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Resurrection of a Roland LEF 12 newbie need help !

BUMI

New Member
Hi,

My first post. First I apologize for my English.

I've buy a Roland LEF 12 and it's my first steep in large format printer.

This printer was not use for a long period. I dont know how long but probably a long time. I've buy it for a good price then I'll try to bring it back to death.

First i've place new ink cartridge, wiper, caps top and damper. I've do this following thread from this forum and from de maintenance manual. I've also test the F1 and F2 fuses.

After this the first print test was blank.

I've soak and flush the heads carefully several times.

The Magenta refuse to flush anything even a drop...

I've put the heads in the printer and now there is something when I do the print test but the result is....very bad...

The color are very washed what do you think ? Is it normal ?

The heads seems to be clogged but I don't want to buy new heads uselessly.

Can I have the opinion of the community to try to make this printer back in order ?

Thank you.

PS: I'll try to post on this thread until it work for the futur reader because I've found a lot of similar thread but mostly the person who open the post didn't put the solution and the problem still like it's unsolved.
 

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SignMeUpGraphics

Super Active Member
I'm not very familiar with the LEF series, but can you swap the cable from the magenta to another head and do another test print?
We need to see if the head is the problem or the cable.
 

BUMI

New Member
I'm not very familiar with the LEF series, but can you swap the cable from the magenta to another head and do another test print?
We need to see if the head is the problem or the cable.
Thanks for the answer.
I must swap the cable just between the head or swap the cable on the board and the head ?
 

Zoogee World

Domed Promotional Product Supplier
Just the head to start, that way it tricks the board and makes it think it's a different color, if you still have the other color that you switched with still printing and the magenta still not, then you know it's the head and you'll need to replace.
 

BUMI

New Member
Just the head to start, that way it tricks the board and makes it think it's a different color, if you still have the other color that you switched with still printing and the magenta still not, then you know it's the head and you'll need to replace.
ok I will try that but the magenta by pushing with a syringe the cleaning liquid even after 3 days of soaking I did not even manage to get out the slightest drop.
 

Zoogee World

Domed Promotional Product Supplier
If that's the case, then right there you have your answer, you'll need a new head. Also, I'm not familiar with this model, does it have 1 or 2 heads, as I'd recommend replacing all of them based on that test print you showed.
 

BUMI

New Member
There is 3 heads :rolleyes:
I've try to exchange the cable and it's worth no cyan and no magenta. After put the cable at the right place it still the same no magenta and no cyan...
 

BUMI

New Member
Yep, sounds like a dead magenta head as Zoogee mentioned above.
Yes sounds the same to me. Is it possible that the cyan part of the head clogged in 3 days ?
What do you think about the others heads ? The black has not good result and the yellow is almost invisible. The withe and the gloss color has bad result.

My question is : If I change the 2 heads will I have good results ?

I understand that it's hard to say without see the printer. But what will you do if it's your printer ?

I've aspirated with a syringe from the tubes after the cap top and few ink pass trough for some of them. When i made a clear from the control panel i've ink in the drain bootle but not much. Maybe 10/15ml.
Last question the wiper area get dirty quickly. Because of the heads or the cleaning procedure ? Some drops of ink are spiting,

Thanks you very much for your interest in my problem.
 

Zoogee World

Domed Promotional Product Supplier
If the cables look damaged or have ink all over them, then that might be a good thing. And depending what you had done to the machine in those 3 days, it is possible for it to clog that quick, but you may want to test the fuse as well, just to make sure you didn't blow it in the process of changing things around. But you do for sure need to replace the heads, maybe if you don't feel comfortable doing it, get a certified Roland tech to come in and do it, that way you know it's done right and they can show you for the future so you'll know how to do it yourself. As well, they can check everything to see if anything else would need changing to get you full operational. But that is only my opinion.
 

BUMI

New Member
Hi
I've change the 3 heads it in the good way

Capture d’écran 2021-11-30 à 14.56.22.png


Print on metal but with my nail I can scratch que color Is it normal ?

Thank you.
 

Signfox

Sign Of Excellence
Hi
I've change the 3 heads it in the good way

View attachment 156730

Print on metal but with my nail I can scratch que color Is it normal ?

Thank you.
Yes, my LEF 20 UV Printer and adhesion are two things that have trouble going together. There are adhesion promoters both for metal and acrylic but I've not been satisfied with the results. The only aluminum surface I've liked the results on was anodized. Ready-to-print materials you might use are Octolux (you'll probably want to laminate it to something) and the digital print alupanels.
 

BUMI

New Member
Yes, my LEF 20 UV Printer and adhesion are two things that have trouble going together. There are adhesion promoters both for metal and acrylic but I've not been satisfied with the results. The only aluminum surface I've liked the results on was anodized. Ready-to-print materials you might use are Octolux (you'll probably want to laminate it to something) and the digital print alupanels.
Ouch that's bad new I want to print on lighter and small items. I've seen a lot of video of people who print on golf ball and others plastic objet like pens.

I've bought a primer cartridge I hope it'll work...

Doe's someone use this kind of printer and success with adhesion ?
 
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