Attached is a picture of my first real issue that I am unable to address myself. I haven't come across any pictures that look similar to the white large horizontal banding type issue that I am having. I am running flexi 12 and attached are screenshots of my settings. I cleaned the encoder and the round clear disk to the left of the printer and I do the regular maintenance and have felt comfortable troubleshooting and fixing everything up until this GEM. I did a micro print and noticed that -2 looked better than neutral so I have incrementally decreased the micro adjustment to -4 and it seems to have decreased the width of the white horizontal white line patches but it hasn't gotten rid of them and I am not sure if I am on the right track or if maybe I need to adjust the Initial change in conjunction with the micro change. My initial print = 255mm, initial chance = 250.0/250mm and the feed length is 255mm and again the micro change is set to -4.....effect is fine and wave1 . Does anyone know if i am on the right track and if not can someone please point me in the proper direction. Thanks Paul
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I really need a tip or trick about now to get rid of this issue? Before i go crazy :)
- Thread starter paulj1054
- Start date
GaSouthpaw
Profane and profane accessories.
I don't remember the steps (been away from the Mutoh for almost a year now), but I think you'll find that calibrate the media advance on the printer, you can mostly eliminate that. Do it from the printer (User Maintenance menu, I think) and do it for each of your media.
southpaw I really appreciate your input. Is there any other information you could give me or guide me a little farther. Are you talking about the initial print and the initial print along with the micro print and micro change. I have never changed the initial print and change and I am thinking this is what you are speaking about? you help is greatly appreciated gsp
Solventinkjet
DIY Printer Fixing Guide
That looks like ink drop out to me and possible a damaged encoder disc.
Load some media and let the machine measure it. Now push and hold the down arrow key to move the media forward. Listen carefully. Do you hear a thumping noise every once in a while? If yes, your encoder disc needs to be replaced. You've already cleaned it so that probably won't help so replacing it is the only way to fix it. If there is no thumping noise, it should be fine.
What is the age of your maintenance parts? If the dampers and cap top are older than a year, start by replacing those. Many people neglect replacing these parts in the recommended time periods and in my experience, 90% of ink flow issues are caused waiting too long to replace the maintenance parts. If the head is on the older side, the manifold could have ink build up on the side walls which also constricts ink flow and causes the issue you are having as well. Sometimes you can fix this by flushing the head and/or replacing the manifold but that is a last resort situation.
Load some media and let the machine measure it. Now push and hold the down arrow key to move the media forward. Listen carefully. Do you hear a thumping noise every once in a while? If yes, your encoder disc needs to be replaced. You've already cleaned it so that probably won't help so replacing it is the only way to fix it. If there is no thumping noise, it should be fine.
What is the age of your maintenance parts? If the dampers and cap top are older than a year, start by replacing those. Many people neglect replacing these parts in the recommended time periods and in my experience, 90% of ink flow issues are caused waiting too long to replace the maintenance parts. If the head is on the older side, the manifold could have ink build up on the side walls which also constricts ink flow and causes the issue you are having as well. Sometimes you can fix this by flushing the head and/or replacing the manifold but that is a last resort situation.
MikePatterson
Head bathroom cleaner.
i get that when i have to much tension on our takeup reel and the dryer side of the printer is to hot. Try and lower the dryer heat on the printer or dont let your takup reel pull on the material.
spectrum maine
New Member
LOOKS LIKE INK STARVATION. DOES IT DO IT IN HIGH QUALITY MODE? DAMPNERS
lexsigns
New Member
I had similar issues last fall. Looked just like yours! I had the techs out so many times, lost a job Replcaed dampers and almost the heads! I tied everything! Someone (my savior) from this board contacted me and told me what the issue was! It was static!! I bought a humidifier and static bands. Issue solved!
