Brand new UV bulb blew after one hour Mimaki JF-1631

[getcustomized]

This morning I installed a new cassette with UV bulb for my JF-1631. It was the only bulb working and I am waiting on the other bulb. But it seemed to cure the ink pretty good so I continued printing this morning with the one brand new bulb. I set the UV level to high for the bulb for extra curing due to the fact I am only using 1 bulb. When the print was done I switched to local mode to get the carriage out to clean off some lint. As soon I pushed carriage out the bulb turned off immediately and I cleaned the head carriage. But when I started printing again the bulb never came back on. I switched cassettes and still nothing. It does look like there is a little bit of black on the edges of the new bulb but the filament wire still looked good. Not sure what I did wrong. I am thinking that the UV level set to high and then a quick shutdown of the bulb may have blew it. Or maybe just using the one bulb instead of 2 may have made it blow out. Any suggestions would be great. THanks

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

This morning I installed a new cassette with UV bulb for my JF-1631. It was the only bulb working and I am waiting on the other bulb. But it seemed to cure the ink pretty good so I continued printing this morning with the one brand new bulb. I set the UV level to high for the bulb for extra curing due to the fact I am only using 1 bulb. When the print was done I switched to local mode to get the carriage out to clean off some lint. As soon I pushed carriage out the bulb turned off immediately and I cleaned the head carriage. But when I started printing again the bulb never came back on. I switched cassettes and still nothing. It does look like there is a little bit of black on the edges of the new bulb but the filament wire still looked good. Not sure what I did wrong. I am thinking that the UV level set to high and then a quick shutdown of the bulb may have blew it. Or maybe just using the one bulb instead of 2 may have made it blow out. Any suggestions would be great. THanks

I can't imagine that setting the curing to high would cause the bulb to blow. I'm not super familiar with Mimakis, but it wouldn't be any different than running the printer unidirectional with the single bulb set to high.

Dumb question, but did you wear gloves while replacing the bulb? If you got any oil from your hands on the bulb, that can definitely cause an issue.

That being said, I've gotten bad UV bulbs right out of the box on several occasions, so it's not inconceivable that you just got a dud bulb. Did you contact your distributor? I'd try to get an RMA going.

 

[getcustomized]

No I didn't have to touch the bulb because I bought it in the cassette case so I didn't even have to handle the bulb at all. It was a pretty easy replacement. Yeah I contacted DigiPrint Supplies but they won't cover it because I purchased this printer used 3 months ago and the guy I bought it from gave me the new bulb in the original box at time of purchase. I put the brand new bulb in yesterday and it lasted 1 hour before it went out. Digiprint Supplies said only the original purchaser gets the warranty, it doesn't transfer. So I am working with him right now to get it replaced. I'll probably just have to eat this I hope the new bulbs I get tomorrow won't do the same thing.

 

[getcustomized]

Well after finishing out my job of 500 corrugated yard signs I came to the conclusion that the only reason the bulbs blew out was due to overheating. The coolant fans had a bit of residue not allowing for sufficient airflow. After I purchased the new bulbs I cleaned out the fans and the screen filter. Switched to the standard lamp setting and had zero problems since. I am still kind of afraid to switch the bulbs to the high lamp setting however. $300 per lamp is expensive. I will prolly go with TCS Technologies LLC next time for the Subzero 055A lamps as they are quite a bit cheaper there.

 

[decalman]

You should have prayed 1st, before you started your day.
It works for me.. ( the bulb would still be here)