new rastek tf1000 having problems.... any help would be great

[bjcoenen]

Our company just had this printer set up a week ago and we are having some issues. The main issues being striations or (lines) in our prints. See pictures. Our white ink is also leaking onto our table. We have only printed a few things and they were either on vinyl or polycarbonate (we eliminated any static electricity of the material before printing every time). We have also purged white and color multiple, multiple times and then vacuumed the excess drips from the heads with the provided vacuum exactly how we were trained to do. We continue to purge, clean and run JET ID tests and still are getting these lines in our prints. We have contacted Rastek but were only told to try what we already know and have done. Is there anything else we can try? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PICTURES ATTACHED

 

[artbot]

there was a report that a rastek tradeshow salesman steered a friend of his away from rastek machines, telling him "i wouldn't sell one to my worst enemy". i don't know if i've ever heard of a satisfied rastek owner. if possible, i'd return it for whatever loss and get your business something shiny and new or old and still chugging...but a model line that has a proven track record...

 

[Gino]

Is this a new unit or used ??

If new, I'd get his butt out there pronto and tell them to fix it and fix it NOW !!. If it's used, what does your warranty say ??

 

[bjcoenen]

Thanks for the input guys. It is a brand new printer. Myself and another designer were trained last week thursday and friday. The training was good but lacked any sort of troubleshooting except for "purge and run a jet ID". We have contacted Rastek and will be having someone come back. I am just looking for any other similiar experiences that someone may have had and how and if they fixed it without having to wait for a tech.

 

[10sacer]

Whats your temperature and humidity directly around the printer?

That looks like a static issue.

 

[Brentacula]

We're looking into this printer, I hope everything goes well. Keep us updated.

 

[10sacer]

If you are looking at that printer - do yourself a favor and look at the new CET models. Lesser known company, but much better machine.

 

[HulkSmash]

Thanks for the input guys. It is a brand new printer. Myself and another designer were trained last week thursday and friday. The training was good but lacked any sort of troubleshooting except for "purge and run a jet ID". We have contacted Rastek and will be having someone come back. I am just looking for any other similiar experiences that someone may have had and how and if they fixed it without having to wait for a tech.

return it, get a cet.

 

[jhanson]

Just a dumb question, but what's the condition of your compressed air supply? Do you have an in-line drier and water traps in the line to prevent condensation?

We have a Vutek QS3200 and ran into issues with white ink dripping because our line had too much condensation and we didn't notice. Even the local Vutek techs missed it at first, until we got one of the senior techs out...

 

[tbaker]

one tihng I'd look at is the negative pressure on your white. Check the monometer and most likely adjust it ( increase it a touch) negative pressure with a UV system is tempermental ( and it will be with all models) and can sometimes be affected by a huge shift in air pressure. If your JetID looks spotty, with nozzles out, then most likely this is the cause. Hang in there, you have a good machine, it's just the initial can be a touch finicky. It's kind of like a new GF, you need to know what she likes, then once you know which buttons to push, she'll give you what you want. ( adjusting negative pressure, head gap, and sufficient nozzle purges to give you a good print)

 

[10sacer]

Yeah... you're gonna want to check your head gap with your girlfriend which could lead to negative pressure and an inability to perform a sufficient purge

 

[jmitchell954]

Director of Production

We have had the same issues on a brand new 650. We were told to do the same as far as purge and vacuum. I wished I could have been able to return the machine. Unfortunately, I found a solution and continue to be profitable in this new arena. Some tips to help are to remove the air with in the lines of each ink in the am before you do anything. This may take a extra 15 minutes to prep the printer and you may have to do it twice. Purge the ink again then vacuum the excess. Sorry but the most important issue other than the printer builds up air in the lines when it not in use is the humidity and temperature around the machine. Keep a thermometer close to the machine that reads temp. and humidity, keep the temp in 70's and humidity 50 or above. Our best prints are fall and spring. Summer is not bad but winter is the worst because of humidity is in the teens. (North Carolina) Hope this helps...

 

[artbot]

@jmitchell954, you may want to just modify your ink slightly with some retarder. a dab of retarder. you don't have to put it in your machine just yet. get a mini gun, put some ink in several containers. use powerful love volume retarders that will not affect the density of the ink (carbitol for solvent, there will be others for uv, any msds sheet will show you the base solvent class). now mist a gradient onto a substrate with the mini gun. put the sheet on your flatbed and pass the sheet with the proper dose of uv. do a adhesion and cure test. look at the dot gain, etc.

if you can come up with a retarder that will let the ink lay out and gain just a bit more, you'll get more bite and a better print. the thought of one ink, all year long is stupid. i spray several different clears year around and of course there's a different blend for each season and each day of each season. it's a lot to ask for a single blend to work at all temps and humidity levels.

 

[Sarah D]

We have the same printer and were experiencing the same problem early on. After multiple tech visits EFI finally sent 2 engineers who went over the printer with a fine tooth comb and found the issue. Are you heads getting too hot while printing? That was the one thing we consistently saw with the drop out was that our heads would go yellow on the tending screen right before the nozzles would drop. They would regulate themselves back down, but only after the print was ruined. This turned out to be a software issue and no amount of tinkering with the pressure will fix it.

That being said, with you ink dripping out it sounds like you definitely need to increase the pressure on your white heads. Only do it in small increments however, as you don't want to pull air into the lines. As far as Rastek goes, we have had a great experience with their tech support. Granted, my printer still has issues, but they are quick to respond. Send me a message if you need more specific help.

 

[ProTag]

I sincerely hope that by now this problem has been solved! We have a T660 and have had this same problem for a VERY long time! When we print our JetID, we have what would appead to be clogged nozzels in the head. If we print multiple copies of the JetID, we see that the "clogged" nozzels are not clogged at all. The problem moves to different areas of the test and at one point or another, every jet prints fine. If you are still experiencing your problem, try the multiple copies thing and see if you get the same missing jets or if they move around.