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SP300v Print heads stop printing...

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dayusmc

New Member
I also posted this on the Roland Forums, but it seems there is more activity here so I also posted it here. So I have a SP300v I was having some issues, Turns out the Printhead manifolds were crack, probably from me changing the dampers a few times from routine maintenance. So I changes the manifolds. I put the heads back in and started to print. As the printer was printing, it slowly stopped putting ink out until there was nothing. So I took it back apart and noticed that one of the head cables was not all the way pushed into the board. So I checked the F1/F2 fuses- one was blown, the other one was fine. Only the 1 head wasn't printing. So I took the board (and a spare board that I had with blown fuses on it) to the electronics shop and had them change the fuses. I put the board back in and neither head is printing. The Black/Blue head prints about 5 - 10 little lines. I checked the fuses again and they are both fine. I also changes the board that the printhead cable boards go to, nothing changed. So switched the heads to see if the few little lines that were printing would follow the head, no luck it still printed them on the black/blue head not on the red/yellow head. I also switched out the motherboard with my spare motherboard, but there is no difference. Is there anything else besides the motherboard, printhead cables that could cause this to happen. I would by another printhead to see if it was the printheads that just went bad, but do not want to spend the money if there is something else to check. Does anyone have any idea what might be going on? Thank you in advance!!
Kyle
 
Robert M

Robert M

New Member
ink flow

Check to make sure ink is flowing into the heads. Clean up the cap tops and see if ink is going into the waste bottle when you do a clean.
 
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dayusmc

New Member
Robert M said:
Check to make sure ink is flowing into the heads. Clean up the cap tops and see if ink is going into the waste bottle when you do a clean.
Click to expand...
Thank You. I probably should have mentioned in my first post. Ink is flowing fine threw the heads. When I do a cleaning, ink goes threw them fine (I had just replaced Cap Tops and Ink Pump Lines) It defiantly is some sort of electrical problem. I was leaning towards the transistors, but both of my motherboards do the same thing and the fuses did not blow after they were replaced. I also thought it could be the printhead cables, but I replaced them with slightly longer ones (21cm because that was all that was available quickly- I am having the correct ones made and they will be here next week) and there was no change. I am leaning towards the printheads being bad, but I do not want to change them if there is another issue that blew them out.

A little back ground info on my case....
I was having a cross contamination issue on my red/yellow head that I was chasing for about a year now. Finally after replacing Cap Top, Dampers, and Ink Pump lines over and over with no luck, I realized that I also was getting some air bubbles in the ink supply lines coming from the cartridges. This issue also kept causing the ink to dry rather quickly. I finally traced the Air in the ink line issues to the o-rings on the lines where they go into the dampers (a tech had replaced them with the wrong ones a while back when they replaced my dampers) I replaced them with the correct ones and they air in the lines issues was fixed (Still not sure about the cross contamination issue). So I cleaned the printheads because I had clogged nozzles. I cleaned them ultrasonically, rinsed them off in a jar a rubbing alcohol and put them back in. That is when I ended up with only one print head printing a test print, the other was dead. That is when I discovered the blow fuse and had it replaced. After that, neither print head will print a test print. I hope this clarifies my problem some. Again thank everyone for looking at my thread and any healp they may be able to offer.
 
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player

New Member
dayusmc said:
Thank You. I probably should have mentioned in my first post. Ink is flowing fine threw the heads. When I do a cleaning, ink goes threw them fine (I had just replaced Cap Tops and Ink Pump Lines) It defiantly is some sort of electrical problem. I was leaning towards the transistors, but both of my motherboards do the same thing and the fuses did not blow after they were replaced. I also thought it could be the printhead cables, but I replaced them with slightly longer ones (21cm because that was all that was available quickly- I am having the correct ones made and they will be here next week) and there was no change. I am leaning towards the printheads being bad, but I do not want to change them if there is another issue that blew them out.

A little back ground info on my case....
I was having a cross contamination issue on my red/yellow head that I was chasing for about a year now. Finally after replacing Cap Top, Dampers, and Ink Pump lines over and over with no luck, I realized that I also was getting some air bubbles in the ink supply lines coming from the cartridges. This issue also kept causing the ink to dry rather quickly. I finally traced the Air in the ink line issues to the o-rings on the lines where they go into the dampers (a tech had replaced them with the wrong ones a while back when they replaced my dampers) I replaced them with the correct ones and they air in the lines issues was fixed (Still not sure about the cross contamination issue). So I cleaned the printheads because I had clogged nozzles. I cleaned them ultrasonically, rinsed them off in a jar a rubbing alcohol and put them back in. That is when I ended up with only one print head printing a test print, the other was dead. That is when I discovered the blow fuse and had it replaced. After that, neither print head will print a test print. I hope this clarifies my problem some. Again thank everyone for looking at my thread and any healp they may be able to offer.
Click to expand...

