Cyan issue...anybody have an idea why?

[gabagoo]

Posting a pic of the test print. One cyan channel is completely out. On Friday I ran a test and about half the nozzles were not firing, then I soaked the heads all weekend.
This morning there is nothing. I printed 4 stripes to see how bad it would be and surprisingly the prints are acceptable, but not comfortable printing anything that requires a close color match.

Any ideas what is happening here?

 

[Zoogee World]

Could be a blockage. Have you made certain that there is ink the that damper?

 

[Ogre]

Check first the cyan damper what Zoogee suggested. If you have ink inside the damper then check the capping. Most of the times when you loose a channel is the capping. Your print test looks like a Mimaki CJV150/CJV300. Mimaki's capping is notorious for the poor sealing, that is why I replace the capping every 6 month. To test the capping, disconnect the vacuum line from the pump and using a syringe try to pull ink while the printhead is in park position. Don't forget to open all the ink valves from the service menu before pulling the ink.
If the ink is coming out without bubbles, then the next offender is the vacuum pump, but if your printer is CJV150/CJV300 the pump should last quite a long time.
A similar issue happened to me after I replaced (twice) the capping with low quality ones bought from Aliexpress. Since then I am buying from Digiprint Supplies.

 

[gabagoo]

I have a tech coming in this morning to look it over. It is weird...the more I clean the worse it gets. I have a capping station on order but for some reason they are never in stock it seems.

 

[mbasch]

If it is just the single channel I'd guess bad head, controller board or cable from board to head. Swapping cable from one channel to another is a good way of ruling out the printhead as the issue.

 

[gabagoo]

Was the capping station...new one installed and everything is back to normal...thanks for the help

 

[gabagoo]

Correction...everything is not back to normal. The new capping station seemed to work well for about a week,now every morning I run a test print and it is very strange. One day it is yellow, the next day it is cyan or magenta. 1 channel does not print. I run a nozzle wash for about an hour and get it back for the day ,but the next day it could be the same channel or it switches to another channel. Where do I go from here?

 

[rawrgraphix]

You're getting air from somewhere. Check the connection going to your waste pump. If it's pulling air from there it will cause this to happen. Just had the same issue on a CJV300.

 

[Ogre]

I had same issue with two brand new capping. The third one was good. I always keep a 3-5 pieces as spare. It is a lottery.

 

[gabagoo]

I had same issue with two brand new capping. The third one was good. I always keep a 3-5 pieces as spare. It is a lottery.

Maybe this is the issue. I now have to put itinto a nozzle wash each night and kill the main power...even then each morning one of the channels is missing at least a quarter of the test print. Are they hard to install?

 

[Ogre]

To install a new capping takes five minutes. Have a look at this video:

Just soaking the printhead will not solve the nozzles blockage. Replace the capping. It is also recommended to do a capping position adjustment if you use a different brand or capping shape. To save your time and ink, it is also a good idea to confirm that the new capping seals well before starting to clean the printhead. Check my post from 7th May 2024 how to do it.
Just a heads-up: some of the non-original cappings have a bigger third hole plug that can prevent the capping sitting in the right position. You can reuse the old one if it is in good shape.

 

[gabagoo]

To install a new capping takes five minutes. Have a look at this video:

Just soaking the printhead will not solve the nozzles blockage. Replace the capping. It is also recommended to do a capping position adjustment if you use a different brand or capping shape. To save your time and ink, it is also a good idea to confirm that the new capping seals well before starting to clean the printhead. Check my post from 7th May 2024 how to do it.
Just a heads-up: some of the non-original cappings have a bigger third hole plug that can prevent the capping sitting in the right position. You can reuse the old one if it is in good shape.

Looks easy enough,even with french instruction....Thanks

 

[cornholio]

If you use original parts, it's no lottery...

 

[richsweeney]

Have you put in a new ink cartridge lately? If not put in a new one. Cyan is a problem everywhere in all industries. We had a hp 360 with the cyan problem. They came out and replaced a bunch of parts, finally changed the ink cartridge and the problem went away.

 

[Ginocol]

Check first the cyan damper what Zoogee suggested. If you have ink inside the damper then check the capping. Most of the times when you loose a channel is the capping. Your print test looks like a Mimaki CJV150/CJV300. Mimaki's capping is notorious for the poor sealing, that is why I replace the capping every 6 month. To test the capping, disconnect the vacuum line from the pump and using a syringe try to pull ink while the printhead is in park position. Don't forget to open all the ink valves from the service menu before pulling the ink.
If the ink is coming out without bubbles, then the next offender is the vacuum pump, but if your printer is CJV150/CJV300 the pump should last quite a long time.
A similar issue happened to me after I replaced (twice) the capping with low quality ones bought from Aliexpress. Since then I am buying from Digiprint Supplies.

Hi do you buy the generic ones from digiprint supllies and rate them? Are they easy enough to fit too?

 

[Ogre]

Yes, I did buy from Digiprint Supplies and I was very happy with them. Usually I replace the capping every six months even if they are still keeping a good seal.
In terms of quality I can't see any difference between the generic and original.
Not the same thing I can say about the capping bough from Aliexpress. Those are a lottery even when are brand new.