HP L26500 wavy lines on Avery 2803 problem

[Hugh Potter]

are you sure it’s not ink, somehow getting onto the roller at the start of a print? I’m not sure how it would get there but…

[Luke Culpin]

Is the media definitely latex approved? I’ve had this pattern before on banner material that wasn’t latex friendly!

[Myles Brewer]

I’m pretty sure it’s not Hugh otherwise it would be on every print & not just the 2803. Never does it on MPI 3000 series vinyl or any other media come to that. It’s like the printer knows it’s more expensive vinyl & does it just to pee me off!! :rollseyes:

[Myles Brewer]

quote Luke Culpin:

Is the media definitely latex approved? I’ve had this pattern before on banner material that wasn’t latex friendly!

Yes Luke, the spec sheet says latex compatible

[Peter Munday]

Just had that on banner material, turns out the heads were pass warranty. Put in a new set and the problem went away.

Peter

[Myles Brewer]

quote Peter Munday:

Just had that on banner material, turns out the heads were pass warranty. Put in a new set and the problem went away.

Peter

You sure it was wavy lines like this Peter? These are definitely caused by the pinch rollers as the pattern exactly matches the pattern on the rollers. I do actually have 1 head that’s out of warranty although it’s still used under 1000ml & I can’t see how the head would relate to the marks. & like mentioned why would it only occur on certain media & not all?

[Hugh Potter]

Does it do it where print is or the same place every time regardless of whether print is there or not?

[Kevin Busby]

Myles

Run out 1m amount from the front of machine and stop before it hits the floor, wipe over vinyl with iso and allow to dry for a couple minutes then rewind and try printing on it again, if the problem improves or goes away then its due to an old batch of product where the plasticiser has gone off. It normally happens a lot with Banners more than vinyl as people keep it in stock so long and it goes off over time, there is a hp latex support vid on youtube about it.

Might not be the answer but worth trying anyway.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Hugh Potter:

Does it do it where print is or the same place every time regardless of whether print is there or not?

Seems to be more or less the same, always left of centre when printing on 1370mm.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Kevin Busby:

Myles

Run out 1m amount from the front of machine and stop before it hits the floor, wipe over vinyl with iso and allow to dry for a couple minutes then rewind and try printing on it again, if the problem improves or goes away then it’s due to an old batch of product where the plasticiser has gone off. It normally happens a lot with Banners more than vinyl as people keep it in stock so long and it goes off over time, there is a hp latex support vid on youtube about it.

Might not be the answer but worth trying anyway.

Very interesting Kevin. Just watched the Youtube clip. Shame he didn’t have an actual sample & had to draw the lines on in marker!! : lol: But yes it seems very similar. Only thing is my roll is dated this year so it’s definitely not an age thing. Possibly poor storage at some stage?? The odd thing is it’s only on the first maybe 500 – 1000mm.
I went into the service menu yesterday & you can set the main rollers to rotate for a few mins with the window up & I gave them & pinch wheels all a good clean again with degreaser. Nothing notably came off & I then ran about 12m of Avery 3001 through with no sign of a single wavy line!! Then changed rolls to the 2803 whilst printer still warm etc. & ran a test print. There were a couple of much fainter wavy lines again but only for about 3-400mm & then they went. I continued printing another 15m run on the 2803 without a hitch. So still a bit of a mystery to be honest.

Only got about 9m left now so will be interesting to see if the same happens again with a new roll.

Just another quick question, I’m finding that I’m getting a bit of graininess (is that a word?) in solid colours when printing onto the 2803 which I don’t get on the cheaper media. Using similar settings i.e. 10 pass low ink which gives excellent results on the cheaper media. Any idea what’s the best way to improve this? It’s only obvious close up but I’d like to improve it if possible.

[Hugh Potter]

from what you’re saying, there’s dirt on one of the rollers – oil, ink or glood of some kind, and this transfers to the top roller, which in turn transfers to the media, yes? if so I’m guessing a full clean on the rollers may improve further.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Hugh Potter:

from what you’re saying, there’s dirt on one of the rollers – oil, ink or glood of some kind, and this transfers to the top roller, which in turn transfers to the media, yes? if so I’m guessing a full clean on the rollers may improve further.

