Help! Roland Versacamm Printing Problem

[swannisl]

Not sure if I can explain this, but I'll give it a try to give an example-
A half inch or so light smeared area is appearing around everything printed. For example, we printed the letter R in cyan and the R has what almost looks like a half inch outline in light smeared cyan around the actual letter. During this same print, a light smeared section of magenta is also on the vinyl just before where the cyan prints. Same problems exists with black & yellow. We've cleaned everything thoroughly. I have new wipers coming in tomorrow as I can't think of anything else that may be the problem.
Any help with be greatly appreciated. Of course this decides to happen when we are under tight deadlines and need to be printing from now straight thru the end of next week to finish big jobs.

 

[anotherdog]

picture?

 

[DarbySign]

Do you have the same problem when you print unidirectional? When was the last time you calibrated your bidirectional?

Have you pulled the power and let it do a complete reboot?

Did you get up in there and wipe down the tracks near the belt?

I've had similar problems, and always managed to get it printing well again without a tech visit. But I'm still in my first year with my Versacamm, so I definitely haven't seen everything that might happen.

 

[artbot]

definitely print and scan at high res' the issue. photos don't capture the exact up close anomalies that point to a certain issue.

also i'd read this or some of the other threads on ink diagnosis.

http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64305

do these protocols in order one at a time as to isolate and you'll have a good idea of most importantly what's not causing it.

 

[swannisl]

Yes, we've done a complete reboot, cleaned up by the belt, the heads - also have done a powerful cleaning. Still having the same problem. After doing a test print, the yellow seems to be good, but there is def. a problem with black & cyan. After cleaning, and doing the test print, cleaning again, and another test print it seems to be getting worse.

 

[artbot]

if you have vacuum problems, etc. they can get worse and worse the more you clean because you are losing vacuum. please send a high res' photo or scan of the issue. and do the proper isolation protocols. just cleaning heads does not diagnose a problem above or below the print head.

 

[chopper]

as stated a picture would be nice, but it sounds like some misfiring print heads, or plugged nozzles when they get plugged they will fire off to the side instead of straight down, might want to soak the heads clean the wipers etc.
and give it another try..
//chopper

 

[swannisl]

Here's a picture

 

[swannisl]

This shows the problem - all colors are misaligned

Thanks for all of the help!

 

[artbot]

misalignment like this is always a date issue. the heads don't know where each other are at the same time. it also looks like on your second photo there is some gibberish being printed.

first turn off the machine, on the front, turn if off on the back, unplug the machine, press the front power button four times slowly. ground yourself off by touching the print platen. take off the head carriage cover and look at the condition and placement of your data ribbons. making sure they don't have leaking ink on them, that they are plugged in firmly and level, that they are not frayed or have bent ends.

my concern is when a data ribbon is not properly plugged in, it will occasionally print a bar of color (a rectangle of black or cyan for no reason for instance). this is gibberish and targeting. much like when you do a data cable swap for diagnostics, the printer still think it "knows" where the heads are and prints the swapped data colors an inch to the left and right off target. your problem does not look like targeting in the scan direction. it looks like it's gibberish and off target in the feed direction.

also, to take the rip, and card, and such out of the picture. don't all rolands have a test image it can print in the firmware? my old roland you could just make it print a little promotional print unattached to any computer.

print this and see what happens, if it prints terribly you can at least just blame the data going to the heads and not an outside source.

do this stuff first and get back to us.

and if you can take some really really focused pics. cut out a chunk of a print and put that in a scanner at maximum resolution. we need to see what it is doing very closely (like a two square inch area)

 

[swannisl]

Thanks that worked - shutting everything down & unplugging. Just did a test print & everything is back to working order.

 

[artbot]

remember that, when rebooting the printer, pressing the front power button several times in a row is always crucial to eliminating stray charges in diagnosing and repairs. my mimaki's front button will light up green about "1.5" times even unplugged until all the electricity has left the machine. basically the button itself is doing the work.

glad everything is back. i'm wondering if latent charges are an issue with your model? i'd keep an eye on it.

congratulations! and print like crazy for your event. pm me if you it still gives you some problems.