All Other Print Quality Problems (continued)

Select the best image or images below to characterize the problem your printer is experiencing:

4-13.

If the prime pattern is severely degraded and the cartridges have been checked and cleaned ensure the flex driver cables are cleaned properly. If cleaning has been performed and electrical connections are intact then replacement of the carriage board is required. Call for service.

Ensure strike plate and static brushes are in good condition. The strike plates are attached to the take-up and feed motor brackets. See illustration below, the arrow is pointing at the carbon fiber brushes. The brushes should be standing straight up and in good condition. If not then contact your service representative or damage to the printer may occur again when printing on backlit and polyester media types.

If the banding is accompanied by apparent overspray then electrostatic discharge from the media is probably the cause. Improper dryer operations, control panel display, or media stepping functionality are other symptoms of electrostatic discharge interference. Call for service.

4-14.

If banding or scraping of the printheads is occurring then ensure the vacuum fans are blowing air down below the platen surface during printing. Check media to ensure the maximum thickness does not exceed 20 mil and that the media has not been exposed to humidity (particularly vinyl and canvas.) Change media to verify. Ensure the cutter is functioning properly. Ensure carriage head is at proper height by gauging distance with a US quarter under the cartridges. The distance between the cartridges and the platen surface (media must be removed first!) should be approximately 65/1000" (of an inch) or the thickness of a US quarter (>1966). For the NovaJet 505 and 1500TX the distance is equal to approximately 2 stacked US quarters or 125/1000". Inspect carriage bushings for wear, bushings should be replaced every 2000 print hours. Call for service if the problem cannot be resolved or if you wish to raise carriage head height to accomodate thicker media types.

4-15.

If all printed output is banding and the image is forced to print in the left region of the printing area only then the firmware has been corrupted. Reinitialize the printer to help correct. Download new firmware following the firmware download procedure from the documents contained with the firmware on the ENCAD web site. A Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM) error may be causing the problem and may need to be cleared - call for service.

4-16.

If erratic overspray is occuring on image output first verify the problem is not media related. The next step is to test the RIP by sending a test file to the printer. You cannot use compression utilities with large images as this has been known to corrupt the appearance of text. Test files can be downloaded from the ENCAD web site. Ensure printer strike plate and static brushes are in good condition. The strike plates are attached to the take-up and feed motor brackets. See illustration below, the arrow is pointing at the carbon fiber brushes. The brushes should be standing straight up and in good condition. If not then contact your service representative or damage to the printer may occur when printing on backlit and polyester media types.

If the banding is accompanied by apparent overspray then electrostatic discharge from the media is probably the cause. If dryer operations, control panel display, or media stepping functionality is affected immediately call for service.

4-17.

If the print settings are printed in any color other than black then the carriage board is defective. Ensure the black cartridge and ink reservoir containing black ink are connected to the black tubing line. Call for service.

4-18.

If all prints characteristically contain vertical and horizontal banding and previously the images were fine then the Main board is probably defective. Check RIP as source of problem first. Test files can be downloaded from the ENCAD web site. Renitialize the printer. Call for service.

4-19.

If ink drops (typically larger than normal) are appearing randomly on the printed output then the ink pressure in the system is too high. Ensure all cartridges are primed properly and contains approximately 20 ml of ink. On the NovaJet PROe, PRO 600e, 500, 505, 1500TX, 630, and 700 verify the reservoirs are only half full. Check all ink delivery line connections and retest by running a color test in a low pass (2) print mode. Clean the service station thoroughly as well as this is known to cause the symptoms shown above. Verify the printer floor surface is level. Call for service.

4-20.

If the Prime pattern prints incorrectly where the right side data fails to line up correctly then the encoder strip is most likely dirty or defective. First ensure all calibrations have been performed correctly. Clean with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab. Call for service.

4-21.

If text contains diagonal banding or if a line protrudes from the text then the text field is in error. Within the application delete the text field or box and create a new one. Do not use compression plug-in programs.

4-22.

If the image is skewed ensure the media guides at rear of printer are properly set against media edges to within 2 mm. Ensure the feed roller is properly installed. Obtain the square test file from ENCAD. If the start of the image is not parallel with the Y-Arm assembly or if image data continues to skew (parallelogram effect) then call for service.

4-23.

If the output image slowly degrades over a period of hours (2-8 hours), typically first observed at the registration marks, and then recovers after an off period of 30 minutes or more then the carriage board is defective 95% of the time. Call for service.

4-24.

If phantom images (such as boxes or upside-down T's ) appear within the output then the RIP is characteristically at fault. Select another dithering pattern or change image color to check. Call the RIP vendor for support as this is not a printer problem.

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