starting up roland sp-540v

[mcrawford]

Hello,

I had my roland sp-540V and just got it out of storage for the past few years. Before I crated it up I performed a full solvent cleaning and drained all the fluids. The printer turned on fine, the issue I'm having is when the printer starts up it prompted me for the cartridges. I inserted the 1/2 and then pump turned on and tried to prime the ink. No ink came up to the lines pump shut off with a protect motor error which the book says to shut off machine and wait 40 mins. Basically the start up is like a new printer I think. The manual does not clearly state if you need to prime cleaning solution first then ink or if you can just go first with ink. When i've had prime issues in the past I would just connect a syringe to each blue/black and mag/yel lines and just prime it that way, but that was mainly when changing to new cartridges of ink. If anyone has dealt with this and has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.

 

[player]

I would first try changing the caps as they may not be any good after drying out for a period.

Are you pumping up with cleaner carts or ink?

 

[mcrawford]

Roland sp-540v

I first had ink, but motor overheated. I just powered back on and put cleaning cartridges in and it primed them no problem pouring out cleaning fluid into the drain bottle. When pump stops and screen has prompt for the cartridges to be removed and replaced is this the time to put the ink ones in?

Thanks.

 

[player]

I have only watched my Roland tech do it, but I suspect you do install the colour carts after.

 

[mcrawford]

Ink cartridges

Ok, I'll give it a try. Thank you for your help.

 

[premiercolour]

We bring the machine from CA to Las Vegas for show display all the time. We prime with ink. Definately like player said, change out both cap tops. I would change out the dampers as well. If the eco solvent ink is more than 2 years old, I wouldn't use it. We supply below parts and factory compatible ink cartridge to quiet a few forum users with great success. You can also research "Bordeaux Eco Solvent Ink".

Generic damper $15 ea. Been selling for the past five years without issues. Made in Korea.
http://www.premiercolour.com/generic-damper-for-roland-mutoh-mimaki/

OEM Cap Top $37.50.
http://www.premiercolour.com/roland-genuine-cap-top-dx4-printhead/

Factory compatible 440ml Eco Solvent Ink from Bordeaux Digital Printink, made in Israel.
http://www.premiercolour.com/bordeaux-fuze-nr4-1-for-roland-printers-eco-sol-max/

Questions feel free to call/text 949-209-7306 for support. Items are in stock to ship from CA.

Premier Colour Inc
www.premiercolour.com

I would first try changing the caps as they may not be any good after drying out for a period.

Are you pumping up with cleaner carts or ink?

 

[mcrawford]

dampers

Is there a way to tell if dampers are bad? I can pull damper off and use syringe to get ink to damper. Magenta seems to be firing ok. Black and Cyan are there but very minimal. Yellow nothing comes out during test printing. More than likely I'll just order most new stuff for it, just want to try and pinpoint vs. putting everything on it. I have new cap tops already, I always had them on hand.

Thanks.

 

[player]

Dampers have a fine screen, and there are rubber seals where they attach to the head. They may be OK if ink is getting through and the damper stays half full.

The caps are way cheaper and very important to be fresh to properly seal the heads to prevent them from drying out. Also important to have seal for the pump to get maximum pull.

I was thinking it's too bad you didn't let the cleaner sit in the heads for 24 to 48 hours before pumping up the ink.

 

[premiercolour]

Roland recommends to replace damper and cap top every year. When we received a trade-in used printer, we replace dampers and cap tops right aways. If you see the ink retains in a damper half way, that's usually a good sign but does not mean it is a good working damper.

 

[mcrawford]

cap tops and cleaner

I let the heads soak overnight and results are about the same, I changed cap tops as well. If some of the lines in the cyan, black, and yellow show up is this a sign the head could still be good or can certain sections of the head be clogged while a few spots work?

Thanks.

 

[mcrawford]

pics

 

[player]

Are you familiar with drawing ink from the heads with a syringe? Be careful not to pull too hard and blow the membrane and ruining the head.

Are you familiar with the technique of BARELY touching the bottom of the printheads with a cleaner soaked swab? Zero pressure, zero movement, and just let the capillary action draw the cleaner into the head.

Lastly, I find with fresh caps, letting the head sit and do regular cleanings twice a day for days can yield more results than working at it for hours and hours at a time. I have found prolonged sessions can make them worse.

Again if the dampers and heads are full of cleaner, it would be a good way to try to save the heads.

 

[premiercolour]

After 4 dampers, 2 cap top were changed. I would look into the pump and o rings on the ink line underneath the nut to tighten in to the damper. I would buy four cleaning cartridges and perform "head wash" to really drain all the ink and fill the ink back up. I spoke to a technician that he admitted to destroy a few good heads due to manual drawing ink. Use the machine factory head wash is the best.

220ml Cleaning Cartridge
http://www.premiercolour.com/bordeaux-220-cleaning-cartridge-for-mutoh-roland-mimaki/