HP Designjet9000s printing problems

[sbtdover]

so the company i work for has the designjet9000s and we have major problems printing anything that has a lot of red in it. this is because any color red bands really, really badly no matter what we try. the only time it doesn't band all that much is on banner material or when we print it on 16 pass with overprint on 2. however, as i'm sure most of you know, that wastes a ton of ink so that's not really a viable option for every print with red.

things we have tried in an attempt to remedy the situation...
- clean print heads daily
- let soak overnight and/or before doing any printing
- changing voltages of the red nozzles (our current voltages are at ~16)
- turning the heat down to 35/30/35 for paper
- printing out the ink chart to choose which line has the least amount of banding and then putting that value in
- various other misc stuff besides changing the red head/nozzle

i've tried to figure out how to run the nozzle test to see if it laying ink down properly but can't find the option for it. if anyone can give me a step-by-step on how to find that option it would be appreciated. i'm also up for any other suggestions if anyone has any. thanks!

 

[HulkSmash]

We have a few hp9000's, and for us the red prints the best. It sounds like you might have a profile issue... what RIP are you using? If you're printing on 16 pass that's nuts. We do everything on 2-8 pass never more with our hp's. Also it could be a heat issue. Most thing we print on is 45-40-45....i think...

 

[sbtdover]

red is by far the worst for us. no other colors band except for the red. we currently use a combination of FlexiSign-Pro and adobe illustrator/photoshop for design and then use PosterShop RIP for doing all the ripping/processing. our heat is set at 45/40/45 and on friday we tried 35/30/35 just to see if that helped but it didn't. we typically do everything at 8 pass and still see the banding. the 16 pass/overprint 2 was a test to see if it helped at all, which it did, but it used an insane amount of ink.

 

[J Hill Designs]

cancel shift cancel cancel, then shift up down right should get you into service mode, then its left, enter, enter for nozzle test (should be, this sequence is for the oce cs6060 which is the same machine)

 

[sbtdover]

thanks jhill. that's what i was looking for.

i took a few pictures just to give you an idea of what we are dealing with. the first two pictures are the red image printed at 8-pass and you can really see the banding in the first image. the last image is the the 16 pass/overprint 2 test image. as you can tell, the last image actually came out how we wanted it to and had no banding whatsoever.

 

[RJ California]

Your magenta head could be failing. Did you run a nozzle check yet?

 

[d fleming]

Could also be something as simple as a failing o ring. How did the nozzle check come out?

 

[sbtdover]

that's what i'm afraid of because the boss doesn't really want to pay the money to get a new head.

i did run the nozzle check earlier this morning when i brought the printer online after it had been soaking for an hour or two. i'm not quite sure what i'm looking for but the banding in the magenta image that is attached can't be good.

 

[Bill Modzel]

Have you tried HP's cleaning/soaking pads? Head Cleaning Kit Q6665-60089 Rev A
The pad is lightly satruated with cleaning solution and than jammed against the print
head overnight. I've had very good luck just using it occasionally when needed. Give Advantage Sign Supply a call.

 

[d fleming]

If you can do a clean and get a good nozzle check that then as you print goes bad, you have an air leak in the system. If system is tight and this nozzle check looks the same time after time, you most likely have a head issue.

 

[Typestries]

Agreed it could be an o-ring. Also check the magenta cap. It may not be sealing, or may be clogged, follow that tubing down to the primer pump and check that too, could be worn or clogged. While you are at it, leave those covers off, it makes troubleshooting this much easier in the future.

 

[MichaelL]

red is by far the worst for us. no other colors band except for the red. we currently use a combination of FlexiSign-Pro and adobe illustrator/photoshop for design and then use PosterShop RIP for doing all the ripping/processing. our heat is set at 45/40/45 and on friday we tried 35/30/35 just to see if that helped but it didn't. we typically do everything at 8 pass and still see the banding. the 16 pass/overprint 2 was a test to see if it helped at all, which it did, but it used an insane amount of ink.

What type of media is that? Do you have better results with different kinds of media? I have different media set ups for each media I use (i.e. IJ180, Busmark, Smooth vinyl, Sihl paper etc.) Each setup mostly changes just the heat and advancement reg. I run everything at about 33/36/40 give or take a couple Cº. I've had a few print heads replaced in the last 3 years. All the o rings and the capper realigned. Doing a "nozzle check" is a must IMO. I don't know why HP didn't make that accessible with "IQ" print. Offline cancel shift cancel cancel left right shift OK has just become second nature for me. I print 75% 4 pass and the rest "high quality" 8 pass. Some materials I just can't print on the 9000 like Rexam wet strength paper. It just seems to dry out or clog the printheads.

 

[sbtdover]

What type of media is that? Do you have better results with different kinds of media? I have different media set ups for each media I use (i.e. IJ180, Busmark, Smooth vinyl, Sihl paper etc.) Each setup mostly changes just the heat and advancement reg. I run everything at about 33/36/40 give or take a couple Cº. I've had a few print heads replaced in the last 3 years. All the o rings and the capper realigned. Doing a "nozzle check" is a must IMO. I don't know why HP didn't make that accessible with "IQ" print. Offline cancel shift cancel cancel left right shift OK has just become second nature for me. I print 75% 4 pass and the rest "high quality" 8 pass. Some materials I just can't print on the 9000 like Rexam wet strength paper. It just seems to dry out or clog the printheads.

we are printing 6 color in 720p mode and we are using PosterShop7 RIP. The color management in PosterShop7 is setup for custom and when you go into the ICC Profile setup the values, from top to bottom, are Default CMYK/Default CMYK/Default RGB/Default RGB/No Profile Selected.


the pictures were taken of a print done on Avery NPI 3100 vinyl. The first two pictures were done at 720p 8-pass and the third picture was done at 720p 16-pass/overprint 2. we see the banding in the reds on all media types but see it the least on banner material.

 

[jens]

head damage ? do you run bi or uni ?

 

[sbtdover]

typically run bidirectional but i have tried unidirectional and it didn't seem to help.

 

[Joe3]

Whose inks are you using?

 

[sbtdover]

we use HP ink that we typically order from advantage sign supply.

 

[Joe3]

We had issues with another brand of ink. It disappeared when we switched back to the HP inks

 

[es]

sbtdover
I recommend that you change the Air Dumper (Q6665-60051). Do not buy a new, change it in places with a different color. If not help, you also swap the head. After these steps, you will know what the problem is or what to do next. This may be the rejection paint, but this is unlikely.
Good luck!

 

[sbtdover]

it turns out that it was a faulty magenta head after all. had a guy named dave mulkey, who works for jet-tech, stop by on friday and check it out. definitely a super nice guy that knows his stuff. ended up changing the magenta head and a few others things and there is absolutely no banding at all in our red ink now.