Still having issues

[NEGD]

My Jv3 is giving me nothing but headaches recently.

I had a technician come in and do "preventative maintenance" by replacing Cyan printhead (needed it), and worn parts (new capping station, pump, dampers). Everything seemed to be working fine while he was here.

Now, I'm experiencing an issue with the Cyan not laying the proper ink in spots. It looks like its happening between the pinch rollers (not sure of that has anything to do with it).

I run solid blocks of CMYK and verify that all the printheads are firing properly. I don't see issues there. I've cleaned them manually and through strong cleaning to make sure no foreign objects are obstructing. I can print jobs that include all colors without any noticeable problems. I've tried both my rip programs, using different print/pass settings to see if I can get a work-around until the tech comes back.

Unfortunately, I have a time sensitive job that OF COURSE has a light cyan background. I've attached photos, any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[MikePro]

tech came out and serviced your printer and left you with the same issue?
its gotta be in your profiles then?

 

[NEGD]

its gotta be in your profiles then?

But nothings changed. I'm using the same material, same profiles, same RIP program, same RIP process...

How could it just change without some element changing it?

 

[NEGD]

and left you with the same issue?

And, it's not really the same issue. My original problem was a horizontal "banding" type of issue, where it would lay a few passes and then look like it skipped a pass and continue... I, so far, have eliminated this problem.

This is now a vertical "something's on the material" type of look, except it happens all the time, but only when printing cyan based colors.

 

[genericname]

It looks like its happening between the pinch rollers

I would imagine it's either defective media, or the pinch rollers. Sometimes when switching stock, it seems that the rollers get coated in whatever treatment the previous stock received, and this becomes apparent as vertical bands in the print, in line with the rollers.

I'm really not seeing anything in your photos though. Can you get a shot that more dramatically illustrates the problem? Is it that you're just not getting the saturation you want, or is it really just localized around the rollers?

 

[J Hill Designs]

is the media tunneling at all? when it tunnels its closer to the printhead therefore shots get fired onto it differently - and happens in between pinch rollers - try lowering pre heat maybe platen a bit

 

[NEGD]

I would imagine it's either defective media, or the pinch rollers. Sometimes when switching stock, it seems that the rollers get coated in whatever treatment the previous stock received, and this becomes apparent as vertical bands in the print, in line with the rollers.

I'm really not seeing anything in your photos though. Can you get a shot that more dramatically illustrates the problem? Is it that you're just not getting the saturation you want, or is it really just localized around the rollers?

I know what you're saying about the pinch rollers, but it's not that. It's not inline with the actual rollers it's in between or in the gaps. I tried to take a few more pictures, but it's really hard to capture with the lighting and coating on the material.

It's not completely missing, the color is just off enough to be noticeable vertical bands running through the print.

Also, the material isn't tunneling but that was one of my first thoughts, it does look like that is the issue that's occurring.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Did you try cleaning your encoder strip and sensor?

 

[NEGD]

Did you try cleaning your encoder strip and sensor?

I did, and will try that again as it seems the strip has been the cause of many of my issues recently.

Thanks.

 

[thewood]

Looks like too much heat to me. That could be why it only shows up in certain colors. Light blues and greens (like the blue shown in your example) are notorious for this. Tunneling doesn't have to be present for this to occur, either.

Try lowering the pre- and print heat settings.

 

[NEGD]

Looks like too much heat to me. That could be why it only shows up in certain colors. Light blues and greens (like the blue shown in your example) are notorious for this. Tunneling doesn't have to be present for this to occur, either.

Try lowering the pre- and print heat settings.

It seemed like this was the most logical explanation, so I dropped the settings again (had done it when the tech was here) and it has seemed to eliminate the vertical color issue.

Thank you everyone. I still have the tech coming back to take a look at the horizontal "banding" issue. If he comes to a solution, I'll update everyone.