HP Latex 310 Dripping Streaks on Print

I have an HP Latex 310, and when I walked into my office this morning, I noticed two lines in the print as if something had leaked and dripped onto the material. In the attached pictures, you can see the streaks and a closeup of where there appears to be condensation or a leak of some sort. When I tried to wipe the streaks, they smeared and appeared oily as if it was optimizer. Has anyone experienced this problem?

#1 Hi A lot is being posted about this problem - it's not the optimiser or ink leaking - material is sticking to the top of the heaters and smears printed image and you can see it when printing exactly how it happens... Try to lower temp, increase vacuum or just pull down the beginning of vinyl with another vinyl... Cheers and good luck.

#1 These marks can be from the Printhead running very close against the media. Check the printing process from start until it exits the curing area. Keep an eye for movement and check if the media especially in the print area may deform, buckle or stutter. Adjust heat if media buckles too much and is causing light strikes against the head it may be too hot(in 3 degree increments). Adjust vacuum if media isn't holding down (increase in increments of 2-3). Do this during print in adjustments menu.

Make sure media is travelling out from print area and through curing zone nice and flat. Weight/s may be needed or you may need to feed some of it out first before print.

Do a clean of the printheads prior to trying these methods in case any ink or debris is stuck anywhere near the printheads. You may have even get some paper stuck causing some scrapes but the image you sent seems less likely. You can check the printheads underneath by turning the printer off and removing the Maintenance cartridge and looking under carriage with torch to check for any debris or mess (ink).

If there is any condensation build up in the curing area please contact a Service Technician to check and clean any zones. The photos do not seem to indicate this to be the problem mainly because any prints should not be anywhere near this part of the curing zone.

Please ensure that you are using a profile media with the correct profile and if needed use the Take-Up Reel.

You should check the environmental conditions are correct or between parameter:

• Relative humidity range for best print quality: 40–60%, depending on substrate type

• Relative humidity range for printing: 20–80%, depending on substrate type

• Temperature range for best print quality: 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F), depending on substrate type

• Temperature range for printing: 15 to 30°C (59 to 86°F)

• Temperature range when not in operation: −25 to +55°C (−13 to +131°F)

• Temperature gradient no more than 10°C/h (18°F/h)

• Maximum altitude when printing 3000 m (10000 ft)

If this is happening during heavy or long jobs it's possible that there is inadequate ventilation.

If it's during the start of the job it's possible that the substrate is crashing into the impinging module causing the marks.

It's also recommended to have the printer checked for service maintenance and ensure the vacuum system is running fine.

Thank you for the responses. I saw this job print, and I did not see the streaks until I came in the next morning which makes me think that it is not the material sticking to the heaters. We recently moved into a new location, and the printer room is much smaller than previously. I am thinking that we need better ventilation since this room also gets very steamy when printing highly saturated colors. We are having a tech come in to service the printer, so I will see what he says. Thanks again for the info.