LEF12 HORIZONTAL LINES IN SOLID COLOR PRINT

[designer321]

Seeking help from the experts - see image. I am getting horizontal lines when printing solid color blocks. Test print is good, heads clean, all new heads January 2017. Urgent help, could this have anything to do with the curing light? ...any ideas / advice / suggestions ??

[Joe Wigzell]

Always worth checking the lamps, check out the YouTube video we recently created on cleaning.
Have you tried using spot colours from the Roland Color Library?
Also ensuring that the table height is correct distance from the item?

[designer321]

thanks for your reply Joe - I am very particular about cleaning and all cleaning is done on a regular basis.
Yes have used colours from Roland library, no difference when this problem occurs. Table height is correct. I have had this machine for 5 years, regularly serviced etc. and it is a very busy machine. This problem was evident on 2 previous occasions - print heads were replaced again in January this year and the solid colour print was perfect. Reason unknown at this stage - this has just started again.

[mrtn]

Are your inks within best before date?

[designer321]

yes well in advance

[ArferMo]

There is some head deflection evident on the head test print near the centre on the magenta head.

[designer321]

Yes but according to the "experts" from Roland here the print test is good ?? I am really hoping someone can shed some light here

[GUY DESILVA]

What PRINTER is this?

OK so

1. Your heads are good

2. Your Test Print is good (mostly cause its not solid block of color)
that tells you where your problem is at.

Its the Media Advance correction factor.

Your Vinyl is feeding too fast causing a overlap for every pass of the print head. (if band lines appear dark TOO FAST) & (if light feed is to slow)

so in your case that perticular material may need to be adjusted.
Now this can be a problem that may not have persisted before but will build up after many hours of opertaion or head strikes.

It is reccomended that before the load of a vinyl mayerial a test be done and feed adjusted for that material.

I tend to do this between Regular HP printable white vinyl like AVERY 2000 to 3M White printable REflective vinyl.
as materials have two distinct thickness nad rigidness.

solution
In Your Printer there is an option

MENU -(SCROLL DOWN) ADJ-BI DIRECTION - (SCROLL RIGHT) THEN (SCROLL DOWN) - ADVANCE TEST PRINT : SELECT THAT N HIT ENTER

WILL PRINT A FEED CALIBARTION TEST PRINT FOR EVERY ONE OF YOUR HEADS. YOU NEED A FLASH LIGHT FOR NEXT PART OR VERY WELL LIT AREA BY PRINTER.

YOU NEED TO LOOK AT EVERY LINE IN THOSE PRINTS AND SELECT THE NUM THAT HAS THE SINGLE VERTICAL LINE WITH NO OVERLAP. THIS MUST BE DONE FOR EVERY HEAD SO THAT THE CHOSEN NUM IS ENTERED BACK INTO THE PRINTER REPRESENTING THE CLEANEST LINE. ( FOLLOW TUTORIAL ON ADJUSTING BI DIRECTION) ALSO IN YOUR PRINTER MANUAL.) iF YOU DO THIS FOR THE MATERIAL YOU ARE PRINTING ON, AND YOU PICK THE RIGHT CALIBRATION YOUR BANDING ISSUES WILL BE GONE IF YOUR PRINT HEADS N TEST PRINT ARE AT OPTIMAL OPERATIONAL CAPACITY.

[PhillyDee]

The LEF-12 is a flatbed printer, no vinyl or rolls.

[GUY DESILVA]

its same problem if your heads are clean n new. The Print head gantry is on bi- directional printing. try if problem persists in single direction printing.
Most likely UV light is drying ink fast so the second pass of ink head is not mixing with first pass and droping wet ink on dry ink not blending well so causes a band of dark line. you can try reducing UV light strenth but vreal problem may be that your ink head is moving fast. I am assuming its the heads that move and not the substrate. which ever is moving needs to be slowed down or UV reduced.