XC 540 printing issue - banding?

[crny1]

Hello all,
I have a very large print I am trying to get done but for some reason any shade of black is coming out what I think is banded. At least thats what it looks like to me. Am I correct? Solid black comes out fine but anything that is a grey or lighter black looks bad.
I am using Avery 1005 with avery's profile. Media is new. All other colors look fine. Roland ink. Versa works for rip
Hopefully you can see what I am referring too in the pictures attached. What suggestions would you have for this? Thanks in advance.

 

[Ragnabrok]

doesnt seem to continue into the blue, how does the nozzle check look?

 

[woolly]

Need to check with nozzle test on that media but think the feed rate is tight
Check the rollers are in good condition and it's not pulling on the roll have some slack material behind

 

[player]

Post your nozzle test!

 

[crny1]

Sorry for the delay. Have been out of town for the holidays.
Attached is the nozzle test. As you can see it looks pretty good. This ONLY happens in the greys. Solid black is fine but anything of a grey nature is banded. Rollers all seem fine and would think if it was a roller problem it would be in all colors and not just greys.

 

[woolly]

When greys are produced it is a mix of all colours until you get to about 75% black then it starts to use black so any misalignment or incorrect rate will show as that sort of banding
Dark colours are printing at around 230% ink so a bit of dot gain tends to hide the banding on some materials 4 pass mode makes if very difficult to correct
Things to check
Try uni directional if that is better then redo bi direction alignment
Head height should not be on high for that material
Try a 8 pass mode 720 X 720 is my favourite
Try adding a small amount of feed rate
Your test shows well but does not show all the alignments in detail just nothing way off

I think most of the xc's can be upgraded to the newer wave print pattern which I can not see from the pictures
Best of luck

 

[player]

Can you get the magenta to test perfect with a head soak?

When did you last change dampers? If the small filter in a damper is clogged it can print a test perfect, but when printing it can restrict the ink flow causing problems.

One way to check is print large rectangles ( 52" x 8"-16") of each colour and see if the colours are showing any banding or similar anomalies. Make sure the colours are pure spot of each ink.

Worth a shot!