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Roland SP300. Messy Black! :Head Alignment /Cleaning Issue ?
Hi to everyone,
Our SP300 ( eco sol max inks) is great at printing and cutting (!) except when printing black / black text only. The black seems to be messy and not as well defined as the other colorsWhen performing the Test Print the CMY lines print well and are aligned but the K is is a bit scruffy and there is lots of mis-alignment. I have tried the Self clean and manual head clean ( with swabs ) but to no avail.
I’m thinking of performing a Head Clean with cleaning solution but before i start i would like some advise please to see if there is anything else i should try first.
Many thanks in anticipation
Thanks,
Tim -
11 Replies
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The only thing I can suggest is to make sure you also cleaned the wiper blades when you did your manual head clean?
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I tried to post a reply for you, with a few suggestions to try but it was removed. I will try again…
I may very well be a bad wiper That is leaving a thin film of ink on the head, and trying to fire droplets through.
Try soaking the head in a little cleaning solution left in the capping station with the line crimped off.
Have you had any head strikes?
How old is the head? Could be that it is just starting to fail from general use. -
Thanks for the advise guys.
Ill interrogate the machine to see how much use its had but i was lead to believe by the seller that the machine had very little usage and when I went to his unit to see it working (before buying) it seemed that the vast amount of his work was done on his VP540.
Ill also try to soak the head
We manually cleaned the wiper head and various parts when we took delivery, if this was dirty / defective would it just affect only the black print quality ?
The more i look at this it appears to be a head damage / worn issue.
Any further comments / advise will be gratefully received.Regards,
Tim -
not sure how relevant this is to your problem, but…
move the head out from the docking area so that you can see the underside of the carriage if you crouch down. look very closely at the front and rear of the carriage and around the heads for a hair/s tangling down.
i had a problem in the past something like you describe and i did everything i could think of before phoning for a tech for help. the guy went through everything with me with no success, then told me to try this. on first inspection i couldn’t see anything. everything was clean… it was actually when i run a job i watched as the carriage shot back and forward that i spotted a little wisps of hair tangling down. i stopped the machine, wiped them away and problem solved. 😀
as i said, may not be the cause in your case but worth a go? 😀 -
the odd missing jets i have always got back but always struggled with retrieving a badly defecting head, and always the black one so far.
i have replaced the black head twice in 4 & half years.
some last longer some shorter.chris
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Thanks to Chris and Robert for your replies.
Having read the posts i think the real question is..
What does my machines Test Print really show / signify ?
Is it a blocked or damaged head?Can anyone recommend a Roland Print Head, Consumables and Cleaner solution distributor ? Can the black print head be replaced on its own ? (Chris – is the replacement complicated / costly ?).
JUST TO SAY..SORRY FOR SO MANY QUESTIONS – HOPEFULLY ILL BE ABLE TO RECIPROCATE ONE DAY AND BE OF SOME HELP TO SOME OF YOU !
Thank you
Tim -
i was going to say put up a scan of your test print but cant find anywhere to upload it
chris
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Hi Chris,
That’s a great idea.
Ill put a link to a scan on the board tomorrow.
Really appreciate your help
Tim -
Tim,
Usually when you see test print lines overlapping and dropping out completely it is from the orifices either being stopped up or physically damaged from head strikes and or debris. The heads also will just wear out . From my experience you will see them start to spray at the edges of a print or on Letter edges.
On an SP300 you have two heads that print two colors each. It is fairly easy to get replacement heads here in the U.S. but I don’t know about the U.K.
Hope this helpsScott
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Thanks Scott,
Hello to you over the pond.I’m going to post a scan or a link to a scan of the test print tomorrow. If you could offer any thoughts on that it would be really appreciated.
Ill have a really good luck at the print head tomorrow….fingers crossed ..Tim
PS I guess a US based supplier would ship to the UK for the right price (!) although a UK based supplier would be more able to site visit / support .. I suppose the truth of the matter is that all things have a certain life expectancy….
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Sorry that i didn’t post a scan of the Test Print today – ill try by the weekend. Today just disappeared on me and it was home time before i knew it
Regards,
Tim
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