Blue edge to all my black text??

[Colin Crabb]

Printhead alignment (sorry don’t know what you machine is, but if it was one of our latex machines, we’d be checking /running a printhead alignment calibration)

[Jean Oakley]

Hi Ive checked the calibration and its correct

[Robert Lambie]

I was also thinking it could be some sort of print head alignment issue when I saw it, but if you are saying that has been checked, then I am stumped.

However, all those wirey lines coming off the text, to me, is perhaps something else separate.

I am not sure what machine you are using, but get access to look at the underside of the carriage to view your heads. shine a torch in, even if only a phone torch, you need a clear visual.
Look for the finest of hairs, hanging from the edge of the head or on parts around the head.
If you see one or more, remove them.
If you see nothing, use a cleaning swab and fluid and clean around the head to make sure something is not there, even if you cannot see it. then print the same text and see how it looks.
static can cause fine erratic whisps of ink to appear around text and graphics, but worse still, and more randomly is the likes of a thin hair hanging down and as the ink jets and the heads travel fast, you get these whispy lines all over the place.
I am not saying this is the fix for the Cyan text shadow but it may help with the lines.

I also searched these forums and found a similar post, to this one.
https://uksignboards.com/forums-2/discussion/yellow-shadow-in-red/

[David Hammond]

Looks like a Roland test print to me, and the black head has quite a few deflections.

You could try soaking the head in the cleaning solution, and whilst I know Roland don’t recommend it, get a swab soaked in cleaning solution and carefully wipe the nozzles.

[Jean Oakley]

UPDATE machine is a VP300

Ok I’ve re checked for hairs and physically cleaned again. I’ve also done a few Normal cleans on the machine. attached is the calibration and other tests. I think the black is looking better but still far from great. I also changed printing to Uni direction from bi directional but it made no difference.

Do you think the black deflections are related to the blue tinge on black text? also red tinge on blue text

I’ve never done a head soak I’ve looked online but cant find for my VP300. do i just turn off at mains squeeze off the drain bottle tube and pour a bit of solution on the black head place top back over and put cover back on and wait an hour then turn back on after attaching the drain bottle?

Im grateful for any suggestions, I’ve got so much stuff i need to print and can only print stuff in red ATM

[David Wilde]

Hi Jean.

I have had Roland machines for 25 years now and the black print head is the issue here for sure I’m afraid. It looks like your printer is layering cyan magenta and yellow ink perfectly and ‘microscopically’ spraying the black everywhere.

Have you any test prints from before you went away? I’d be very surprised if this was as a result of just a weeks absence to be honest.

A head soak as David suggested would be my next move and almost relentless cleaning however. The one time we had such issues with a Roland Solvent printers it resulted in a new printhead I’m afraid.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help.

[Jean Oakley]

Hi David, thanks for that, It was working fine before the holiday i did print a few days before and didn’t notice anything out the ordinary. I’ve had a go at soaking the black head its about 4 hours now do you think i should leave longer? Think if this doesn’t work then i may have to call an engineer, not looking forward to that bill if it is a head replacement

[David Wilde]

Personally I would leave the head soak for as long as possible. It will probably take multiple automatic cleans after you finish also.

Hope this improves, as you say next step is an engineer and possibly a new PH.

[Jean Oakley]

thanks so should i just pour the cleaning fluid into the black head until its full and then return the carriage and leave overnight? Ive not done this before until today so not 100% sure im doing it right?

[David Wilde]

Not sure which machine you have but last time we did this we added cleaning solution to the capping station where the printhead sits and then we had to turn a long vertical bolt which sits underneath the printhead to manually raise capping station in to the printhead so it sat in the well and soaked the heads.

Again, I’m not sure the process for each machine but this was how we did it last time. However this was for an older machine.

[Robert Lambie]

Hi David

That sounds like what we had to do with our old Roland Soljet (Grenadier)
I.e. soak the sponge capping stations and raise them up to meet the heads.
Because ours was the Grenadier with the activation inks, anytime we were leaving the machine any longer than 2 days idle, we had to leave the heads soaking.

@JeanOakley

Leave them soaking overnight at a minimum.

I can see how head soaks, cleaning etc may help with the print quality tests. But the ghost shadow of the text makes me think it’s something else.
Have you had a head crash recently?

This is maybe a bit random, but have you tried printing a different file, job or whatever, maybe even on a different material? I don’t think this will help with the misalignment, but may with the hairy prints if it’s static or whatever.

[George Zerbino]

Hi Jean,
On your initial post with photos, the one of the print head test shows the cyan head a bit to the left:
the black & cyan appear to overlap slightly, then there’s a big bag between the cyan and magenta and a small gap between the magenta and yellow.
Looks like the cyan edge to be a similar size to gap difference, so maybe the cyan head has moved a little?
This is assuming all the heads are separate (not sure on your printer).
Just a thought…

[Jean Oakley]

FINAL UPDATE

So engineer Gary came out yesterday and fixed both problems. The black head unfortunately couldn’t be saved so was replaced and then the heads were all aligned correctly (they were way out). I’ve been printing solidly all day and its working as good as the day i got it. Thank you all for your words of wisdom and have a great weekend

[Robert Lambie]

Good to hear, you’re back up and running Jean. there is nothing worse! 👍

Is your machine a Roland?
Are the print heads still as expensive?

[Jean Oakley]

Hi Rob, yes its an old Roland VP300Ive had from new and its the first time a heads been replace. It was under warranty and serviced every year up until 2 years ago when Roland said they couldn’t cover it anymore. I paid for it to be serviced last year (thought id keep it up)

The head was £500-£600 which i think is cheaper than they used to be.