VS540 cleaning issue

[Patentagosse]

Today I wanted to start the week with a fullwrap job on a 16ft trailer so I loaded the IJ180 roll in my printer, run a testprint to see if everything was there, noticed there was 4 dashes missing in the Magenta (new head 4 months ago, new capping station... everything was 100% perfect 'til this morning) so I decided to run Normal Cleaning in Cleaning menu. Testprint again: the entire track of magenta desapered except for the 4 lines originaly missing. So I opted for Med. Cleaning (not knowing I would aggrave my case). Testprint again and now both magenta were randomly working (let say about 50% of dashes but very ramdomly) and small parts in cyan here and there.
My VS540 is configured CMYK Lc Lm CM so both cyan and magenta run double.
No headstrike, good maintenance, capping station seals properly, no air visible in lines, no leak, OEM ink...
Tried to print big solid blocks of color to use each cartridge and force 'em to spit some more ink than normally.
Still printing with white lines / unconsistancy / steps / banding.
I also replaced a cartridge that was like 25% full by a new one (wishing it would put some pression on this line)

I remember having faced that with my old (factory) head and barely recovered from it.

Now I'm very confused (read angry) thinking this feature really sucks. Other than ruining my whole day, it pushes me to consider switching to another brand for the next one. Damn, it's a factory setting (programmation) that already sucks expensive ink in the drain bottle, it should be trustable and efficient to recover some nozzles, not digging my hole 6ft deeper

Anybody here with some experience to help or the beginning of a solution I may have missed?

Thanks in advance

 

[Patentagosse]

In my 1st printest (not pictured) all the rows were full except for the 3rd one (magenta) that showed 4 missings dashes... EVERYTHING WAS PERFECT BUT MINUS 4 DASHES

 

[Patentagosse]

The 2nd testprint after a Normal Cleaning run, the 3rd row was empty except for the 4 missing dashes that were now back (???) Another cleaning later (Med. Cleaning), both magenta rows were randomly back. The 1st one had never show a single issue but now is... damn it!

 

[Patentagosse]

Called the tech, explained everything with pictures, he told me exactly what I have done before calling him... he replied: "don't do a powerful cleaning 'til we tried everything else, I don't wanna ruin your new head". Wow! 'sounds pretty well calibrated (sarcasm)...

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

You say new capping station... was this done with the new head, or you replaced it very recently?
We have had cap tops go bad randomly and cause the exact issue you are having. If you have a spare new one, I would change it out just in case.
You might get lucky.

 

[Patentagosse]

You say new capping station... was this done with the new head, or you replaced it very recently?
We have had cap tops go bad randomly and cause the exact issue you are having. If you have a spare new one, I would change it out just in case.
You might get lucky.

New with the head change in late fall 2017. Ran perfectly since that time

 

[Patentagosse]

I've let it sit overnight (read I quit I had enough) and this morning everything seems back to normal... Go figure

 

[Baz]

You probably did, but it is worth mentioning. Have you replaced the felt and rubber wipers?

 

[Patentagosse]

I didn't but the tech did with head swap. Other than regular maintenance / parts cleaning, it's not something I do regularly here because of very low volume of prints. Some weeks, the printer may be turned on less than 5 hours...

 

[Patentagosse]

I always keep an eye on the wiper, making sure it's always straight and clean.

 

[Baz]

I have the same printer. Mine is 5 years old. You are able to clean the rubber wiper but not the felt one. I have found that leaving the same wipers on for more than 4-6 months regardless of cleaning it will end up with the head not being wiped clear when attempting a cleaning. Old wipers will leave a thin smudge of ink on the head. I always change them regularly regardless of heavy use or not.

 

[Patentagosse]

OK you refer to the li'l grey felt next to the wiper, sorry I misunderstood... I thought it was the big white one in the bottom of the pan.

 

[Baz]

Yes .. The grey felt wiper and the black rubber one. To change them you have to select the command in the printers menu. You can select to change either the wiper or the felt. I always change both at the same time.

 

[Patentagosse]

Both are clean and very straight
(comme neufs, 'jamais sortis l'hiver... j'te dis des wipers de curé!)

 

[a4andy]

A little off topic, but does your vs540 move the print head with the cut carridge when it's scanning the media's width? I recently upgraded from an SP series and noticed this difference when I load in materials. Not sure if that's normal or not.

 

[Baz]

That's what mine does as well.

 

[Joe House]

A little off topic, but does your vs540 move the print head with the cut carridge when it's scanning the media's width? I recently upgraded from an SP series and noticed this difference when I load in materials. Not sure if that's normal or not.

That's normal. It's doing an environmental match - you had to do this manually on your SP.

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