I am not sure that was the best move from what I have read over the years. What cleaner did you use in the ultrasonic cleaner?
 
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dayusmc

New Member
player said:
Hopefully not, but the solvent and the ultrasonic cleaner could have been too aggressive. The guy here who might know is Artbot.
Click to expand...

My guess is the Heads are toast. Not sure if it was the cleaning, the cables or whatever. I have new cables coming, I will buy new heads, I just don't want to ruin new heads... My F2 / F3 fuses are good now, but I really can't figure out how to in circuit test the PNP and NPN Transistors. I know there is a way to test them on the board, but just can't figure it out....
My Plan-
1. Change all ink lines running from cartridges to dampers (because of that air leak I had)
2. Change the Printhead Data Cables (I have 100 of those things coming!!!!)
3. Change Cap Tops Again (For like the 5th time this year)
4. Change Dampers Again (Changed them every time I changed my Cap Tops)
5. Change both Printheads

I am just hoping something is not blowing my heads, I would hate to change them and toast a new set....
 
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dayusmc

New Member
player said:
You are sure you have not cracked the manifold/spigot that the dampers attach to the heads?
Click to expand...
I actually did crack the manifolds from taking the Dampers on and off so many times. But I replaced them both already. One thing to note on the OEM replacement manifolds ( If in fact they were really OEM ) They were not exactly the same... Where the manifold meets the head under the screws. The new manifold's "seat" was shorter, causing the manifold to bow a little where it tightened. I tried leaving it a little loose so it did not bow, but then it leaked....
 
Morph1

Morph1

Print all
I start off with lol to the cap tops...,
(I had just replaced Cap Tops and Ink Pump Lines)
here is your problem - cheap chinese cap tops...
I had the exact same situation last month , I got brand new Roland cap tops from china, I put them in, printed some test print everything was fine... the next day I had a job printing some vinyl and nothing was coming out of the heads...Those cap tops don't seal well and cause an air leak preventing your heads from charging with fresh ink...You can hear it when you bypass your pump with a syringe and try to draw ink, you can hear the air breach.
In my situation I never threw the old caps out so I put them back on drew some ink and was back to printing in minutes...
Hope this helps..

Cheers !
 
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dayusmc

New Member
I bought my Cap Tops from the local Roland dealer, I wounder if they gave me Chinese ones instead. Dam things were $50 each, I hope I got real ones...
 
Morph1

Morph1

Print all
I got mine for 16 bucks each... they looked identical to the original ones but they were somewhat smaller causing the air leak,
I hope this is the same issue you are having as it is an easy and inexpensive fix...
See if you can hear the air sound when drawing ink , I also had no ink coming through the heads when trying to draw with syringe. I hate having this sort of issues especially when you have a job pending deadline lol
 
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dayusmc

New Member
I did have a leak when I was pulling ink threw the heads with a syringe, But it was the Manifold, I replaced that and I do not here any leaks now- but I still get cross contamination. I am going to replace the lines, I read somewhere that if one of the line has a partial block it will cross contaminate. It can't hurt at this point, I am still waiting for my cables to come in, so I have time...
 
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dayusmc

New Member
player said:
Those manifolds not fitting is weird.
Click to expand...

I agree, I couldn't believe that they were not exactly the same as the ones I took off. But I do not know where to buy different ones to try, all the ones I see people selling are all coming from China
 
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dayusmc

New Member
Manifolds...

attachment.php

Here is a picture of the two next to each other. If you notice in the center on the New one, it is shorter then the original...
 

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CS-SignSupply

CS-SignSupply

New Member
dayusmc said:
I actually did crack the manifolds from taking the Dampers on and off so many times. But I replaced them both already. One thing to note on the OEM replacement manifolds ( If in fact they were really OEM ) They were not exactly the same... Where the manifold meets the head under the screws. The new manifold's "seat" was shorter, causing the manifold to bow a little where it tightened. I tried leaving it a little loose so it did not bow, but then it leaked....
Click to expand...

Not sure where you purchased OEM Manifolds for OEM Roland head...

The pic posted does not look like OEM manifolds - note the thickness, tip on the end of the damper tip

When it comes to the OEM Manifolds, Roland DGA does not offer them to dealers as a stand alone part - or at least not to CS Sign Supply.
 
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dayusmc

New Member
I think a lot of these companies list stuff as OEM that is not..... But these manifolds suck, You have to tighten them down until that part touches or it leaks.
 
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