not printing cyan

[Mikecolle]

so im able to print every color but cyan, just redid the cap tops, full drain and clean on the machine, and now im not getting cyan, but i am getting black, so that eliminates the printhead fuse. machine is a roland sp300v

 

[Solventinkjet]

Check the head manifold for any damage around the cyan channel. They break pretty easily. Luckily they are replaceable without having to buy a head if that's the case. Do you see ink in the line or are there air bubbles?

 

[Mikecolle]

theres ink in the line, new damper was installed as well, theres ink in the damper as well, print heads were just replaced last year.

 

[Solventinkjet]

In this case I usually do a damper swap. So basically put the black damper in the cyan spot and the cyan in the black spot. Run a cleaning and then a nozzle check. If the cyan can print in the black channel but the black won't print in the cyan channel, the head is probably damaged internally or there might be an electrical issue. If the black prints in the cyan channel but the cyan won't print in the black channel, it's most likely an ink flow issue.

 

[Mikecolle]

so try swapping the ribbon cables between black and cyan?

 

[Solventinkjet]

so try swapping the ribbon cables between black and cyan?

No the dampers themselves. You're putting black ink through the cyan channel and cyan through the black channel.

 

[Mikecolle]

a while back the fuse for the black/cyan head went out and we had it replaced is it possible theres another fault electronically?

 

[Solventinkjet]

a while back the fuse for the black/cyan head went out and we had it replaced is it possible theres another fault electronically?

Its always a possibility but rare for a single channel to be damaged electronically. If you do the damper swap it will isolate where the problem is.

 

[Mikecolle]

did a test print and got interesting results the blig black bars are happening when i have the dampers swapped, i can see that i need a head clean currently as black isnt fully firing.

 

[Mikecolle]

is it possible a page file is set incorrectly again, we just had to reset the machine via page file. the machine thought it was a sp-300vs model and wouldnt recognize any of the Ecosol inks

 

[Solventinkjet]

is it possible a page file is set incorrectly again, we just had to reset the machine via page file. the machine thought it was a sp-300vs model and wouldnt recognize any of the Ecosol inks

I don't think that would affect it.

The black bars do indicate an electrical issue. Make sure you unplug the machine and let it discharge for about 15 minutes before removing cables etc. Make sure your head cables are plugged in perfectly straight and check for damage/ink splatter on the silver leads. Anything that can create a short you want to clean or replace.

Also, it looks like the cap tops may not be working properly. You've got a lot of cross contamination in the magenta yellow head which usually means the cap top is not draining properly. It could be a clogged waste tube as well. The black bars are probably due to a cable that got knocked loose or maybe some ink splatter. Hopefully the cyan is just not printing because the cap top isn't pulling properly.

 

[Mikecolle]

i did a full drain and flush before we moved the machine, it sat for about a month before we drained it, Plugged in and turned on so it would do the usual maintenance cycle. no ink or anything on the ribbon cables for the heads ( after we moved the machine sat for a month powered off while waiting for a thermistor for the dryer) then it started with this issue, when doing a full clean with cartridges i can see it pulling the cleaning solution through the lines but it didnt look like the blue line went clear. i am able to pull in with a syringe through the line eliminating possibility of a clog, the machine has been sitting not used for about a week now since this issue started and a quick head clean fixes the cross contamination on magenta/yellow. this machine has always dont that when it sits for more than a few days.

 

[Mikecolle]

so ive set the captop gap to 0 in the service menu and its pressed right up against the print heads is this where i want it so it seals against it or do i want it to be up higher to push into the head more.

 

[Mikecolle]

manually adjusted the cap tops today until they were able to pull ink through them via syringe, still not printing blue

 

[Mikecolle]

i have since pulled blue ink through the line wondering if its a cold in the print head itself, will be putting a damper on and pushing some cleaning fluid in and out to find out. cap tops are no longer cross contaminated on magenta/yellow, but im still only getting black on the black/cyan head.

 

[netsol]

i had a very similar effect when i bought my sc545-ex
the problem went way when we changed the black head
it had a blown head fuse when we bought it

 

[Mikecolle]

i had a very similar effect when i bought my sc545-ex
the problem went way when we changed the black head
it had a blown head fuse when we bought it

fuses are good theres one for each head and that was the first thing i checked

 

[Mikecolle]

took cap top off and used a syringe to push and pull cleaning solution through the print head, ill know in a little bit running a fill cycle right now, is it possible one of the two fuses on the print head itself went? how would i test this.

 

[Mikecolle]

got smudges could be a bad/clogged head. guess its time to order a new one

 

[Mikecolle]

its progress, now that ive confirmed ink flowing i have two options. do a drain and fill, with cleaning solution to further recover the head, or the one im currently doing which is printing a 6" long 28" wide strip of 100% bk and then a 6" x 28" 100%cy block