[Sever.Cunia]

Hi,

I have a DTG Viper that I just recently purchased and after much playing around with it I'm fairly happy. I haven't done anything on a grand scale yet, just 40-50 shirts per customer. The biggest problem I have with it is that every now and again (about 1 in every 6 shirts) prints about an inch of, what I think is, blue. Attached is an image that shows the issue. The design is all pure yellow, and as you can see the first two or so inches of the print comes out with blue in it. This happens with different artwork files, so it's not that.

It's pretty frustrating because a customer handed me 30 shirts and wants this design on all of them. I kind of just ruined one of shirts and will probably ruin a couple more before I finish the order. It's pretty ridiculous honestly. The only way I can fix it is to clean the machine. I use QTips to clean the inside and then perform a couple of head cleanings. Unfortunately, the problem occurs again soon after.

I was wondering what the cause of this issue is. There must be a way to fix it because I can't afford to continue ruining 1 out of 7 shirts. The strange thing is that I do two shirts at a time and this only happens to the first shirt that prints out.

Any help is appreciated,
Thank you

 

[Sever.Cunia]

Quick update,

It got to the point where every other run, the first shirt had the logo as green the first few inches. I cleaned the tubes connecting to the waste container, cleaned the part above the waste container, did three head cleanings, and the problem still arises. Not sure what is going on at this point...

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

When I used to see this with my Kiosk it was because the ink levels were just a tad bit too low. While printing, the white in the print head would slowly start to revers and pull in other colors from the capping station which would usually look blue.

Does your Viper have a bulk ink system with adjustable levels you can mess with?

 

[Sever.Cunia]

I'm using DTG Rip PRo v04. DO you mean the ink density levels or the actual ink levels themselves? I set my white ink level to 65 to lower the cost a bit, but all the other colors are 100. The density curves I've never touched because I really don't know what to do there. You think the white being too low could be causing this? The strange thing is that it only happens in that beginning part of the design. Almost like the print head is dirty, but it cleans itself up as it goes through the first shirt and the second shirt.

 

[chica729]

I would contact the company that made the machine and ask them for some troubleshooting help. Could be u have a defective machine. My father has a roland print and it was splitting sploches of ink through out prints, ruining banner that were 30 ft long! Turns out the heads were defective, he got the heads replaced for free and a free roll of banner material to make up0 for all the wasted material.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

I'm using DTG Rip PRo v04. DO you mean the ink density levels or the actual ink levels themselves? I set my white ink level to 65 to lower the cost a bit, but all the other colors are 100. The density curves I've never touched because I really don't know what to do there. You think the white being too low could be causing this? The strange thing is that it only happens in that beginning part of the design. Almost like the print head is dirty, but it cleans itself up as it goes through the first shirt and the second shirt.

Yes the actual level of the ink relative to the print head. Not the density.

It really does sound like a level issue, as you described it only happens at the beginning of the print. Because when the head is idle the ink has time to reverse flow sucking up ink and contaminating the white. While it's printing its jetting fresh ink through the head so thats why you see contaminated ink in the first part of the design.

Since it's only the top part of the image, I would suspect that your level is just a tad too low, not by much. I would try raising the inks or at least the white up by 1/4 inch. Do a head clean after you raise the level and keep an eye on it. If the same thing happens then raise it another 1/4 inch and repeat the process. If you go more than 1 inch in raising it and the problem still happens, then you can rule out the level being too low.

I would try raising only the white ink because if you raise all of them it could cause dripping which would also contaminate your white but also cause streaking in the entire image.

 

[FatKat Printz]

I agree with Adam, but if its doing this it could be ink stravation.. we had this many times before when we did a solid color that big..

its a leveling game...

 

[Sever.Cunia]

I'm not sure I understand properly. The ink levels are all at 100. The white is currently set to 60. Are you saying to raise it by 25%? What is 1/4th of an inch? Here's an image to better explain:



Thank you,
Sever

 

[vinyl signs]

What he is trying to tell you is the amount of ink in the bottles need to be consistent, if one is lower than the other it will draw ink from the damper to the bottle! Also the hight of the bottles can be raised or lowered a small amount!

 

[jpat]

Hi,

I have a DTG Viper that I just recently purchased and after much playing around with it I'm fairly happy. I haven't done anything on a grand scale yet, just 40-50 shirts per customer. The biggest problem I have with it is that every now and again (about 1 in every 6 shirts) prints about an inch of, what I think is, blue. Attached is an image that shows the issue. The design is all pure yellow, and as you can see the first two or so inches of the print comes out with blue in it. This happens with different artwork files, so it's not that.

It's pretty frustrating because a customer handed me 30 shirts and wants this design on all of them. I kind of just ruined one of shirts and will probably ruin a couple more before I finish the order. It's pretty ridiculous honestly. The only way I can fix it is to clean the machine. I use QTips to clean the inside and then perform a couple of head cleanings. Unfortunately, the problem occurs again soon after.

