[bilet69]

having problems with the rip pro 04 it seems, when i print from photoshop i pick my setting etc etc, and printer or rip pro seems to do what it feels like..... trying to print on a black tee, basicaly underbase first them color..... when it does the underbase it is a light fuzz, instead of the true under base. seems that every project i do i have to do 50 trials before it comes out right. its like rip pro has a mind of its own...... even if im running a production run, 4 will come out perfect, and the 5th something will go wrong or just quit right in the middle of the print!

any hints or anyone that has had these problems??? any help would be great!

thanks

 

[FatKat Printz]

Rip could be one of the many problems when it comes to DTG..

What is your pretreat process?? is this consistent??

How are your nozzle checks?? all white looks good??

Are you doing nozzle checks in between your production runs?? or after the 5th one goes bad??

What are your white settings??

Humidity levels in the room??

... these are just to name a few

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Agreed, unless the the ripped job is corrupt it's rock solid from the first print to the last.
If you are having trouble with consistency, most likely it's in the pre-treatment process or the nozzles dropping out after prints.

Try to do a head clean after your 4th print and see if your 5th and 6th print comes out ok. That will narrow the problem down.

 

[bilet69]

it is the printer cause i will sometimes just stop in the middle of a production run and dock itself...... pretreat is fine! this is a printer issue or rip issue. i could pic the same setting for a peticular print 4 time but not till the 4th does it work. i know it sounds odd, but yes there might be a bug or corrupt file

 

[bilet69]

nozzle checks are perfect from day one! i have only had the machine a couple weeks now. it just act very odd.... i there are certain settings when i try and run programs like i cant print a white mask layer by itself, or just a white ink layer, machine wont even start if i try it that way.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

it is the printer cause i will sometimes just stop in the middle of a production run and dock itself...... pretreat is fine! this is a printer issue or rip issue. i could pic the same setting for a peticular print 4 time but not till the 4th does it work. i know it sounds odd, but yes there might be a bug or corrupt file

I've seen this happen when in the middle of a production run, but not after 4 prints.
The default setting for Rip Pro is to leave the Ripped job in the queue for 4 hours. If you exceed this time, the job will be removed from the queue, even in the middle of printing a layer. The printer will then stop printing and dock itself.

I changed the setting to leave Ripped Jobs in the queue for 1 day 4 hours, adjust it accordingly.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

nozzle checks are perfect from day one!

They may be perfect after a head clean, but what about after printing 3 or 4 images in a row. Do a nozzle check before a head clean and see where you are at. If the nozzles are dropping out, you'll see it and that will account for the degraded underbase that looks grainy.

there are certain settings when i try and run programs like i cant print a white mask layer by itself, or just a white ink layer, machine wont even start if i try it that way.

The white Mask layer is not a 'real layer' to be printed. The white mask layer when ripped is supposed to be merged with another layer in order to be printed. I've never used it as Color Layer Auto Mask and Auto Mask (Black Background) seem to work fine for most of my jobs.
Check the Rip Pro documentation installed on your computer to read more about White Mask (Soft / Hard) Layers.

 

[vinyl signs]

bilet69 did you go to the training?

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Mark,

It could also be a communication problem. Does the printer do the same thing when you try printing from another computer? Have you tried a different USB cable? Are you using the cable that came with the machine or are you using a longer one?

Adam is correct about the RIP - if it prints correctly once and you then use the Production Run feature it is simply telling the Windows queue to resend the same data again. If the preview data looks correct then the data is correct that is being sent to the printer as it is RAW data (an assembly of the raster data sent to the printer).

What has tech supported suggested might be the problem? If we know what you have tyied we can eliminate those issues in our diagnosis.

Thanks

 

[FatKat Printz]

how big is the image???

 

[bilet69]

yes i went to training....... lol

anyways, yes brand new cable shorter than original and higher quality gold plated etc etc.

i keep getting the problem that it starts the print then shuts down, i have to send the file to rip from photoshop several times before i get it to work usually. really starting to stress me out cause when it stops printing, the printer just stops and docks itself. the only way i can get it to move is to shut down let it dump tons of ink in waste then i can eject and try again.

 

[bilet69]

also it doesnt matter how big the image is..... could be just small text of full frontal it is not picky lol it just quits no matter what!

 

[FatKat Printz]

did you talk to the tech department?? do you have the correct settings on your computer and in your RIP??

What is your OS?? XP, Vista, 7??

 

[bilet69]

yes windows 7..... tech say they think it is a communication error with printer etc. they are sending me a new connection piece for back of machine where printer cable connects. i feel its a rip v 04 problem. sometimes i can tell when it is going to stop, just by listening to the printer speed etc.

i also did the repair with rip v 04 cd just incase some files were not installed correctly or corrupt etc.

this is driving me crazy. not to mention the ink wasted when i have to restart it.

other then that prints awesome!!!!! when it prints.......

 

[bilet69]

god this problem is intermitant and driving me nuts i have even tried duct taping the printer cable in different directions!!!!!!!!! seems to be getting worse cant even print 1 shirt!

 

[bilet69]

well i recieved the new piece that connects the printer cable to the machine free of charge under warranty..... had to take out few screws simple fix. looks like that was the problem! just ran 2 prints an did not quit after a few lines. so im hoping my hm1 continues to run without communication problems. thank you swf east

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Thanks for the update. The item is called a bucanneer I believe. It is basically a USB coupler. They do occaissionally go bad, most frequently from frequent plugging and unplugging of the cable, but for other reasons as well. It is an infrequent issue, but not unheard of, hopefully I'll be quicker to point it out next time we see one like this up here on the forums.

Glad you are back up and running, I'll pass your thanks on to tech support.

 

[bilet69]

thats why i posted to help somone with the same issue down the road! thanksi had only tested twice but worked i had a surgery on monady and will hopefully be printing more tom...... my fingers are crossed

 

[bilet69]

the bucanneer was not the problem! started quiting again.... talked with tech support so not that i have the machine tore apart covers off of it, i plugged in the printer cable directly to the main board and seems to have been working since i have done this.

seem like alot of connections that could possible fail, but i guess if a part can go wrong then anything is possible.

i guess now i will have to talk with tech support on monday and see what i should do, i will probably have to re-route and fish a new cable thru.
keep ya posted

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Hi Mark,

Have you resolved the communication issue by replacing the internal USB cable?