jmiller 5 Posted February 2, 2019 So I've been having issues for some time now and I just replaced both captops and am STILL having this issue. Problem started by me coming in my shop in the morning, Printing the first job of the day and seeing that yellows come out orange, blue's look pink etc until you get about 2 feet printed then it clears itself up. Yesterday I changed the cap tops and lines to the Y fitting. As you can see, When I came in today and did a test print there was alot of contamination. I did 1 medium cleaning and it cleared it up. What is going on with this thing guys? Another issue is that white line to the right of the test prints but I think that's a media feed calibration adjustment. Dampers were replaced less than a year ago with a new black head. (Yeah I know it's looking bad again hence my black banding and test print :/) Cap tops replaced the other day 100% OEM Inks used Thank you in advance! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 2, 2019 Here's the photos Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 2, 2019 is your pump working (actually drawing ink ) ? did you pinch the drain tube when threading the waste bottle back on? did that pinch the waste bottle thing once and you can bet you will never do that again. can you push solvent thru the tubes from the pump to the waste bottle? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 2, 2019 when doing my weekly cleaning I always filled the cap tops twice and then let solvent drain thru the tubes to help keep them clean - Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 3, 2019 3 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said: is your pump working (actually drawing ink ) ? did you pinch the drain tube when threading the waste bottle back on? did that pinch the waste bottle thing once and you can bet you will never do that again. can you push solvent thru the tubes from the pump to the waste bottle? Hey thanks for the reply! How do I push fluid through the lines? Very novice in opening these machines up. I know you use a syringe but I have no idea what lines are what. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 3, 2019 you will have to open the panel below the ink lines in your picture - I believe 4 screws and you will want an magnetic Phillips screwdriver. sp300v is tougher to put the screws back in than a sp-300i - the black line coming out of the combing Tee in you picture goes to the input of the pump - there will be one exiting the pump going to the waste bottle - before all that when you do a cleaning can you see it pulling ink thru the clear tubes on those aftermarket cap tops you installed (factory cap tops have black hoses) that will give an idea of if the pump is working well before digging into the printer. The one thing about owning a solvent printer is you WILL become a technician and will be troubleshooting and replacing stuff - note too if you decide to replace the dampers make sure you remove ALL power and just kill the secondary switch as one drop of ink on the print head boards and you can fry a $2600-3500 board. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 3, 2019 looks like you are missing at lest 3 nozzles on the yellow and 3 on the magenta that are weak/distorted - making me think you have a suction problem - hard to tell though not being at the printer. when is the last time you did a complete alignment sequence? none of this is likely to bring the black part of the head back but that is normal after a couple years , especially if not used enough - I have seen deflections come back but never seen blocked nozzles get better and I planned on a new head every couple of years - usually the black was the cause for pushing solvent thru or sucking ink thru a cap top I use some syringes I bought that have a little nipple on them - I believe they were for IV use Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 3, 2019 Once I get back to my shop Monday morning I'll see if the pumps working right on a clean. I was thinking of doing a head soak to try and fix some of the black deflections by pouring some cleaning fluid in the caps and letting it set. I'll keep you guys updated! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 3, 2019 looking at your photo again - there is something definitely wrong with the suction - there is no reason there should be dark ink in that clear tube coming from your magenta/yellow head. the newer sp series printers use a pump with 4 inlets and 2 capped off - I bought 2 spares for my previous printer one with the 2 inlets and outlets and one for a bn-20 that looks identical but has only has one inlet and outlet meaning none capped off - I no longer have the one with 2 ins and outs but still have the one for the bn-20 that I was betting would work - oem roland These are the two pumps to show the difference - never understood why they used the combining tee on the sp series and plugged off one input on the pump and why if doing that why they didn't use the other pump on them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 3, 2019 4 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said: looking at your photo again - there is something definitely wrong with the suction - there is no reason there should be dark ink in that clear tube coming from your magenta/yellow head. the newer sp series printers use a pump with 4 inlets and 2 capped off - I bought 2 spares for my previous printer one with the 2 inlets and outlets and one for a bn-20 that looks identical but has only has one inlet and outlet meaning none capped off - I no longer have the one with 2 ins and outs but still have the one for the bn-20 that I was betting would work - oem roland These are the two pumps to show the difference - never understood why they used the combining tee on the sp series and plugged off one input on the pump and why if doing that why they didn't use the other pump on them Yeah as basic as that is I just noticed the black in my magenta also. What can I do to help the suction? Does it mean the caps are sealing right or? I hope I can find a fix to this soon :/ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 3, 2019 could be caps not sealing, bad line, blocked line, bad pump is where I would start Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 4, 2019 1 hour ago, Dakotagrafx said: could be caps not sealing, bad line, blocked line, bad pump is where I would start I'll be honest, How could I adjust the caps to see? They were pretty straight forward on the replacement I thought. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 4, 2019 it is in the maint manual that is harder to get ahold of as it is intended for roland techs - if you can pull ink with a syringe thru them they should be sealed good though. betting your issue is further down the line than the caps though. any time i replaced a head I also did dampers - Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jmiller 5 Posted February 4, 2019 16 hours ago, Dakotagrafx said: it is in the maint manual that is harder to get ahold of as it is intended for roland techs - if you can pull ink with a syringe thru them they should be sealed good though. betting your issue is further down the line than the caps though. any time i replaced a head I also did dampers - New dampers on order. So I came in this morning, filled cap tops with fluid and the magenta and yellow drained immediately and the black and cyan cap did not at all. I took the Y connector off and pushed fluid through it to make sure no blockages. Same story with this thing, You do 1 medium cleaning and the contamination is cleared up. Guess it's a work around but why is it crossing over? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 4, 2019 Is the pump working correctly? If it is sucking properly ther is no way the back could get into the line from the magenta yellow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted February 18, 2019 did you ever get this resolved? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites