Weird Ruler being printed

[Kootchy]

Just started to print a photo to canvas and I get these strange ruler type marks being printed, see photo below; I can't for the life of me understand why.

Using fiery xf 7.1.1 but nothing has changed in the rip

 

[Kootchy]

this seems to happen on prints above 24 inch only, this is a valuejet 1304

 

[Kootchy]

this is a close up of the patten its printing every 3-5 inches after 25" prints, which is strange as it prints perfect for stuff below 25 inches

 

[MikePatterson]

That isnt a ruler, its probably data corruption or something to do with data packets being spooled.

 

[Kootchy]

its bloody annoying as it only happens on prints wider than 25 inches.

 

[jfiscus]

If it is only on wider prints I'm going to say possibly an encoder issue?

 

[chrisphilipps]

Did you just replace the print head recently? If so did you get it from a third party source? Epson programed print heads for smaller format printers so they won't work in wider machines. I have seen printers do this with those print heads. Once a "proper" Epson head was put in the issue went away.

 

[Kootchy]

Did you just replace the print head recently? If so did you get it from a third party source? Epson programed print heads for smaller format printers so they won't work in wider machines. I have seen printers do this with those print heads. Once a "proper" Epson head was put in the issue went away.

Nope, printhead has been in for years, as printed many things above 25" before.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I'd start with the encoder to rule it out although I'm thinking it's an electrical/data issue. Have you had and electrical surges recently? I would turn the machine off, unplug it, wait 15 minutes, and then take the head out and examine the head cables. If they have ink splatter, corrosion, or loose leads, I would replace them. Other than that, it could be the head itself failing or another cable/board deeper in the machine.

 

[Kootchy]

Changed over the head cables and now I get the following problems shown in the photos, one is of the test print that looks horrendous and the other is a photo i've been trying to print since this whole mess started.

Will be bald by the end of the week at this rate.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Since changing the cables changed the output, it could be that the terminals are dirty. I usually give them a good air dusting, swab them down with a lint free swab and 90%+ alcohol, and then air dust again. If that doesn't fix the issue unfortunately it's probably a fried head. Could be the slider or main board as well but those are much more rare to cause issues like this.

 

[Kootchy]

FFS now get head heat error, think i'm gonna give up on the old bird.

 

[Solventinkjet]

FFS now get head heat error, think i'm gonna give up on the old bird.

Yeah head heat confirms something is shorting out in the head. A new head will fix it for sure but sounds like it might be the end of the road!

 

[Kootchy]

problem, I now have is if, I went new head route and the bloody lines are still there, will have to think about it over next couple of days.

 

[Ahmed Samy Nagada]

Clean the encoder strip