Should I get this Roland VS540i

[soloinstaller]

Going to see a Roland VS540i printer listed for $750, guy says it hasn't been plugged in for 2 years and won't print at the moment but says it was printing properly before he unplugged it (he switched to working in a completely different industry)

Worth the gamble?

 

[ikarasu]

Going to see a Roland VS540i printer listed for $750, guy says it hasn't been plugged in for 2 years and won't print at the moment but says it was printing properly before he unplugged it (he switched to working in a completely different industry)

Worth the gamble?

At minimum you need new heads... You could also need new lines.

There's a dozen printers like that in the papers over here... Odds are they want it gone, I bet if you offered $200 they'd take it.

Just expect to put a lot of work into it

 

[netsol]

if it's your first time repairing one, figure the price of heads, captops, dampers, potentially pumps. (pumps can be rebuilt but you have never done it before, might buy on ebay)
just don't expect that you will buy on monday and have perfect prints by wednesday afternoon
you will spend a couple days of your time AT BEST. offer $200. as was suggested. settle in the middle if the machine is clean

 

[soloinstaller]

I appreciate your replies! I picked up the machine but unfortunately won't be able to get around to working on it for a while. Guy included a set of unopened ink cartridges as well as a Versaworks CD, cleaning cartridges and a whole bag of other stuff.

I'm pretty proud of myself that I've been able to keep busy doing cut vinyl/outsourcing but I really want to start using air egress film and not have to order a million different colors of vinyl... Hopefully I can get this thing going wish me luck!

 

[Roland Certified Tech]

Yes, GOOD LUCK!

 

[ikarasu]

I appreciate your replies! I picked up the machine but unfortunately won't be able to get around to working on it for a while. Guy included a set of unopened ink cartridges as well as a Versaworks CD, cleaning cartridges and a whole bag of other stuff.

I'm pretty proud of myself that I've been able to keep busy doing cut vinyl/outsourcing but I really want to start using air egress film and not have to order a million different colors of vinyl... Hopefully I can get this thing going wish me luck!

Good luck!

If you spend all that time putting in a new head and lines... Make sure the ink isn't too old, or you'll destroy all the progress you've made using it.

 

[truckgraphics]

I guess you have a cutter, but at the very least now you have a second one - assuming that part works.

 

[Applied Graphics WY]

Going to see a Roland VS540i printer listed for $750, guy says it hasn't been plugged in for 2 years and won't print at the moment but says it was printing properly before he unplugged it (he switched to working in a completely different industry)

Worth the gamble?

I have the same model. Overall, I love it. 2 drawbacks you have to upgrade some parts if you want to print white, & the plotter is not super accurate for small detail work. It works
great for medium to larger cuts however.
I've had to complete clean my lines twice but so far but that was due to mistakes on my end.

 

[soloinstaller]

Thanks for the replies! So the head is not putting out a single drop of ink on test prints.

Im following another thread on here closely of someone who had the same issue and same machine, turns out their issue was with a bad connector so I'm going to rule out transistors on the main board and print head ribbons before going any further. Luckily my brother is an Electronics Engineer so he'll be able to help me out with all that stuff.

Ink passes through to waste can on normal cleanings so it looks like theres some flow through the head? In the meantime I've got the cap soaked.

 

[soloinstaller]

Here's a video of a test print, are we allowed to post links here? If not let me know and ill delete it right away.

It's also making this clicking noise coming from the right behind where the control panel is, pump going bad? Happens during startup, cleaning and test prints.

 

[damonCA21]

That head is shot you have pretty much zero chance of getting a good print. The captop also looks very dry.
To be honest unless you have experience of fixing these I would leave it and just buy one that works. By the time you replace the heads and everything else and spend the time it will work out around the same price.
It is VERY unlikely to be a connector or something simple. Roland printers need to be in use all the time to keep them running properly. Being left unplugged for 2 years will make them scrap in most cases