colour problem

[Phill Fenton]

I would take the cover off and have a look at the clear tubes feeding the ink to the heads. Each tube should be solid with colour C M Y & K. If any of the tubes show discolouration you are getting ink transfering (via the capping station) into the other feed tube feeding the same head. A few powerful head cleans should fix it – though you will need to find out why the ink has cross contaminated in the first place (check the capping station seals are cleaned regulalrly once a week).

[John McNickle]

cheers Phil

i fitted a new pump to it last week and had to change the piping from the black/blue capping station as it was getting clogged, we put cleaner in the capping stations and syringed it thru both pipes, oddly the ink doesnt totally flush away, beads of ink remain in the both parts before and after the pump, this bothers me as will the ink not harden? there cant be an air lock as its not really a sealed unit

[Phill Fenton]

Sounds suspiciously like the black ink is contaminating the Cyan Ink. This would explain the greenish tint. Check the new tubing is fitted correctly and not leaking at all and possibly allowing air to be drawn in?

I would also try a powerful head clean and whilst it is cleaning unscrew the reservoir bottle to check you are getting a good flow of ink through the Cyank/Black waste pipe – proving the pump is or isn’t doing it’s job properly. This may help you to diagnose the root cause of the problem

[Gary L]

Phil sounds pretty much spot on, if your getting ink or solvent cleaner
building up in the capping station it sounds like there is a problem with
the pump. If you look at the pipes feeding the printheads to try to
determine if the cyan and black are mixing this can be caused by one
of the cartridges being nearly empty and the empty bag in the cartridge
sucking the ink straight out of the ink supply on the same head.
I would also check all of the pipes between the capping station and the
waste bottle to check for leaks and make sure the pump you have just
installed has proper solvent tubing as stronger inks can effect the tubing.
I wouldnt worry about the printheads yet it definately sounds like
something more to do with ink feed or disposal.

Whats your test print look like ?

Just my usless opinion

mod-edit please read board rules

[Simon.James]

hi John

Have considered changing the unit back to a roland, there is a good deal on with roland at the moment.

i just bought a cadet on ebay, that was printing like a pig, due to the previous owner printing 1900 hrs of banner material on it. the inks in the unit were also toxic as hell (not sure if they were uniform or not!), still got a slight sore throat from nearly 3 weeks ago..

on a deal, Roland came in changed all the heads, capping station maintenance kit, all the lines and pumps, put a new motherboard in so i can run versaworks and spent the best part of all day setting it up to near perfection. no banding what so ever.

£3000+ of kit and service for just £900 inclusive of a 12 month warranty on all parts and labour.

if you are having problems and can justify spending £900 i would highly reccomend getting it converted back to run ecosol max inks no smell what so ever and total piece of mind for the next 12 months. the inks cost still average out at less than £2.50 a metre.

Simon

[Phill Fenton]

I’ve never understood the requirement to "convert" back to Roland ink. Surely the cadet is capable of running the milder Roland inks without any changes to the hardware. Just flush through and start using the new inks? Or am I missing something?

[Simon.James]

Hi Phil

the conversion back is purely financial for roland as they want you to buy the inks, but if you have got a well worn machine it is a great way of getting it back to near new condition, for very little money with a full next day call out warranty.

Had a jv3 before this, which i sold with very little mileage on the clock, but to keep it running out of warranty or heaven forbid do a re-furb would have been financially impossible.

[Phill Fenton]

Yes I can see the sense in that Simon. I was paying £1200 a year for my maintenance contract with B&P whereas for £900 I could get a machine back to "as new" condition complete with a 12 month warranty 😀 (Only downside being I could no longer run full solvent inks if I wanted to do so)

[John McNickle]

cheers for the help guys, im doing a few powerful head cleans right now, will let you know the outcome

[John McNickle]

i know this sounds daft but with back up and installs very basic in Northern Ireland, ie. they dont know much themselves!! what is the process for a system flush? is it INK CONTROL – HEAD WASH?

[Phill Fenton]

To flush the system you simply replace the four ink cartridges with four flush cartidges. Then perform the powerful head clean a couple of times to fill the ink system and print heads with flush solution.

However, if the pump is not functioning properly it may not draw the fluid through.

[John McNickle]

cheers again Phill

[John McNickle]

Phill a few powerful head cleans seem to have it sorted, cheers again

i have noticed that the warning beep when ink is low isnt working now so i need to remember to check inks more often as well

[Phill Fenton]

Glad it’s sorted 😀