LC-LM Printhead Issues

I have recently had issues with my LC-LM printhead. I started getting banding, so conducting several printhead cleanings. Didn't help so I replaced the printhead. Within 1 month, the LC stopped printing completely. LC ink was low, but never said it was out but I replaced the LC ink and did a few printhead cleanings and it worked some, but severe banding. Installed new printhead again. This time, issue with LM. Followed same process as I did with LC, but never did get LM to print well. I also changed out the maintenance cartridge at some point during all this. Now, both LC and LM inks are new and a new printhead installed. Still having banding issues. Not sure if there was a head strike or some other issue. Changing the printhead isn't solving the issue....what other options do I have? Could the maintenance cartridge cause only that printhead to have issues?

Hi @Riptide.C.P.,

Regarding the question, if the maintenance cartridge is causing those printhead issues in LC-LM PHs: in case the maintenance cartridge has suffered an issue in cleaning routines, it will affect all PHs and the issues will be visible in more colors when printing a job or printing the nozzle health plot. In order to verify if MEC is correctly installed, you can perform the MEC replacement and re-insert the same MEC again. The printer will detect that the MEC is used and it will be installed again.

From the front panel -> Inks -> tap in Maintenance cartridge -> Replace -> follow FP instructions

Regarding the banding issues, the recommendations are the following:

1. Ensure the printer is in good condition by performing these checks:

  a. The substrate preset is correctly selected in FP. For these checks and calibrations, we recommend a Generic SAV or similar.

  b. Perform a Nozzle Check print - Printhead status plot.  To print this plot, in the front panel -> tap Optimize Print Quality  -> ... (tree points), then Printhead status plot. With this plot, there will be visible the issues that PHs have.

If PHs are in bad conditions with a lot of nozzles out, perform a PH Hard Cleaning in Optimize Print Quality -- Advanced Calibrations > tap Optimize Print Quality -> Clean Printheads -> Clean all. If only are necessary to clean LM-LC, clean only selecting LM-LC. PH cleaning prevents or responds to small/medium print-quality degradations.

   c. Perform a Manual Printhead Alignment in Optimize Print Quality - Advanced Calibrations. Insert the correct values per each letter in FP.               

   d. Perform a Media Advance Calibration. This calibration corrects repetitive lighter or darker bands on printed output, especially for banding issues you are facing.

 2. Print a job, if it's possible, an Area Fill plot and verify printed result. Verify if banding is still visible.

If after all of these checks and calibrations, you are still facing the banding issues or LC-LM printheads issues, you should contact your support representative to discard any mechanical/electrical issues in PHs or similar.