Jv33-160 nozzle clog question

[Briansos]

Greetings,

So one of my machines has been printing with a nozzle/head that looks like this for a while now:

(pardon the image quality, it was a quick scan to get the idea across.

Anyway, I have done several nozzle washes for 60-90 min or so, followed by a "hard" clean. Nothing really helps.

Anyone have alternate methods of cleaning that are easy to do? Or at this point do I need to look into getting a new head/nozzle? Thanks!

 

[drive]

Use a solvent filled syringe attached to a damper and fluch the head out over the cap. make sure the cap is open so the fluched fluid will drain into the waste bottle,

 

[rexsee]

we have the same clogging problem, and mind you, our printer supplier is asking us to buy another head, this is after replacing the head in warranty, like we already clogged the heads 4 times in 9 months! and this time they wont change it under warranty, my suspect is their mimaki inks.. now I dont know what to do, I hate mimaki these days. we have an HP printer, as well as DGI, wel replaced only 2 DGI heads only once in the span of 9 months, and never have changed HP heads in more than 18 months of use, now mimaki has to be changed every 3 months they said, and we dont even run 24 hours, perhaps only 4-5 hours a day.. sheesh!

Im considering using third party inks and the hell with warranty

 

[MikePro]

That test pattern looks pretty scraggly to be a few deflections on a newer head... try powering down the printer and reseating the data cables and running another test print before trying to flush head with cleaning solution via syringe

 

[Rooster]

Tough to tell from the photo seeing as how it's so bad. It looks more deflected than clogged. Is it a genuine Mimaki head? Are you using mimaki inks? If so what kind?

 

[SightLine]

Also if it is only on one specific channel that keeps having the issue as shown in the photo, and a new head ultimatley has the same issue on the same channel you might have a transistor on your mainboard starting to go bad on you. If you are comfortable soldering it's fairly easy to replace one as they only have 3 pins but you do have to be careful. Macmedia sells the transistors.

You have to be careful though, static precations, and must be sure to wait about 15 minutes minimum after totally disconnection power from the machine before you fiddle with the board and start disconnecting cables. The JV33 has a +42v DC line that tends to hold some charge in some of the capacitors for about 10 to 20 minutes. Mainboard has about a dozen connectors to it and is behind the back left cover on the machine.

If you really want to try this yourself I can send you a document showing the test points on the board and what they should read on a multimeter.