HP Latex 315--- Best practices before large multiple tile jobs?

[depps74]

I got a 315 that can get really cranky and print midtones pink. Always pink and its always a printhead issue either LMLC or YM. I have come to accept that printheads go faster than they are supposed to in my shop, maybe cause it gets hot in the summer and I am not always there to turn on AC. Who knows. Anyhow before large runs I do the following now:

Check ink levels, any cartridges under 100 ML are tossed and replaced.
Run 3 printhead cleanings
Run a printhead test
Run a Force drip nozzle test
Calibrate the OPAS sensor after I have spooled it on to the take up reel.
Calibrate.

If all those tests are good I hit send. If not I correct. However even when they are good, midway through I can get prints going pink. My question is are there any OTHER things I should / can do to check my heads? I have considered cleaning them all with distilled water and lint free cloth, but I can imagine that is good to do when there is NO problem with a head? I also wonder if the carriage Printhead ports should be cleaned? Lots of gunk on the sides which I have been told is normal, and I clean it out when I swap the heads but maybe a regular cleaning of those head ports is good idea?

 

[balstestrat]

You should make a CMYK only profile, disable lmlc. It will fix a lot of issues on long prints.
Maybe start shaking the ink cartridges if you feel like they stay in the machine for a while.

Don't do any manual cleaning on working heads. You just risk contaminating the nozzles with something. Sure when you replace them you can clean the connector on the carriage and the slot but nothing else there really.

 

[Geneva Olson]

I got a 315 that can get really cranky and print midtones pink. Always pink and its always a printhead issue either LMLC or YM. I have come to accept that printheads go faster than they are supposed to in my shop, maybe cause it gets hot in the summer and I am not always there to turn on AC. Who knows. Anyhow before large runs I do the following now:

Check ink levels, any cartridges under 100 ML are tossed and replaced.
Run 3 printhead cleanings
Run a printhead test
Run a Force drip nozzle test
Calibrate the OPAS sensor after I have spooled it on to the take up reel.
Calibrate.

If all those tests are good I hit send. If not I correct. However even when they are good, midway through I can get prints going pink. My question is are there any OTHER things I should / can do to check my heads? I have considered cleaning them all with distilled water and lint free cloth, but I can imagine that is good to do when there is NO problem with a head? I also wonder if the carriage Printhead ports should be cleaned? Lots of gunk on the sides which I have been told is normal, and I clean it out when I swap the heads but maybe a regular cleaning of those head ports is good idea?

You are doing a whole lot of work on this printer. How long have you had it? How often do you run it?

 

[depps74]

You should make a CMYK only profile, disable lmlc. It will fix a lot of issues on long prints.
Maybe start shaking the ink cartridges if you feel like they stay in the machine for a while.

Don't do any manual cleaning on working heads. You just risk contaminating the nozzles with something. Sure when you replace them you can clean the connector on the carriage and the slot but nothing else there really.okok

Thank you, this sounds very promising. However I am ashamed to say I don't think I know how to remove LMLC on a created profile. Can you provide a step by step link? I just don't see that option when I clone a profile and go through the steps. Just a note the 315 does NOT have a color spectrometer, perhaps this may be why I don't see that option?

 

[depps74]

You are doing a whole lot of work on this printer. How long have you had it? How often do you run it?

Thank you, do you mean a whole lot of work preparing for a large print or a whole lot of large runs? I bought it 5 years ago. I use it about 1 a week for small stuff (under 500 square ft) and about 1-3x a month for large runs (over 500 square ft.) Not everyday.

 

[depps74]

This fucking printer!!!! PINK PINK PINK. I have tried everything. Head swaps, cleanings, calibration force drop nozzle. I am about ready to smash this thing into a million pieces. It will print a few tiles fine and then start spewing out this pink shade over any mid-tone. Do I have a lemon? I can't imagine this is right. Something is off. I am pretty desperate here Friday night and deadlines approaching with no end in sight to this pink crap. Any help is much appreciated.....

 

[balstestrat]

Probably that LM-LC head going out.

You have to make a new printmode to change the CMYKlmlc -> CMYK. You can't do it on existing ones. The downside is that you don't have the spectro to make the ICC after that.

 

[depps74]

Probably that LM-LC head going out.

You have to make a new printmode to change the CMYKlmlc -> CMYK. You can't do it on existing ones. The downside is that you don't have the spectro to make the ICC after that.

Sorry but can you walk me through that via a link, video or am I missing it in the manual? I swapped the LM -LC head about a month ago and definitely have not made enough prints to run it out, unless its defective? But tests and printer says its fine.

 

[balstestrat]

It's a bit too much to explain in detail right now.

You add new printmode and under advanced settings you can change that color mode to CMYK. It's greyed out if you try to edit existing printmode.

 

[depps74]

It's a bit too much to explain in detail right now.

You add new printmode and under advanced settings you can change that color mode to CMYK. It's greyed out if you try to edit existing printmode.

No worries, Thank you so much!!!

 

[depps74]

Probably that LM-LC head going out.

You have to make a new printmode to change the CMYKlmlc -> CMYK. You can't do it on existing ones. The downside is that you don't have the spectro to make the ICC after tha

I started creating a profile, without the spectrometer is the printer flying blind or is it using parts of the profile I cloned just without the LM LC? That question prob makes no sense but bare with me I am so new to this and learning this all solo, no training or previous experience. Thanks for your help!

 

[balstestrat]

I started creating a profile, without the spectrometer is the printer flying blind or is it using parts of the profile I cloned just without the LM LC? That question prob makes no sense but bare with me I am so new to this and learning this all solo, no training or previous experience. Thanks for your help!

You will likely have no ICC so it's using using "default" values with no color correction.

The printer has some default ICC hidden inside that the profile will use if it's available but there's no way to tell before you check it in the RIP.

However I would just copy the ICC from your normal profile. In theory it should perform pretty similar.

 

[depps74]

Ok I printed my problematic print and its still pink, I used color correction though. So in my RIP how do I copy that ICC profile? In Flexi I selected the MEDIA ad the .icc is automatically selected to that media too. Is that what you mean by copy? In Onyx it does it all automatically....
I think my LMLC may be the culprit too, it is out of warranty but installed 6/24 and about 1400ml fired.

 

[balstestrat]

If you see the pinknes it that preview, you know for sure you have something messed up in your workflow / color correction.

What if you turn color correction OFF and see how it looks?

 

[depps74]

I did try that and it printed more grey..... I set up that profile, it was a little less pink, so I replaced the LM / LC and of course now it seems to be fine, however this head was installed 6/24 and had 14 ML. It was reading out of warranty, but the date on the head is t through 6/24. Do heads normally go this quick? My shop can get pretty hot during those heat waves, but in my experience the heads go during a long run of prints.

 

[depps74]

If you see the pinknes it that preview, you know for sure you have something messed up in your workflow / color correction.

What if you turn color correction OFF and see how it looks?

I don't in my preview and other screens it look more beige.