I was wondering what the cause of this issue is. There must be a way to fix it because I can't afford to continue ruining 1 out of 7 shirts. The strange thing is that I do two shirts at a time and this only happens to the first shirt that prints out.

Any help is appreciated,
Thank you

Hi,
I agree. This is definitely an issue of starving or a vacuum in the white dampers. Put more ink in the white ink bottle. Whats happening is because the white ink is low there is a vacuum that is sucking waste ink into the dampers whenever the head parks on the capping station.

 

[Sever.Cunia]

Update,

So I put more ink in all the bottles and the issue was fixed for a couple of runs, but it came back. I called DTG and they told me to properly clean the little rectangular piece that the print head goes over when it returns to its rest position. We cleaned it with isopropyl alcohol and that seems to have done the trick. Now it doesn't do it anymore and everything is running smoothly. Keep the machine clean!

Thanks for all the help

 

[FatKat Printz]

don't use alcohol to clean anything... ever!!

use Windex original formula w/ ammonia.. diluted with distilled water 50/50 until you get used to using it for a everyday cleaner than you can use it at full strength.

but at full strength is something you will learn over time..

 

[kevrokr]

Alcohol is good to use for maintenance when you are using Solvent Inks. Use Windex/distilled water when using Textile Inks. If you get a head-strike (or there is ink smeared on your Nozzle Plate), you will want to use a foam swab dipped in head maintenance solution to clean the residue off, and "soak" the printhead in head maintenance solution (fill the Capping Station with it) for about a half to an hour, then do a simple cleaning, nozzle check to be sure.

 

[FatKat Printz]

lol.. yeah what he said..

 

[jpat]

Yep...alcohol is a no no with these printers using textile ink. It turns the white ink into a rock and it is bad for the rubber seals. The only spots ok for alcohol on your machine are the encoders.

So you had blue ink in the white dampers as well as having a bad seal on your capping station. So the pump couldn't do its job and draw all the blue contamination out of the bottom of the white dampers. Thats my guess.

 

[Sever.Cunia]

Hmmm, that's strange that they told us to clean it with alcohol. Sorry if I get the terminology wrong, but they told us to clean the encoder strip (the clear line extending over the print area) with windex and the rectangular piece with six holes with alcohol. What exactly is that piece called?

Is it really wrong to use alcohol? Please let me know in more detail because the machine was cleaned pretty thoroughly with alcohol because we were told to do so. Not sure what's going on anymore. What are warning signs that this was a bad thing?

Also, I'm supposed to clean the print head? I thought touching the bottom of it is a big no no.

 

[jpat]

Hmmm, that's strange that they told us to clean it with alcohol. Sorry if I get the terminology wrong, but they told us to clean the encoder strip (the clear line extending over the print area) with windex and the rectangular piece with six holes with alcohol. What exactly is that piece called?

Is it really wrong to use alcohol? Please let me know in more detail because the machine was cleaned pretty thoroughly with alcohol because we were told to do so. Not sure what's going on anymore. What are warning signs that this was a bad thing?

Also, I'm supposed to clean the print head? I thought touching the bottom of it is a big no no.

All of us were told in the beginning to use Alcohol to clean everything. Its not a bad thing...it will just make any rubber o-rings brittle and rip easier.

The capping station is what you are referring to. Windex on the capping station is also not the most ideal solution...just the cheapest.

You are right on the print head. You are supposed to clean just the sides of the print head not the bottom because you may scratch it. Thats why when you hit a shirt with pretreat you are only supposed to saturate a new cleaning swab wih windex or cleaning solution and pat or press the head with the swab, never drag or wipe the head.

The encoder strip needs a cleaner that will clean the ink and be streak free. Sometimes the windex leaves a residue, so if you use windex, follow with a soft dry cloth immediately after you swipe with windex.

In the capping station area you have the rubber o-ring, the rubber wiper, and the metal ring around the head. So you need a chemical that will dissolve ink and not hurt the rubber or metal. Windex is great for the rubber, but will eventually tarnish the metal. However the discoloration of the metal does not seem to hinder the print head performance.

Ideally the best method is head cleaning solution for the capping station and head and alcohol for the encoder.

Also you need to flush some kind of cleaning solution through the capping station every week to keep the waste lines clean. I will load my cleaning cartridges on the machine and do about 10 head cleanings to get all the ink out of the head and waste lines. This keeps my pump working like new.

I have been following this procedure for 2 years now (somtimes waiting 2-3 weeks before cleaning cartridge routine) and I have not changed a print head yet. Using windex for everything except the cleaning cartridges.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Yep...alcohol is a no no with these printers using textile ink. It turns the white ink into a rock and it is bad for the rubber seals. The only spots ok for alcohol on your machine are the encoders.

I've heard that alcohol can damage the pattern on the linear encoder strip. We also use regular windex on that.

 

[Stitch-Up]

Anyone know the equivalent of Windex in the UK ?

 

[FatKat Printz]

Anyone know the equivalent of Windex in the UK ?

here is a link I found..

Halfords | Halfords Glass Cleaner 500ml

check the ingredients make sure it has ammonia that's the key ingredient in the windex we use