I'm looking to change from rigid to flex inks, but after you initialize the printer it seems to become hard coded to the ink type you used. The official Mutoh answer is the only way to change from rigid to flex ink in the printer is to replace all lines, head, capping station, etc because otherwise the ink my congeal in the system. So far the best I have found about this is you can go into the service menu (Up, right, down + power at boot), you can view the parameter for ink type but even in that menu it doesn't allow it to be changed, but in the adjustments menu you can use longstore to get it to take cleaning cartridges and flush the system. I'm hoping a technician has done the ink type change before and has a better answer than replace half the internals of the machine.
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461UF - UH21 to US11 ink
- Thread starter Mirradin
- Start date
chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
We have done this conversation before. You do have the change out everything that the ink touches.
The two inks are not chemically compatible with each other.
As for changing the ink type I believe only Mutoh can do that. The service technician downloads a file from the printer thru the service assistant application, sends it to Mutoh, they modify it and send back another file, the service tech sends that modified file to the printer.
It is done like this to prevent people from swapping the inks and causing issues.
Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
The two inks are not chemically compatible with each other.
As for changing the ink type I believe only Mutoh can do that. The service technician downloads a file from the printer thru the service assistant application, sends it to Mutoh, they modify it and send back another file, the service tech sends that modified file to the printer.
It is done like this to prevent people from swapping the inks and causing issues.
Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
This screams proprietary bs and not mechanically accurate. The system has the capability of flushing with solvent, and I doubt there enough of the original ink left to interact at all. If there was, longstore wouldn’t work because the trace amounts of ink would dry and break the system also. I believe in what you say for the process, but that just tells me about how locked down they made the system and how nobody can check the info they give. I didn’t see this conversation anywhere before, but if this issue does come up a lot, it is because in no place does Mutoh mention to customers that this issue exist. No marketing materials, not in the user manual, and not on the website. The only thing mentioned is 6 color to 4 is impossible.
Thanks though, at least that info is clear and tells me the limits of techs, put in place by Mutoh.
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chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
The issue is that the ink over time etches into the tubes and print head components. You can't ever fully remove it. The long store process gets enough of the ink out so it won't be clogged when you ink it back up with the same ink but it doesn't fully remove the old ink.
Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk
Sure, there may be trace amounts of the previous ink, but I can't imagine that's enough to cause any real issue, or that it couldn't be fixed with X flushes before you switch inks if Mutoh cared enough to create a process. I can only hope they come to their senses since this is a relatively new generation of machine and inks. It's not even something they make public knowledge to customers, so I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit appears soon. Since they don't even give techs the power to fix it, all I can hope is people find this info here and go for a different printer. If I had gone with a Roland printer it would be able to be done in the service menu, even if it's not officially supported for end users.
balstestrat
Problem Solver
LOL new Rolands you can't even access the service menu! So you can forget that.
Ronny Axelsson
New Member
Hello Mirradin, I'm new to this forum and found this thread by coincidence.
Did you manage to solve your issue and switch to the flexible US11 ink?
Fact is that I did this ink switch just about a month ago and would like to hear other users opinions about the flexible ink, compared to the rigid UV ink and other ink systems.
Regarding the switch, I got information from Mutoh (via my printer reseller) that all I needed to replace were the maintenance station and wiper assy, plus perform a “long store” to clean the ink lines.
Note. This was on a VJ-626UF so it might be a slightly different procedure.
The final word my reseller gave was full replacement of basically everything the ink touches was required plus a firmware rewrite sent by Mutoh after a tech completed all the other replacements. Mutoh is probably being over cautious, but there is no way around the system so you are stuck with what they demand.
Ronny Axelsson
New Member
Sorry to hear that.
It is possible that they have made it more difficult with the new series.
I didn't even have to get a new firmware, all they said was to update to the latest before switching.
Maybe I'll get problems later on, but after a month I haven't seen anything strange that could be related to not replacing tubes, printer head, or whatever it could be.
Fingers crossed.
What's the reason you wanted to switch by the way?
I personally found the UH21 ink great in many ways, the colors were very good and the details I could produce were amazing.
I very soon found though, that the ink got very rigid, and also continued to harden in sunlight which made stickers crack and curl if applied outdoors, and sometimes they continued to curl until they eventually fell of.
The printer is very versatile and useful, but I guess outdoor stickers isn't where it excels.
Regarding the flexible US11 ink, it's too soon to tell whether it is better or not, but I hope so.
It is not as scratch proof and not as solvent resistant as the UH21 ink, but it is softer and has a rather nice semi matte and smooth surface that I like.
The most obvious disadvantage that I've found so far is that the color space is more limited than the rigid ink, but I guess I can live with it.
Let's see how it reacts to weather over time.
It is possible that they have made it more difficult with the new series.
I didn't even have to get a new firmware, all they said was to update to the latest before switching.
Maybe I'll get problems later on, but after a month I haven't seen anything strange that could be related to not replacing tubes, printer head, or whatever it could be.
Fingers crossed.
What's the reason you wanted to switch by the way?
I personally found the UH21 ink great in many ways, the colors were very good and the details I could produce were amazing.
I very soon found though, that the ink got very rigid, and also continued to harden in sunlight which made stickers crack and curl if applied outdoors, and sometimes they continued to curl until they eventually fell of.
The printer is very versatile and useful, but I guess outdoor stickers isn't where it excels.
Regarding the flexible US11 ink, it's too soon to tell whether it is better or not, but I hope so.
It is not as scratch proof and not as solvent resistant as the UH21 ink, but it is softer and has a rather nice semi matte and smooth surface that I like.
The most obvious disadvantage that I've found so far is that the color space is more limited than the rigid ink, but I guess I can live with it.
Let's see how it reacts to weather over time.
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