# Dots appearing on my prints. Help.



## Marty86 (May 23, 2020)

Printer: Sawgrass SG400
Paper: A-Sub and TruePic Classic

I hope someone can help me as I've tried most fixes but I'm still having problems.

I'm getting small patches of vertical dots on my printouts using my Sawgrass SG400 printer using A-Sub sublimation paper (also tried Sawgrass TruePix Classic with the same results). Please see attached close up of the marks. They are about 2-3mm wide and seem to appear in the same spot on the paper and mainly after printing with black areas.

My first port of call was the Conde Systems YouTube channel and I followed their directions to clean the capping station, the feed belt, encoder strip and encoder wheel, all to no avail. Up until today I had been using this printer for a couple of years without any (unsolvable!) problems.

Does anyone recognise these marks and if so, what do I need to do to fix them, please?


----------



## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

I cannot see a photo for some reason, but vertical dots are usually pin roller marks.
They pick up wet ink from the print, and then transfer it. 
Gets worse once they get mucky with a mixture of ink dust and lint.


----------



## Marty86 (May 23, 2020)

I think you might be right, Bob. Problem is, I can't seem to get access to the SG-400 pin rollers. If there are any SG400 owners out there who can help, please do!


----------



## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

Marty86 said:


> I think you might be right, Bob. Problem is, I can't seem to get access to the SG-400 pin rollers.


Like you said, other Sawgrass/Ricoh users will know more.
I've never opened one of these, so I don't know where they are (or if there are any).

Easy to investigate though. Just look at what is keeping the paper flat and tensioned after the printhead.


----------



## FJG (Aug 11, 2011)

From the Sawgrass website:



> What do I do if I see dotted lines or 'pizza wheel' marks across my prints?
> If you find that you are seeing these marks on your prints, you will want to clean the small wheels on the exit guide. You can do this using alcohol or IPA with a lint-free cloth.





> How do I perform an exit guide removal or replacement?
> Removing the exit guide may be necessary if you find it becomes damaged and needs replacing or if the small rollers need cleaning as part of the printer's maintenance.
> 
> To do so, please follow the steps below:
> ...


----------



## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

Here's my copy of the Service Manual which may help identify parts and in dismantling .
.


https://fudgeys.co.uk/dyesub/Ricoh_SM.pdf


----------



## BoldImpressions (Sep 12, 2015)

Marty86 said:


> Printer: Sawgrass SG400
> Paper: A-Sub and TruePic Classic
> 
> I hope someone can help me as I've tried most fixes but I'm still having problems.
> ...


We had this same issue and it is caused by excessive black ink when using the polyester profile. We fixed the issue by using the metal profile when printing designs with lots of black ink. We adjusted our press time to accomodate for putting down les sblack ink on the paper.


----------



## Brian (May 18, 2007)

I have the same problem with an Epson WF7110 printer and A-Sub paper. Since the paper is the common denominator could that be the source of the problem?? I do not have another brand of paper at the moment to compare results.


----------

