head and the components per the guidelines in the book.

 

[Mike Paul]

Are you using Edge ready material?

 

[Joe House]

Yeah, what vinyl are you printing on?

 

[METAKAYA]

Yes. and the other printer i have , same exact printer will print this same exact image solid black , pretty much everytime.
but there is a drop out in the printhead so i lose the bottom 2 plus inches of every job. thats why im using this one.
i have also tried to adjust the heat setting to see if maybe its that. but nothing changes. if any thing it gets worrse. but i think thats just due to time

 

[FunkotronXL]

Are you printing on vinyl or polyester? Which material setting are you using in composer?

 

[METAKAYA]

I am printing on both. but in the picture this is poly. the settings are the same for most everything i print on for both printers and all materiaL
I dont really know where to adjust the settings in composer.

 

[FunkotronXL]

Not all heat settings work on multiple materials, although some do. When you send the file to the Edge 2, what does the LCD display first? That should display your material setting (e.g. Scotchcal 220, LEXEDGE, Label Stock 2 mil, etc.)

In the output file window, go to Setup -> Print Options. Click substitute (or press F11, or click the icon with foil cartridge icon and "123" below it), and when prompted click "Vinyl." There will be a dropdown list that lets you choose material settings to substitute.

http://www.gspinc.com/downloads/pdf/software/omega_5_reference_manual.pdf (Book 13, Page 6 or page 816 when viewed as a .pdf)

For the Polyester, try using "Gerber Label Stock - 2 mil" material setting and give that a shot.

 

[METAKAYA]

Thanks for the info. I am still getting drop out in the smaller lines , borders and some corners here and there.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

Based off the picture alone, I would say you're not using Edge ready materials. I would suggest a test run with Gerber Foils and 3M vinyl. I've had this exact same problem and it almost always comes back to using a ZeroNine foil on a specialty vinyl.

 

[METAKAYA]

I am using edge ready for both the foils and the vinyl/poly.
also, and i dont know if some people cannot see the earlier replies, but i have a second edge 2 that i have been using with the same settings and the same vinyl/ poly and foils , and the same file , and i get little to no drop outs. if i do its not the same kind of drop out. its a typical "chip" or hairline.

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

I am using edge ready for both the foils and the vinyl/poly.
also, and i dont know if some people cannot see the earlier replies, but i have a second edge 2 that i have been using with the same settings and the same vinyl/ poly and foils , and the same file , and i get little to no drop outs. if i do its not the same kind of drop out. its a typical "chip" or hairline.

You're printing with the exact roll of material and foil and getting different results on the second Edge? If so, then I'd suggest cleaning the printhead and if that doesn't help, check your heat settings and make sure their identical to the second Edge that's printing correctly.

 

[METAKAYA]

That correct. same foil , mat. and files.
i have cleaned the printhead and dancer bars, squeegie, ect.
and if you mean the file setting in composer itself. in the color settings, then yes . that is the same. i even tried to make the secondary color,
(usually black) as hot as possible and it really didnt do anything different. If there are additional heat settings, perhaps on the machine itself , i dont
know about those.
i was curious if maybe one of the fans is not working or the heater is not working correctly.

 

[FunkotronXL]

Not all Edge 2 printers are perfectly tuned to match each other. As much as I wish that were the case, these printers are all at least a decade old and your newer one could have numerous wear and tear reasons that is throwing it out of perfect tune, yet the printer still handles 95% of what you throw at it. Resolving hardware issues relatively aligns their performance to one another; this is often costly and, in your case, possibly unnecessary considering your print is not complex.

I've got one that prints fine on lexedge with lexedge material settings and another that will only print on lexedge when using 280 material settings.

Have you tried changing the material setting on the job yet? Vinyl and Polyester use two separate material settings that perform very differently (in most circumstances). Try one of these three by substituting the material setting using the instructions I posted earlier: Gerber Label Stock - 2 mil, Lexedge, or Scotchcal 280. It's just clicking and changing drop drown menus instead of spending $$.

 

[METAKAYA]

i did use the 2 mil setting, thank you for that. it was on the scotchcal setting. i can try a few to see what they do.
the fact that most of our print jobs are two to 3 colors max is not complicated. but our tolerances are , at the maximum .03 in.
and there is not tolerance for jagged edges or missing color. but , this "new" printer just has a low printhead life. who knows its other ails.
so far no settings have fixed my issue. i will continue to adjust the vinyl settings to see what happens. but it may be time to call in the big boys
or throw in the towel.
neither of which i am accustomed to .pictured to follow.
Thank you all so far for the help and advice!!