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SP300 Leaking Magenta Ink – Help! Photos Inside!
Morning!
Whilst carrying out my weekly clean I noticed there was a pool of magenta ink in the front cover underneath the capping station (see image). I undid the 3 screws and removed the cover to clean it out and see where the ink is coming from. Looks like the ink is leaking from the actual capping station (see 2nd pic).
I put the cleaned cover back on and the printer cleaned itself and dumped more magenta ink back into the cover so it’s still leaking. Has anyone had this problem and is it a straightforward fix? Is it something I could do myself with care or do I need an engineer?
Any help appreciated!
Thanks, Owen
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12 Replies
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Could be the pump if you are using full solvent inks it may have eaten through your tube and pump seals, the pumps are quite easily changed yourself and if memory serves me well they are about £50 £60 quidish for a new pump unit but dont hold me to this
George
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Thanks for the reply.
The inks are genuine eco solvent. Never used anything else. Am I still likely to have this problem of the inks eating through parts of the machine?
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As well as the possibility of the seals it could be something as simple as a blocked or kinked pipe, difficult to say without seeing it first hand.
Whereabouts are you? I am sure someone will know a reliable engineer in your locality if you are not confident in sorting this yourself.
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Thanks, I am based near Blackburn, Lancs.
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If you are feeling ‘handy’ and want to investigate further – pop off the black retaining cap/cover for the magenta/yellow that hold in/down the actual capping station rubber piece. Watch out – there’s two springs that have a tendency to go flying – so lift off the black cover slowly. Pull up the cap and have a look under it where the pipe attaches.
It’s possible the tiny spigot has cracked slightly (did on mine) and is leaking ink…may also mean it’s not cleaning properly on that bank as the pump will be drawing in some air.
It’s quite a cheap part so worth buying two 🙂
Dave
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Owen
Can recommend Mark at Optimise Print. http://www.optimiseprint.co.uk/Have recently had superb service from him. He is based in Yorkshire but travels countrywide.
Cheers
Gary
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I have had a similiar issue and it was the pump! if thats any help, we called the engineer and he swapped it.
regards
Dan
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definitely the pump. after a while the solvent ink swells the pipes and they can move and get chewed by the cogs.
i would recommend replacing it but also updating it to the newer type pump that can be mod fitted to the sp range. These are much better and will last a lot longer.
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Yes, the new pumps are superior in most ways…also quieter.
Dead easy fit & a firmware update from Roland to ‘slow’ the pump motor or you’ll hemorrhage ink. The only downside I can see with them is they now draw the vacuum via ONE pipe with a ‘T’ piece. So if you are drawing air on one capping station (bad seal etc.)…the whole cleaning cycle is nul and void instead of just the affected bank.
Takes maybe 30-40 mins to do everything.
Dave
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That seems to be the problem with the new pumps as mentioned by david.
Forgot what the pump you got at the moment is called, same as the heart pumps they use in hospitals. Basically don’t draw in air from any seals as there are none!I would certainly get a new pump anyway because it may well of eaten into the pump anyway. But if you catch it early enough you can just get the pipes changed.
Personally I would stick to the old type pump. Iv found it more efficient but does need to have an eye kept on it.
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jeah, definitely the pump. My sp-300v did that very same thing 1.5 years ago.
Magenta ink everywhere 🙂 New pump was something like 90euros and my friend changed it in 15 minutes. -
I had this about 3 months ago, and didnt know what i should do i kept pumping lots of ink everywhere, and i was on holiday the next day for two weeks and it was unplugged and black head went! 🙁
Also check the pump tubes they often are the cause too!
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