JV33 on Triangle bulk ink - black partially died

[Atari]

I got sick and wasn't able to use my JV33-160 or clean it frequently (for approx 5 weeks).

It was plugged in and in sleep mode this whole time.

It's using Triangle EZ bulk system & nothing is kept in the cleaning cart.

Fearing the worst, I just tried it out again today and it seems that I have lost most (80%) of the black. Test draw overall looks pretty bad.

It was printing OK before I was sick, except for:
- minor banding on cyan
- some intermittent & temporary bleeding of black into yellow (mostly at very start of a print job for some odd reason)
Test draw was about 95% ok

Anyway, here's a photo of a solid black print attempt...



The "Black" looks more like a dark blue or purple. Also notice the bleed at the square edge - that's the same fuzzy bleed I see on yellow sometimes.

I only print in-house for our own business right now...it's not urgent to get this back up but I have a few things I'd like to print

I've got new dampers to install, I'm just not sure of the steps of how to replace them. I've also read posts here about drawing ink (to unclog) through the capping station / pump lines with a syringe. If anyone has any suggestions here, or if you can tell me steps to replace JV33 dampers or on unclogging the head that would be appreciated.

 

[SightLine]

Plenty of older threads on here go over all this. Try a search....

One thing which is VERY important. You need to have cleaning solution in the cleaning cartridge at all times. When the printer does its automatic head cleaning every once in a while, it uses that. It dispenses out of the small metal tube above the capping station so it can properly clean the head.

Again, do a search for JV33 here in the Mimaki section of the forums. How to change/fill the dampers has been posted many times as well as how to manually pull ink through a JV33 (because of the valves system behind the cartridges you cannot just pull ink through without first opening the valves). I'd say to do a nozzle soak - when you do that the head moves out, gives you an opportunity to clean the wiper, then you press function a few times to fill the capping top with cleaning solution from the cleaning cartridge, however since you apparently thought that cartridge was not needed you will need to manually put cleaning solution in the cap top with a dropper until the top is full. Then set the head to soak for 99 minutes. Once the head moves over the top filled with solution, shut the printer off and let it sit for a few hours. That will probably get most of the black nozzles back.

Also, if you are not using the printer daily then you would have much less issues sticking with cartridges and not using a bulk system.

 

[Atari]

Instructions for manually pulling ink?

Anyone know where the instructions are for manually pulling ink thorugh the pump waste lines?

Does one of the 2 lines need to be pinched/capped?

How do I enter the service menu on the JV33 to open the valves (do I still need to do this if I am using triangle bulk system?)

 

[Atari]

Updates..

So... was able to figure out how to get into service mode (hold FUNCTION + REMOTE while rebooting printer @ main switch) and electronically open the cartridge valves. So I performed the following:

- Opened valves on cartridges (electronically, through service mode)
- crimped off one of the 2 waste lines from the ink pump
- connected syringe to the other line & pulled about 15ML ink (over a few different attempts)

After this, not only did the black not come back, but my cyan and yellow became very fuzzy / blurry.

Test patterns showed about 0% black, 10% yellow, 95% magenta, 70% cyan

I did a nozzle wash for 10 minutes & cleaned around the capping station just to "clean things up" from the ink pulling

repeated this a couple times & worse off then before.

Next, I opened the valves again, changed the blank dampers, and repeated the steps to pull ink through the pump waste lines. At this point, its probably worse than ever. Although, for a couple test prints, I was able to get about 10% black on the test pattern.

This sucks

 

[Samurai_Screwdriver]

Are you absolutely certain that the cartridge valves are actually open? You certainly should have gotten better results after pulling on the Capping Station but the result you describe sort of sounds like what I'd expect if the valves are closed - i.e. the syringing created negative pressure in the head and when you removed the syringe the ink retracted back up into the Head, sucking air and waste ink back up into the Head and Dampers.

To check if the valves are open and working properly, here is what I would suggest:

1. Remove Damper from Print Head (leave ink line attached though)
2. Invert the Damper
3. Gently press the "button" on the side of the Damper
4. If valves are open and ink is flowing then it should up out of the inverted end of the damper - This is also a goo way to purge air out of the damper. Be ready with a lint free cloth to catch ink that comes out and don't spill it on any electronics.