Re: Colour change Issues - mainly on grays

Hi All

I have been having some issues somewhat recently with colour matching. Around 4 months ago I ran off some pantone colour charts on the HP 310 latex. I am running Flexi Rip Basic software. Recently I have had the colours drastically change which I picked up when I was trying to match a gray for a new print to the printed chart. The colour was way off. I have run some off some new charts today and the colour is way off from the pantone matching book and way off from the original charts I printed. The original printed charts almost matched the pms book perfectly which is what you would expect. Something has gone far wrong. I performed a inkhead clean and plot test and all colour lines were showing, and then I ran a colour calibration. It is after this I printed the new colour chart. See attached pictures. As you can see the colour mainly affected is gray or shades of. They come out very green. What could possibly be causing this when the tests I ran come out fine? Could it be a bad ink. My black cartdrige is getting low and the LC has started to say it has expired, however all plots printed fine. I have noticed when colour starts getting low that there can be issues. It is all the same stock I am using for matching however I have also printed on different stock to prove it was not the stock.pms chart printed 4 months ago on LHS - pms book in middle and recently printed pms chart on RHSnot much variation on bluesvariation on shades of grayplot test fires perfectly on all heads

Solved! Go to Solution.

Just to add to this, I have not changed anything in 4 months. I have replaced ink cartidges, however all the profiles used are exactly the same. Not even so much as changed any curing temperatures or vacuum presets on the profiles etc. I have not even changed or updated the firmware since the original colour charts where printed. All the same print heads as well. The weather has been relatively the same.

Dear customer,

My name is Diana Pascual, Advanced technical consultant for latex. Let me make you few questions,

- could you please specify the model of your 300 series printer?

- have you ever used the CLC functionality, if so, how frequently?

thank you

Regards,

Diana

Hi Diana

It is a 310 model. Not sure if there is any model code other than that.

Not sure what the CLC funtion is.

Sorry I am not up to spec on these things. I am 60% sure it must be a magenta head issue as there is definately magenta missing from the colour charts - that is what must make the gray....green.

However the ink head plot fired fine.

Thanks for your response. My HP distributer doesnt have a clue

The printer is coming up on its 3rd yr of performing for us. Not sure why things have suddenly changed. I find with the printer that low ink levels affect the print. It might be the case here. Not sure.

Hello,

thank you for your message.

Indeed magenta is missing.

Have you replaced the print head recently?

May I ask the name of your distributor please?

thank you

Regards,

Diana

Hi Diana

I have replaced the magenta (one of them) approx 1 yr ago. Not replaced anything recently and the machine does not constantly run. I didn't think the colour change was an issue with the print head as the plot test seemed fine - all lines visible. Not even one missing.

Can I ask you could it be the print head when all lines are visible? Does that make sense?

Don't want to name my supplier atm as they always want to log service calls, come round and have no idea. I have actually showed them a few things. Last email I got from them was the same day I put a msg on this forum. They want to escalate it to the state manager - still no repsonse. The people that sell these machines and even the tech guys don't seem to have a clue. Pretty much it is a $300 call out fee just for them to scratch their heads. I know the technology is newsish, so that is the issue.

Would rather spend $300 on two new magenta heads than have them come out for the same cost.

Hello JLS,

About the mangenta, is it clearly not firing, at least to generate the color. It can be that is only not working at 100%.

it should be compensated by the close loop color calibration. Please run it as follows:

- Check and clean

- Automatic PH alignment

- Close loop color calibration

Go to the settings menu (little gear icon) --> image quality there you will find all three options.

At the end, try to print again and tell me the results.

On regards your reseller, I do completely understand your feedback and I repect your decision. Where are you located?

thank you

Diana

Regards,

Diana

Thank you for the repsonse Diana.

I will try this function in the morning and run more charts. Will let you know how it goes. Thank you for your time

Hi Diana

Does not look like the 310 has this option on the menu. All it has is colour calibration, which has colour calibrate & reset to factor settings.

I found exactly that ! It's due to Printhead printing temperature. If you print during long time, the heads are heating and light Magenta goes out a lot, but when they are cold, there is less light Magenta and then, you can see differences between start of printing and the end of print. The only solution is to replace PH by new ones. But you will see the problem again after few month printing with theses heads.

JLS, where did you get the pantone chart that you printed? I'm looking for a file to print like that to use for color matching

I have found this on the net:

• http://www.kartonwerken.nl/files/PMS%20kaart.pdf
• https://vector-conversions.com/vector/pantone_color_swatchbook.pdf -https://www.sangraf.pl/Files/files/Tabela%20kolor%C3%B3w%20Pantone%20wykorzystywan- a%20w%20produkcji%20naklejek.pdf
• http://www.signmakersltd.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PMS_Color_Chart.pdf

I'm into a similar situation with my 365. First, my light gray was coming out purple, so I replaced both Yellow/Magenta printheads and my gray came out perfect for a long run. On the next day I tried to print the same print once again just as it was loaded previously in the production manager and all the gray came out with a little bit of green, so I replaced the rest of the printhead and they're all new now, updated flexy to 19, updated my printer firmware to the newest and the same issue now still printing a little bit greenish/blueish.... I don't know anymore. I have 4 24' trailers waiting to get wrapped with all light gray background and about to wrap them green.

I suggest you to:

• Ensure that the environmental specifications are being followed for best print quality in the user guide.
• Ensure that the printheads are up to operating temperature (a 130x40cm CMYK plot will suffice in most cases to warm up the PH) and perform a CLC after changing the printheads (ensure printheads are not over the 100% usage) and try again.

If the issue persists contact support.

Also looking for that chart!!

I believe you can find the answer on the entrance #14.

Once you replace the print heads it's just a matter of time until the ink in the print heads is used up and the printer is printing with the ink left in the line(s). Generally how much printing does one have to do to purge the old ink in the line(s)?