Is this a sign of my printhead(s) dying and needing to be replaced

[alexcim]

Hi All,

My printer, particularly in the cyan channel (but also a bit in black channel), produces these vertical (perpendicular to the print head travel direction) bands on the left in the print now. Don't recall it ever doing it before until recently.

I know it looks like shadowing, but I 100% know it's not shadowing, this is a very light ink print and the paper is not curling. Plus it's always exactly in the same spot. And only on Cyan.

Nozzle checks etc are all perfect, but prints look like this.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Zoogee World]

Good morning,

Doesn't seem to be any photos attached. I would recommend attaching a nozzle test print, along with the photos of the banding, as well as let us know what model printer you have.

 

[alexcim]

Let's try that again.

I can show you a nozzle check but there really isn't anything to see there, it's complete.

It's a VJ-2638X

 

[Zoogee World]

I'm not familiar with this model, so I may not be much help, but I would recommend the basics if not already done. Play around with the settings, print speed, heating, bi-directional vs. uni-dir., maybe try a different profile all together. If this is something you've done before, maybe check to see if humidity and temps are within parameters. If your nozzle test are actually perfect and not deflections or missing nozzles, then I couldn't see it being the cap tops, dampers or wipers.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I'd clean the encoder strip first. It might just be a coincidence that you're only seeing it in the cyan but vertical banding is usually caused by a dirty or damaged encoder. It could be the head but I would change the dampers before changing the head to rule them out.

 

[SignDesignLady]

We see this sometimes on some print media, usually the cheaper brands when the material has been sitting on the heater for awhile and printed solid blocks of color. Our Roland printer is over 10 years old, it's been very well maintained but every now and again, we get something like this. Tech support has never been able to tell us what causes this. Based on trial and error this is what we came up with. If we are careful to not leave the material on the heated platen for an extended period, it doesn't usually show up. Thinking it could be some type of chemical reaction with the media when at a certain temperature. It's a bit of a guessing game. But that's our scenario.

 

[unmateria]

Dont panic... Just clean encoder and reduce heat and try with more or less vacuum

 

[jcskikus]

I'd clean the encoder strip first. It might just be a coincidence that you're only seeing it in the cyan but vertical banding is usually caused by a dirty or damaged encoder. It could be the head but I would change the dampers before changing the head to rule them out.

I agree, clean the encoder strip, change out the dampers, clean the maintenence station area of any crud build up, and even go over the head meticulously. Only then would I consider a new printhead.
I used to get this on my 1617H with the old inks and would be able to save the printhead most of the time.