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Grenadier 2 print head problem
Hi Guys,
I know someone will be able to give me a little help here, I’ve looked through the forum regarding this but haven’t been successful in finding alot of info.
My Grenadier 2 machine keeps doing mental things at the moment, it’s been doing it for approx 1 month now and still haven’t figured it out. I jumped straight in and bought this machine with no knowledge of digital printing at all, and to be honest it’s a little pain in the back side to get everything correct.
Say I use the machine every 2-3 days for an hour at a time. Every time I start the machine I do a normal clean sometimes the tests are find and sometimes they are pathetic. Also recently one of the cyan/light cyan have started to leak dripping onto the media but can’t figure out which one. If someone could advise me on anything that would be fantastic.
I’ve attached an image to show what the test print looks like.
Thanks again,
Jamie 🙂
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16 Replies
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cyan head is bollixd
Peter
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quote Peter Normington:cyan head is bollixdPeter
It’s weird though, it was fine liturally 3 days ago, then I done a test print today, and this happens, it’s starting to wind me up now, quite strange why light cyan and cyan does this at the exact same time.
Thanks, Jamie 🙂
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Hi
Capping stations check for good seal on the Cyan & Light Cyan.
Dampers could need changing.
Ink dripping either dried ink etc on head, possible air leak or head knackered.
This ink starvation can also be caused by curdled ink inside the head due to ink change.How much work does it take to get the head back good? Can you run high speed solid blues without getting ink starvation?
Kev
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what cleaner are you using. and what inks
it does look like the pump it not working correctly. or the heads not sealing on the capping station.you should not do a clean every time you turn it on as it will regularly do it on its own.
you are leaving the machine in stand by when not in use. -
@ Kevin,
If I run solid blues it varies how long, but it does eventually come back into shape… I got the machine from B & P, then they sent out another batch of ink which they said was the same stuff that was in it (Ativasol or something along those lines)
@ Chris
Where is the best place to buy cleaner for this, I phoned Robert Horne actually today, but they don’t stock any they have to order it in, then redispatch so this will take a few days to get to me. Do you know anyone with next day delivery? also… i’m thinking about soaking the heads if that will help, where would I get the wrench tool from, looked everywhere.
Also I usually turn mains off when not using, should I keep this on standby.
Thanks again guys,
Jamie 🙂
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Also I usually turn mains off when not using, should I keep this on standby.
yes it must be left with the mains switched onit will go to sleep about 30 mins after last used leve it like it.
in the midle of the night it will wake and do a very quick clean and go back to sleep -
quote Chris Wool:Also I usually turn mains off when not using, should I keep this on standby.
yes it must be left with the mains switched onit will go to sleep about 30 mins after last used leve it like it.
in the midle of the night it will wake and do a very quick clean and go back to sleepahh okaay, well thats a good thing to know, folk at b & p never told me this, where would you say the best place for cleaner would be, as I used to buy everything from them but they seem to have went bust again within the last month, can’t get through to them at all.
Cheers again Jamie 🙂
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went in again and done another test today without doing any cleaning and the results are far better, I really wonder why it’s done this, (the results still aint perfect but are far better than before)
Any other tips.
Cheers jamie 🙂
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look on the tech 8 site top of the page.
they have a cleaning kit on offer which includes the correct cleaner. -
thanks Chris perfect, had to look quite hard for this though, as they don’t offer any on the link at the top, they only offer it on their .eu store for some reason.
But thanks anyway, ordered some up and hope everything works out 🙂
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EU Store? they are in Maidenhead.
Tom Plunkett who posts here is the owner, he is the man to get it working again.
With the older machines purchased as a second owner, normally companies like B&P do trade in deals for new kit and well if they do service the kit, then you are lucky.
The Grenadier like many here is over 6-7 years old, you may have had a lightly used one or a heavy used machine.
A solvent printer can print well for many years, you have to expect some of the parts of the machine to weaken as the solvent is very aggressive and the heads do need a lot of TLC.
Breakdown of the heads can be seals, can be weak pumps. On our very first solvent we actually printed a test print daily to keep the machine running.
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well i got a sales email from them today which highlighted the mini service kit. which i thought was pretty good.
just thought it would be on there web site.wrong again
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@ Dave
Yeah it is the same website but under different domains http://www.tech8.eu & http://www.selectechdirect.co.uk , same unit in maidenhead. It’s the Grenadier 2 (XC540) I have it’s only 3 years old. So no trade in soon for me (B&P no longer exist I don’t think, tried to get through to them for the last 2 months without any luck)
Nah, you are correct, it was on the tech8.eu website, it was only 20quid far better than any other places i’ve seen, most are at at the 40quid mark with the 500ml flush. Cheers again Chris
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Basically Tech8, Selectech and IGS UK Ltd are all operating from the same location in Maidenhead, I have been there and seen with my own eyes. They insist that they are three companies sharing the same premises and they run different companies, it is confusing but I have found it is quite useful as each of their companies backs each other up.
IGS UK http://www.igsuk.net basically is machinery sales
Tech8 is run by Tom Plunkett, ex-B&P engineer who fixes printers and does waranties http://www.tech8.eu/
Selectech is run by Stuart Lee (ex-B&P) and David Foster http://www.selectechdirect.co.uk
and they deal with medias and ink. -
Hi Jamie
i too have the same machine as you – it too is 3yrs old – it too was a b&p machine
ive had no dealngs with b&p since the time time they went bust leaving me with a £1000 maintenance problem
it could well be the ink if b&p sold it to you as i heard bad things
on another note – can you send me any of your profiles to try as all of a sudden most of my profile do not seem to be creating the correct colours
tech8 sent me a few to try which are fine but was wandering if yours may be better
let me know if this is possible and ill will send you my email
colin
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quote Colin Hibbitt:Hi Jamie
i too have the same machine as you – it too is 3yrs old – it too was a b&p machine
ive had no dealngs with b&p since the time time they went bust leaving me with a £1000 maintenance problem
it could well be the ink if b&p sold it to you as i heard bad things
on another note – can you send me any of your profiles to try as all of a sudden most of my profile do not seem to be creating the correct colours
tech8 sent me a few to try which are fine but was wandering if yours may be better
let me know if this is possible and ill will send you my email
colin
Hi Colin,
Sorry no can do on that i’m afraid… i’m getting bother with the colours also, it’s doing my head right in!! i’ve spoke to a guy named tim from b&p he said just keep playing about with it until I get it right, of which I must have wasted a tonne of ink & media doing so.
Any chance you could send me over the profiles you have just to see if they are better than the generic ones I have.
Cheers Jamie
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