Abstract:
Whether you have a single DICEblade, printing four colors (CMYK), or have a fully populated 10-position print engine, you need all of your blades working correctly to achieve the correct colors and print quality. Sometimes a single color or even a single printhead will not print, which may be due to software or hardware issues described below.
Symptom(s):
One color plane of the image does not print. Meteor Monitor may show Gray boxes in the lower right of the Status Tab indicating unconnected PCC-E's instead of Green (Connected) or Pink (Establishing Connection). Some versions will show a line with an "X" on it to show a break in connection. Alternatively, Meteor Monitor might not show ANY boxes in the lower right corner, which likely indicates a problem with the configuration file. One additional but more rare occurrence is individual printheads/HDCs not connecting intermittently, and even changing which are working and which aren't between Drive Electronic power cycling or between prints.
Potential Solutions:
1. Print Manager Software:
The color plane might not be Enabled on the General tab of the Print Queue Diagnostics menu. This can sometimes be overlooked if one is troubleshooting or doing alignment and forgetting to re-enable. Also in Print Queue Diagnostics Settings, confirm that the Plane Offsets are reasonable values (and you didn't just print early or late on the belt/web).
2. Drive Electronics:
A PCC-E/PCC2-E is not communicating correctly with Meteor or PrintManager. Turn off Drive Electronics, wait 30 seconds, and then turn back on and see if the problem goes away. Swap boards around to isolate a problematic board, try new home run ethernet cables to bypass internal/external IGUS cables and bulkheads to identify poor connections. PCC-E's are known to connect more slowly depending on the age of the system and may need replacing. PPSI has a procedure to replace just the SD card of the PCC-E or PCC2-E instead of the whole board (link to article below).
3. Electrical/Hardware:
There are two Cover Sensors that must be met to maintain electrical power to the Drive Electronics. If the covers are removed or if the sensors are mounting incorrectly, power to the PCC-E's and HDC's can be interrupted. If these cover sensors are met correctly ad the Drive Electronics switch is on, and you STILL aren't getting lights on boards, confirm that the Drive Electronics power supplies are outputting power correctly according to the schematics. Confirm all bulkheads used are rated for Cat6a cables.
4. Configuration File:
Check that all of the HDCs are mapped to the PCC-Es correctly. There has also been an instance of a configuration file losing the data inside. This can result in the Action Log of Print Manager displaying "PCCs Connected", followed by "WARNING: Timed out waiting for print head power. Please address before printing." To fix this problem, edit or select a new config file. Backups of configuration files should be kept in a safe location if the need ever arises to restore a previous version.
5. Meteor Monitor Software:
The configuration file could be incorrect or the Monitor version could be outdated. Record the Print Server Version, and check with PPSI to confirm if you have the most recent/best version for your machine.
Additional/Related Information:
General Print Quality Troubleshooting: https://ppsihelp.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/27000076850
Meteor SD Card Replacement Procedure: https://ppsihelp.freshdesk.com/a/solutions/articles/27000075748
If you have other problems not listed here, or additional questions on how to diagnose/identify these items, feel free to start a new Support Ticket and an Agent will reach out to you shortly! Emailing support@prototypesys.com will automatically create a new Ticket in the Freshdesk system.