Check my old posts and you can see the pics when I had the issue. If I can help pm me. Hopefully this will solve your problem too
Check my old posts and you can see the pics when I had the issue. If I can help pm me. Hopefully this will solve your problem too
ams
New Member
This generally happens on high speed prints. Are you printing for billboard use or indoor use? Perhaps try a higher setting.
I agree with Lex Signs. Start by getting a hygrometer/thermometer ($20 max) and see what your humidity level is. If it's below 40% RH, boost it. Slow down your print speed so that static is generated more slowly.
Also, follow what GaSouthpaw says - calibrate for every media. You'll get better results all around. Besides feed, do your bi-directional calibration - I've seen banding like that caused by the bi-di calibration being off. This is easy to check if you change your print mode to uni-directional. This takes the bi-di calibration out of the picture, but also slows down the printer so it may improve due to slower static buildup.
Also, follow what GaSouthpaw says - calibrate for every media. You'll get better results all around. Besides feed, do your bi-directional calibration - I've seen banding like that caused by the bi-di calibration being off. This is easy to check if you change your print mode to uni-directional. This takes the bi-di calibration out of the picture, but also slows down the printer so it may improve due to slower static buildup.
bluehammer
New Member
MikePro
New Member
static as a cause, most of the time I've seen, is an over-used diagnosis for "i don't know".
I debunk it often, as it would not be isolated in just 1-2 channels. you would see issues across all colors.
Also, if it were the case, you would see fuzziness/overspray/ghosting within your white lettering as well ....but even that is sometimes result of a dying printhead and/or misalignment of printheads, or simply an eyelash rattling around in front of the encoder sensor lens.
I'd bet $5, your issue is with ink supply to the printhead.
inconsistent banding in fields of color is usually result of ink starvation/dropout. if your encoder strip is clean, and your encoder sensor is free of debris, then ink supply is what I would be looking to diagnose: whether it be air bubble in ink line, bad damper, bad ink pump, etc.... or more simply, an empty ink cartridge that your printer thinks it is still able to draw from.
edited: ah, mutoh 1204 has dx5 printhead....rules out alignment issues. I'm still goin' with ink supply issues, most likely in the cyan channel.... as it looks like you have reddish-banding in the blue field, and if I'm right, then most likely yellow banding in the green-field as well?
I debunk it often, as it would not be isolated in just 1-2 channels. you would see issues across all colors.
Also, if it were the case, you would see fuzziness/overspray/ghosting within your white lettering as well ....but even that is sometimes result of a dying printhead and/or misalignment of printheads, or simply an eyelash rattling around in front of the encoder sensor lens.
I'd bet $5, your issue is with ink supply to the printhead.
inconsistent banding in fields of color is usually result of ink starvation/dropout. if your encoder strip is clean, and your encoder sensor is free of debris, then ink supply is what I would be looking to diagnose: whether it be air bubble in ink line, bad damper, bad ink pump, etc.... or more simply, an empty ink cartridge that your printer thinks it is still able to draw from.
edited: ah, mutoh 1204 has dx5 printhead....rules out alignment issues. I'm still goin' with ink supply issues, most likely in the cyan channel.... as it looks like you have reddish-banding in the blue field, and if I'm right, then most likely yellow banding in the green-field as well?
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This is often a go to when you don't know what's wrong, but when trouble shooting unknowns, you have to eliminate as many variables as you can. Manufacturers specify environmental conditions for a reason - static is one of those reasons.
Actually static electricity will react differently to the different pigments as they have varying degrees of electrical conductivity. In my experience, cyan is the worst offender.
It very well could be an ink flow issue, in which case slowing down the printing may help with that as well. But before I go tearing into the printer and swap out dampers or flush with cleaning fluid, I would sure check the environmental conditions and avoid possibly damaging the sensitive components in there. If the humidity as at 50%, then look elsewhere for causes.
I did miss that one initially. I've solved quite a few ink flow issues when the tab failed to pop out when the cartridge was dry. - good catch. Another easy to check item before opening up the printer.