A Digital Printing Network
Please help with Black Banding Problem
I have a SP-300V, I have been using it for over 2 years.
I am experiencing banding with the black print head. It is a definite banding.spaces equally throughout.
I have tried regular cleaning multiple times, the medium cleaning 3 times and the power cleaning once. I have maually cleaned it twice. I have checked the head alignment.
I am printing on Stahl's Express Print.
The print test stays the same, all of the colors look good but the black is just slightly spotty.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I am attaching the print test here.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on -
Will thanks for being through in your explanation of what is going on with your machine, for it makes it easier to assist you.It looks as if your printhead is deflecting. What that means is stop wasting ink for that will not go away. When the head is going bad it starts deflecting and your picture represents that the head will need to be replaced at some point. There is no way to tell when it will fail, for some uses it in that state for many, many months. With the SP you have two heads and the half of one of yours is the problem (Black and Cyan share). Do a vector file using all 4 channels and post that picture. You should be able to use it without great notice but I will not know until you post the next picture. If you are only getting this on your test print - keep printing but start saving.
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Permalink Reply by Will Alan on -
Irving,
thanks for the info. I was afraid I might have to replace the print head.
Here is the print you requested.
You can see the 3 colors are uniform but the black has banding. Thanks again for your help.
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Permalink Reply by Adam Prumm on
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I've been having the same banding issue lately, though on my SP-300V the black was banding much worse than the other colors. On a whim, I changed the enhanced CMYK (spot color system) colors on my test squares to RGB and most of the banding went away and the black was a more rich and deeper black!
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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Adam if you read this whole post - other than the joking - and others on this topic - here would be my suggests to you - not necessarily in this order
-upload a picture so we can see what is really going on
- your banding could be the head deflecting = going bad - could last up to another year
-RGB will always - 100% of the time give you better color than CMYK - VW does the conversion to CMYK
-banding can also be caused by an overly humid environment - check that
-banding can be caused by wrong profile - ensue you are using the right one or try TTRH
- you maybe able to by more time on a bad head or banding by printing in enhance mode - which does more ink passes.
hopes this moves you to a positive solution
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Permalink Reply by Butch on
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Will, first is the banding across he entire media ? If so have you picked the right profile for the media ? Have you checked your bi-directional print adjustment ? Most of my banding problems have come from the wrong profile being used or bi-directional printing alignment being off. My test print looks almost like yours on the black but has for a while. I know it will go one day but it keeps chugging along - keeping fingers crossed. I lose very little quality as it is.
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Permalink Reply by Joseph Tovar on -
I have to agree with Butch about it being a profile/settig issue.
My black test print looks similar to yours and it is deflecting as Irv said, but it looks perfectly fine with certain marterials/profiles and looks horrible when I get the wrong settings. If I just get the wrong amount of feed, speed, heat, etc, my prints look waaayyy off.
Here is a thread we had awhile ago with the same issue:
http://myversacamm.com/forum/topics/need-the-experts-help-whats
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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So Joe does that mean you don't agree with me - :-(. Will as mentioned I cannot speak to it enough about doing your media checks - especially bi-directional and calibration. As stated those plus the profiles really are the life line to the Versacamms. It will not correct your deflections for your head is rounding third base, but what those checks and appropriate profile does is minimize the effects you see. We will notice it but most customers don't. I know some who will use a deflecting head for years - and they are probably reading this post. So as stated -start saving - keep printing - and keep your machine tuned - no more unnecessary cleaning.
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Permalink Reply by Joseph Tovar on
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Irv..Irv..Irv...
I agree with you too..."My black test print looks similar to yours and it is deflecting as Irv said"...What I was trying to say was that even with a deflecting head, my blacks do print out just fine and that my issue happened to be that the profile was causing my black banding issue.
See you soon bud...
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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I know what you meant; but if I did not bust your chops you would think I was sick. Just back from florida. I will see you at the end of the week. I am coming now thursday instead of Wednesday. Still do not know where I am staying, but will definitely be there. So see you soon. So Will I hope you got all of this - media, set-up, correct profiles, and keep on trucking.
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Permalink Reply by Admin on -
I am looking forward to seeing both of you at the show! Irv - I do not see you as reserved for the meet up on Friday. Not coming?
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Permalink Reply by irving donaldson on
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You know the answer - did not think I had to reserve or that my brother would have done it for me since he knew how busy I was serving the community. I will rectify the situation, next slide.
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