Technical/Repair question re: color deviation SoljetPro SC-540

[96XP]

For starters, I don't want another printer, just want to upgrade/fix this one as everything else is working fine to date.

My issue is with the color blue coming out as mauve, and accuracy (for that color) has deteriorated over the past few months.
Not an ink or profile issue, and having a slight background with electronics and components, am wondering if it may be capacitor(s) getting weak (or other).

My questions:
1) Which board in the printer is responsible for maintaining color fidelity in this regard?
2) If it's the main board, and I replace it, is there an eprom chip that will need to be swapped over, or freshly encoded?
3) If encoding is required, who/where to go for that process?

 

[netsol]

before you try to chase down an electronic problem that may not exist, have you replaced the captops and dampers?
do you shake the cartriges atleast twice a week?
do you run normal cleanings?
do you do a PHYSICAL CLEANING (cleaning solution and swabs) of the heads?

do you break out the spectro and redo your profiles?

next, I WOULD THINK would be powering down the machines, waiting 30 minutes & unplugging ALL of the plugs on each board, flushing the connectors with a ZERO RESIDUE contact cleaner, then reseating the plugs

IN A PERFECT WORLD i would change the ribbon cables from each printhead, if the above hasn't already eliminated or at least MINIMIZED the color shift you are complaining about

 

[96XP]

before you try to chase down an electronic problem that may not exist, have you replaced the captops and dampers?
do you shake the cartriges atleast twice a week?
do you run normal cleanings?
do you do a PHYSICAL CLEANING (cleaning solution and swabs) of the heads?

do you break out the spectro and redo your profiles?

next, I WOULD THINK would be powering down the machines, waiting 30 minutes & unplugging ALL of the plugs on each board, flushing the connectors with a ZERO RESIDUE contact cleaner, then reseating the plugs

IN A PERFECT WORLD i would change the ribbon cables from each printhead, if the above hasn't already eliminated or at least MINIMIZED the color shift you are complaining about

Oh, ... do the heads need a PHYSICAL CLEANING ?

As for the profiles, they are Roland, and have never needed to make changes. However, have tested with various profiles, to no avail.
Cap tops good.
Have tanks, not cartridges.
Cleaning ... always.
Heads too, after every lengthy print session - twice on Sundays.

Last resort would be to check the cables, though since they have not been exposed, not clear on how that would be the cause. (contamination)
However, will try that recommendation.
~
P.S.
NO NEED TO SHOUT, I can read just fine.

 

[netsol]

the purpose of profiles is to compensate for variation (from brand to brand and material to material)
in inks, substrates, etc AND MOST IMPORTANTLY variations in your machine

before i broke out the I1 and calibrated my roland's fire engine red was rust colored
grey's were not neutral one end of stairstep was light blue, one end was pink

DOWNLOADED PROFILES can compensate for variations in ink, vinyl, etc , but, how can they possibly compensate for variations in YOUR MACHINE?

while i understand where you are going with this, it is much more likely that the problem is one of consistent ink delivery

roland says dampers should be replaced every 6-8 months (do i, no, my printer is printing fine)
captops are once a year,

since they are CONSUMABLES (capitalization for emphasis and to aid COMPREHENSION) that is the place you should start.

i would be curious to see the opinions of some of the other professional techs on the site, but, i would speculate that only 1 out of 100 machines with color accuracy problems would have
anything of an electronic nature causing it. you are certainly correct about capacitors drifting and changing value, but a change of value in an R/C circuit normally has very little to do with this type of problem

 

[netsol]

you are i guess using 3rd party bulk ink (not a criticism, we have used jetbest ink we buy from premier colour for years)
in order to periodically shake your tanks, you will need to plug the vents. however solids do settle. (my mutoh nags me every day to shake the ink bags)
did you post a nozzle check, by the way?

 

[Joe House]

Roland profiles can't compensate for third party inks either. I wouldn't be looking at an electrical issue. Like Netsol says, this is probably ink delivery. Anytime someone complains about color or banding or other print issues, I always start at the PRINTHEAD. What does the nozzle test look like? If the nozzles are all firing, is your ink staying consistent? If the printer is firing well, then the next step would be color calibration - and ICC profile built on your printer in your environment with your ink on your media in the pass mode that you're using. Then linearize it regularly if your color is shifting. That should bring it back to baseline.

 

[cornholio]

If the nozzle test is good, it's the ink. (I have seen people trying to print with 90% deflected nozzles...)
Bulk systems are generally a problem. (Except if you have a monthly turn around of the ink, but even then you have some year old pigments at the bottom...)
I'm not a printer, I fix and troubleshoot the equipment for a living.
The old Roland profiles are "generic" at best... using them with a "100% plug'n play 3rd party ink" is pure guesswork... especially with overaged sauce in a bulk system.

 

[netsol]

If the nozzle test is good, it's the ink. (I have seen people trying to print with 90% deflected nozzles...)
Bulk systems are generally a problem. (Except if you have a monthly turn around of the ink, but even then you have some year old pigments at the bottom...)
I'm not a printer, I fix and troubleshoot the equipment for a living.
The old Roland profiles are "generic" at best... using them with a "100% plug'n play 3rd party ink" is pure guesswork... especially with overaged sauce in a bulk system.

yes. That is why i suggested what can be the somewhat messy process of plugging holes and shaking the ink.
short of dumping old ink, flushing and reinkiing with fresh ink, agood shake at least gets some of that back into suspension. In the past i have mentioned taking old cartridges to home depot or lowes and imposing on thepaint department to velcro my cartridges on the shaker & give them a Spin. (I can be very persuasive)

the problem with shaking by hand, you get stuff back into suspension, but, pigment still clumps, clogging more nozzles.

i am not sure OP got my point, (i didn’t make it well) without regular shaking, solids go out of suspension, settle and your color accuracy goes sll to hell. Too much pigment in the beginning, and later on not enough pigment in suspension in some cartridges.

this is why no one should operate one of these orinters without a photospectometer.
at least not if you will try to do a reprint a year later & expect a color match
less problem, perhps, with factory ink (I am not sure) more problem with 3rd party ink (perhaps)
more. Problem yet with bulk system

 

[96XP]

Thanks for all the suggestions - as it was helpful, and will be for others over time.

Back from a weekend trip and installed a fresh LC head this morning.
LM is next in order.

Tis my 3rd time doing head RnR, though need advice per the attached image.
The obvious, is the overlap of the freshly installed LC over the LM.
Haven't had this issue before and not sure what needs tweaking.
Took four Bi-Directional runs to get it pretty much where I needed it.
Though with regards to the overlap, is it a matter of loosening the head and repositioning it?
What am I missing here?

That said, ran a long boat print and it was flawless. Sharp and no banding.

 

[netsol]

there is a screw adjustment for skew....

did you clean the encoding strip?

 

[96XP]

there is a screw adjustment for skew....

did you clean the encoding strip?

To my knowledge, the Allen screw adjusts skewing, and the thumb-wheel for forward and back vertical alignment.
Is changing the skew going to move it over to the right, or tilt it? (if it's not something I do every day, I get rusty)
Cleaned the encoder strip a couple months ago, though should do again as maintenance.
And to note, the machine is printing beautifully, just want it to be as good in the calibration as well.

 

[netsol]

i clean my encoder weekly
i believe since we use 3rd party inks, there is a little more "misting" so more vapor settles on the encoder strip.

when you cleaned yours, was it dirty?
when mine needs cleaning, the edges aren't square (assuming i am printing a square)
the straight edge, in the direction of vinyl travel will have a gentle (or not so gentle) curve

 

[96XP]

i clean my encoder weekly
i believe since we use 3rd party inks, there is a little more "misting" so more vapor settles on the encoder strip.

when you cleaned yours, was it dirty?
when mine needs cleaning, the edges aren't square (assuming i am printing a square)
the straight edge, in the direction of vinyl travel will have a gentle (or not so gentle) curve

Not really, looked pretty good, all considering. I keep a backup - in case.
On a side note, can you offer any advice on printing perforated banner? My wife ordered a roll and would like me to make up something for the railings on the front/back decks (privacy).
And the last time I printed on that type media was about 12+ years ago, and have no recollection.
The roll is quite heavy, no instructions included for viable profiles to use (or heat settings), and wonder as well due to the thickness, if I should need to raise the head height.

 

[netsol]

Not really, looked pretty good, all considering. I keep a backup - in case.
On a side note, can you offer any advice on printing perforated banner? My wife ordered a roll and would like me to make up something for the railings on the front/back decks (privacy).
And the last time I printed on that type media was about 12+ years ago, and have no recollection.
The roll is quite heavy, no instructions included for viable profiles to use (or heat settings), and wonder as well due to the thickness, if I should need to raise the head height.

I am not the one to abswer this.
truthfully, we print a fair volume of signs, but, have only done 8 or 10 banners sincd 2016
i am sure someone will answer

 

[Jim Hancock]

The obvious, is the overlap of the freshly installed LC over the LM.

This is common after installing a new head, before doing the head alignments in service mode. It is fixed when doing the 3rd step - horizontal. Also insure you positioned the print head as shown. Once all 4 alignment steps are done in service mode, your overlap should be gone.

 

[cornholio]

So many missing nozzles in M or LM will definitely cause color deviations...
Since the overlap seems to be the same over the whole whith of the head, horizontal adjustment is needed. (Bias, or Slant would be needed if you have overlap or gap on top or bottom of the head only)