Versacamm sp 300v print quality

[Gareth Howells]

hi lloyd, i have an sp540i with eco sol max inks, i also notice the yellow isnt great and the black can get mixed results, i find after a manual clean and a powerful clean of the system the results on black should be a lot better, i am in no way an expert here but just maybe giving you something to try, hope this helps

gareth

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi Lloyd

I have the same machine as you.
Now I am by no means an expert, as many on the signboards will verify, but I have found the same problems as yourself at times, and have found some solutions.
If, as you say, the test prints are good, no broken lines or gaps, then
1, do you have the heaters on? I find if printing without heaters that the ink is ‘blotchy’, as though the ink coverage is pooling in tiny circles.
2, the prints do look ‘liney’ as you say, but from normal arms length viewing are ok.
3, printing any yellow from the Signlab colour swatches come out slightly greeny in colour, I have rectified this by printing 100% yellow spot colour, it always shocks me to see the print colour when I forget to change the swatch colour profile. The same may apply to black. I always use the black RGB swatch on my colour swatch in Signlab. Reds are another problem, I like them bright, Signlab tends to print them all a bit dull, so I change the profile.

In fact the best purchase I have made since getting my Versacamm is the Pantone to CMYK colour change book (thanks to advice here on UKSB), all of a sudden I am a colour expert! 😎

Sorry to ramble, it’s getting a bit late…

Lorraine

Edit: spot colours on my printer are perfect, no lines, no pooling, just pure colour, really nice, so worth adjusting if you can.

[Chris Hansen]

Make sure you go through all the feed calibration and bi-directional print settings if a tech hasn’t serviced it recently, before you start looking at the other issues. And yeah, you need need the heat settings close to max in most cases.

Also try a higher quality(more passes) print setting if necessary, as these things are prone to banding from the start on certain colours.

Edit: and get your hands on the service manual for more in detail settings/part replacement, if necessary.

[Jason Davies]

Hi Lloyd, have you manually cleaned the heads with cleaning fluid and the correct cleaning buds?

Jason

[Lloyd Morgan]

thanks for the tips
got it nearly 95% printing perfectly,really pleased with the quality.
noticed on the test print the magenta has about 4-5 nozzles clogged since i got it. produces very faint lines when you look closely at red prints. i run loads of cleaning cycles but its still blocked and i don’t want to waste ink. any ideas?
i could live with it but would like to have a perfect print even on close expection

is it advisable to put cleaning fluid in the cap and let it sit there overnight to unblock the nozzles? just a thought i had

[Lorraine Clinch]

Hi Lloyd

Some people recommend this, and I did it last time I was away for 3 weeks, and the print quality was great on my return, hadn’t dropped off at all when I did a test print, so I would say do it.

Lorraine