Troubleshooting the Melco G2 Garment Printer

With all troubleshooting it is critical to test in a controlled environment.  A controlled environment is one where you start in a known good working state and only change a single variable in order to isolate the root cause of the problem. All troubleshooting will require a Nozzle Check test print in order to set a baseline for testing.

This section is set up to provide both the cause and possible recovery.  The order of the recovery steps is chronological to some degree, meaning, you should perform the first recommended recovery step in all cases below.

Banding in color

Possible Causes

Clogged Print Head Nozzles

Empty or near empty ink cartridge

Foam or air in lines

Table height incorrectly set

Recovery

Adjust table height

Replace empty ink cartridges

Perform a Nozzle Check test print for evaluation of color ink output

Banding in under base

Possible Causes

Clogged Print Head Nozzles

Foam or air in lines

Table height incorrectly set

Recovery

Adjust table height

Replace empty ink cartridges

Perform a Nozzle Check test print for evaluation of color ink output

White edges appear on color print

Possible Causes

Garment stretched too tight in platen frame

Too much white ink printed

Choke setting not correctly set in MelcoRIP

Recovery

Verify proper garment framing

Adjust white ink settings in MelcoRIP

Adjust choke setting in MelcoRIP

White speckles show through color print when printing on dark material

Possible Causes

Too much white ink printed

Not enough dry time before color print

Improper pre-treatment

Recovery

Adjust white ink settings in MelcoRIP

Increase dry time of white ink before color printing

Increase pre-treatment amount

Colors not vivid on Light Shirt

Possible Causes

Inadequate amount of color ink output

Empty or near empty color Ink Cartridge

Air in the lines

Recovery

Change Print Quality setting in MelcoRIP to a higher DPI

Replace empty ink cartridge

Perform Nozzle Check test print to verify adequate amount ink output

Colors not vivid on Dark Shirt

Possible Causes

Inadequate amount of white ink output during under base printing

Inadequate amount of pretreatment solution

Recovery

Adjust White Ink Layer settings in MelcoRIP

Change Print Quality setting to a higher DPI

Perform Nozzle Check test print to verify adequate amount ink output

Increase amount of pretreatment

Print Quality Smudged

Possible Causes

Table height set too high caused the Print Head to contact the material during printing, this is called a Print head strike

Recovery

Verify/adjust table height

Perform a Nozzle Check

Perform end of day maintenance

Note: If a printhead strike can be confirmed and a nozzle check and/or the end of day maintenance does not correct the problem we recommend you also soak the printhead overnight in cleaning solution.

Colors bleed together on edges

Possible Causes

Too much ink output for either white under base or color ink

Not enough dry time for the white ink

Recovery

Change Print Quality setting to a lower DPI

Increase dry time before printing color print

Print image is blurry, hazy, or skewed

Possible Causes

Table height too low or not level

Recovery

Verify table height and that the table is properly level. Adjust as required.

Edges of print are pixelated

Possible Causes

Poor image resolution

Recovery

Start with a higher resolution image

Colors printed are not what was expected (different color than what was on monitor)

Generally speaking, because computer monitors use an additive color model and printing use a subtractive color model, the colors on screen will never exactly match the printed colors.  However, if you are attempting to print a color that can be accurately reproduced with CMYK, then you should be able to attain very close results.

Possible Causes

Empty color Ink Cartridge

Disparate color spaces or modes (RBG vs CMYK)

Clogged color Print Head Nozzles

Recovery

Replace empty color cartridge

Only use colors that are able to be reproduced using 4 color process (CMYK).

Perform Power Cleaning and Nozzle Check

Faded print before and after washing

Possible Causes

Inadequate amount or pretreatment solution

Garment material may be water resistant

Finished print not heat cured properly

Recovery

Increase amount or pretreatment solution

Change to a hydrophilic material

increase temperature or time for curing