That would be a reasonable prosumption hugh, but given the fact it doesn’t happen on the Avery 3000 you would have to rule that out I think, although as per my last post, I did give them a thorough clean just in case that was the issue, but it still did it slightly on the next run with 2803.

[Hugh Potter]

quote Myles Brewer:

quote Hugh Potter:

from what you’re saying, there’s dirt on one of the rollers – oil, ink or glood of some kind, and this transfers to the top roller, which in turn transfers to the media, yes? if so I’m guessing a full clean on the rollers may improve further.

That would be a reasonable prosumption hugh, but given the fact it doesn’t happen on the Avery 3000 you would have to rule that out I think, although as per my last post, I did give them a thorough clean just in case that was the issue, but it still did it slightly on the next run with 2803.

I have to say that I’m stumped! it should happen across the range of vinyls, not just one type!

[Myles Brewer]

quote Hugh Potter:

quote Myles Brewer:

quote Hugh Potter:

from what you’re saying, there’s dirt on one of the rollers – oil, ink or glood of some kind, and this transfers to the top roller, which in turn transfers to the media, yes? if so I’m guessing a full clean on the rollers may improve further.

That would be a reasonable prosumption hugh, but given the fact it doesn’t happen on the Avery 3000 you would have to rule that out I think, although as per my last post, I did give them a thorough clean just in case that was the issue, but it still did it slightly on the next run with 2803.

I have to say that I’m stumped! it should happen across the range of vinyls, not just one type!

That’s my point! If it was dirt it would be obvious. I think Kevin has it with the plasticiser, but why it should only do it on the first 500mm approx beats me. I printed another 5m on Aslan DFP 25 White & 41 clear this morning & not a sign of wavy lines!

[Kevin Busby]

I think it happens at the start more because that piece has been exposed more than whats covered inside, I used to get round it by printing a 500mm strip of the design before printing the real design, with a little tweaking you can then get the design printed without the marks.

Dates on batches are very unreliable as they might have taken months to get the the supplier plus it could depend on where the media was stored in the container on the ship, at the top it gets all the heat from the sun, down below its very cold, was surprised how many things make a difference to the end result.

Its not something I get much problem with now especially on the 310 newer inks but the worst culprit for me was outdoor banners, I went through every banner material supplier had and all had the same problem, switched supplier and problem gone so its amazing how long some suppliers keep stock beyond their shelf life.

[Peter Johnson]

With regards to your ‘graining issue’, I was getting the same thing in the blue parts of my prints. New C/LC printheads sorted them out, even though the old printheads that were fitted had only fired less than 400ml each and were both in warranty.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Kevin Busby:

I think it happens at the start more because that piece has been exposed more than whats covered inside, I used to get round it by printing a 500mm strip of the design before printing the real design, with a little tweaking you can then get the design printed without the marks.

Dates on batches are very unreliable as they might have taken months to get the the supplier plus it could depend on where the media was stored in the container on the ship, at the top it gets all the heat from the sun, down below its very cold, was surprised how many things make a difference to the end result.

Its not something I get much problem with now especially on the 310 newer inks but the worst culprit for me was outdoor banners, I went through every banner material supplier had and all had the same problem, switched supplier and problem gone so its amazing how long some suppliers keep stock beyond their shelf life.

I guess vinyl may be similar to cars in that date of first registration is Not a date of manufacture!!
Just got a new roll on 2800 but it’s their newer high opacity film so hoping it won’t have the same issue.

[Myles Brewer]

quote Peter Johnson:

With regards to your ‘graining issue’, I was getting the same thing in the blue parts of my prints. New C/LC printheads sorted them out, even though the old printheads that were fitted had only fired less than 400ml each and were both in warranty.

Think I might have to try that Peter. I know that one of the heads is out of warranty anyway. Out of interest were you able to make a claim under the warranty on them?

[Peter Johnson]

Yes, I was able to make the warranty claim with the reseller that sold me the printhead in the first place. I had to jump through a few hoops (photos of test prints and a download of all logs from the printer) but I did get a new replacement printhead.

It actually took me longer to get the log files sorted out than it did them to get the new printhead to me.