I have a VS-640 running CMYKx2. Everything was printing fine yesterday until I noticed all of a sudden my colors looked very dull. I did a nozzle test and one of the black cartridges only had 1 nozzle firing. I then did a manual cleaning and got about 60% of the nozzles to fire. Then I did a normal cleaning and ended up with more drop out with back down to about 40% firing. I did some research and arrived at the conclusion that there must be air in the line (the cartridge that wasn't firing had just started giving a low ink warning in Versaworks). My research told me that a Choke Cleaning would purge the system of any air. I ran the choke clean and opened and closed the valves as instructed by the printer and the end result was the horrible nozzle test. I'm assuming something in the Choke Cleaning must have caused the issue but I'm not sure. I've since replaced the ink cartridge, changed all consumables (wiper, felt, cap top) with the same end result test print. Any suggestions on my next step? Consumables were replaced after the Choke Cleaning so could it be possible that one of them may have caused a back Choke Cleaning? I don't have any experience with changing dampers and I don't have any replacements here but would that be something that would cause this? Thanks for any help you can give.
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Horrible nozzle test after Choke Clean
- Thread starter dfelty
- Start date
greysquirrel
New Member
are you using oem ink? have to ask otherwise I am wasting my time. Did you do something that may have put air in the system?
3rd party private label “Roland” ink carts from my dealer. Nothing was done but printing (and machine did a cleaning) before we noticed black dropped out. After choke clean is when everything went out. Inks flowing through the head because we replaced the cap top and we can see perfect color lines in the sponge and we also did ink renewal which filled the drain bottle with ink. I’m at least assuming that the ink renewal runs ink through the head. Dampers have never been replaced on the machine. Tech looked at it 2 years ago and said they looked fine. (Printer was 5 years old at the time.)
hand851
Roland Mutoh & Mimaki inks digiprint-parts.com
Are you a tech?
You have air in the ink system. Pull from the cap hose with a syringe.
Make sure ink carts are NOT low.
Suggest you not change dampers.
On the DX4 heads the nipple cracks and then the manifold on top of the head will need replaced and print heads will need to be re-aligned.
You have air in the ink system. Pull from the cap hose with a syringe.
Make sure ink carts are NOT low.
Suggest you not change dampers.
On the DX4 heads the nipple cracks and then the manifold on top of the head will need replaced and print heads will need to be re-aligned.
premiercolour
Merchant Member
You might want to call your supplier and ask them for help. They are usually technical selling ink unless they just sell party ink without support. Run.
We sell Jetbest ink from S. California and we support our nation wide customers with OEM parts. To resolve your problem, replace OEM cap top and perform a choke clean. Problem should be resolved. 99% confident on that as long as the third party ink have not damaged the printhead. Now you are looking at replacing the dampers in the near future. Not all third party ink are bad to use. Do enough research and choose a supplier that is close to you. Maintain your printer(s) annually and use OEM parts. You should be just all right.
https://www.premiercolour.com/colle...roland-vs-vsi-xr-xf-rf-bn-printers-6701409200
We sell Jetbest ink from S. California and we support our nation wide customers with OEM parts. To resolve your problem, replace OEM cap top and perform a choke clean. Problem should be resolved. 99% confident on that as long as the third party ink have not damaged the printhead. Now you are looking at replacing the dampers in the near future. Not all third party ink are bad to use. Do enough research and choose a supplier that is close to you. Maintain your printer(s) annually and use OEM parts. You should be just all right.
https://www.premiercolour.com/colle...roland-vs-vsi-xr-xf-rf-bn-printers-6701409200
I changed cap top, wipers, felt and ran another choke clean yesterday and the results got worse. Even less nozzles are firing. When we originally purchased the machine, we had a Magenta Roland Cartridge that leaked half the ink out into the inside of the machine. (Still within warranty) The foam inside that end of the machine and the plastic dish soaked most of it up and our dealer at the time told us that the ink spillage should not affect anything and that's what the foam is there for. Unfortunately, I should have pushed to have it cleaned and all components in that end replaced. Is it possible that the ink that leaked in there damaged the choke mechanism and is causing air to enter the system instead of exit the system when we do the choke clean?
My concern is that after the first choke clean, the problem went from one cartridge not firing to all of them having an issue.
I'm going to try the syringe to pull the ink through the cap but I want to run out and get a brake bleeder first since I heard they give you the best seal for pulling the ink.
I have talked to my supplier's tech and they are coming out with a new print head as they say that's the problem. Unfortunately it sounds like they won't be able to get here until the week of 2/24. I also don't understand why the print head would be the issue. It makes sense to me that it's air.
premiercolour
Merchant Member
The keyword is if you used OEM Roland Cap Top? We changed with an aftermarket cap top with same result, right after OEM cap top replaced, 95% came out. Couple strong cleans. 100%. If you are using OEM and and without us being there diagnostic, can't help much. Sorry. Good luck.
No problem. Thanks for your help. I hope they're OEM because I assumed that's what my dealer would use and sell me. Their site doesn't say for sure if it's OEM or not and I don't see the name "Roland" on any of the packaging. I paid about $30 less than what you have your's listed for. When I had the cap top replaced by the tech I bought 2 extras so that I could replace them myself. Ink's the only thing we've ever decided to not use OEM and that even took some persuading for us to switch. When it comes to parts for the printer I would not want to buy anything that wasn't OEM.
premiercolour
Merchant Member
Looks the same to me. Thank Goodness. I was assuming they wouldn't sell me generic but they aren't the actual dealer I bought my printer from since he retired and they bought him out. So I haven't purchased much other than ink and parts from them.
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greysquirrel
New Member
I am not a third party ink fan..I know people are successful with them but that is the only non OEM item in your printer and you are having ink flow issues...
Jim Hancock
Old School Technician
Be very, very careful if you decide to pull ink through the cap as you can easily damage the head by pulling too hard. First, I would suggest checking your cap, making sure it is in correctly, the spring is attached and the cap moves freely, then perform the flushing adjustment.
Regards,
Jim Hancock
Regards,
Jim Hancock