Need Help Mimaki flatbed printer streaking

[Brett Groves]

New to the forum and new to the industry here. I recently started a job at a local Signarama and am working primarily on a Mimaki JFX 200-2513. Not a tom of experience with the machine yet but enough to operate day to day and troubleshoot minor issues. I have seen a few other posts about streaking in the printing on this machine but thought I would throw my own thread out there since I am having a weirdly specific issue. Specifically, when printing bright reds (often pantone red from flexi swatches) I am getting black streaking into the image from both left and right sides (see attached photos). It only seems to show up in when printing red (no other streaking occurs in other colors) and it is always black streaks. It has done it right after a cleaning, right before one and in between. Streaking also only tends to happen at the beginning of a print. On an 18x24 coro sign with all red lettering it would tend to clear itself up around 2" into the print. Streaking would then occur again on the next print in a similar way. An automatic head cleaning usually minimizes it to an acceptable degree but I have had it show back up a few hours later (and then NOT show up for a few days). Thanks in advance for any advice. Really enjoying the community here.

 

[kerwinchua]

Overspray deflection caused by static issues.
You may need to wipe the board first completely with a water/iso mixture of luke 70-30 ratio.

You may want to introduce a humidifier to add more humidity if the air around you is dry. (One good way to tell is if you receive shocks when taking the printed board out.)

Hope this helps.

 

[Brett Groves]

That definitely makes sense. I always wipe down with 70/30 prior to printing but do still get a lot of ambient static electricity. The machine shares a room with the buildings furnace so it is excessively dry most of the time. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Solventinkjet]

That definitely makes sense. I always wipe down with 70/30 prior to printing but do still get a lot of ambient static electricity. The machine shares a room with the buildings furnace so it is excessively dry most of the time. Thanks for the tip!

Do you have the ionizer option? That is specifically made to reduce static. I would look into it if you know the room is prone to static issues. Also, what does your nozzle check look like? Any black migrating over to other colors?

 

[Brett Groves]

Do you have the ionizer option? That is specifically made to reduce static. I would look into it if you know the room is prone to static issues. Also, what does your nozzle check look like? Any black migrating over to other colors?

I am by no means an expert on the machine but I do know it has an ionizer and runs it prior to each printing. Nozzle check looks clean. No color migration in Scan or Feed. Any other tips for reducing static?

 

[Susie Q]

I would look into your humidity. The humidity should be between 35% - 65% for this printer.

 

[Brett Groves]

I would look into your humidity. The humidity should be between 35% - 65% for this printer.

Thanks Susan. That seems to be the consensus. A target number is also incredibly helpful.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I am by no means an expert on the machine but I do know it has an ionizer and runs it prior to each printing. Nozzle check looks clean. No color migration in Scan or Feed. Any other tips for reducing static?

As kerwinchua said, humidity is the main culprit usually. You should be around 30 - 65% for proper function. That being said, to me it looks more like an ink migration issue. Notice how it starts fairly strong and then fades as the print goes on? That tells me there is black ink getting into another channel and then as it prints it naturally clears out. I would check the wiper to see if it is warped at all and replace as necessary. Also, I would make sure the cap tops are nice and clean and draining properly. If the cap tops are older than 1 year I would replace them to rule it out as well.

 

[Brett Groves]

As kerwinchua said, humidity is the main culprit usually. You should be around 30 - 65% for proper function. That being said, to me it looks more like an ink migration issue. Notice how it starts fairly strong and then fades as the print goes on? That tells me there is black ink getting into another channel and then as it prints it naturally clears out. I would check the wiper to see if it is warped at all and replace as necessary. Also, I would make sure the cap tops are nice and clean and draining properly. If the cap tops are older than 1 year I would replace them to rule it out as well.

I just replaced the wipers this morning on a machine prompt. Have not printed anything yet but will keep a close watch for it to see if that clears up the issue. I clean the cap tops daily but not sure of their age. Hopefully I can ask around the shop and find out and replace if able. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

1. Clean the ionizer heads
2. Do a disway wash
3. Clean around your capping station
4. Clean your wiper
5. Change the white pad next to capping station
6. Clean around your print heads
7. Do cleaning cycle (normal should be ok)

Also running at a Hughes pass rate will get rid of this sometimes as well


What are you doing for daily/weekly/monthly/yearly maintenance?

 

[Brett Groves]

1. Clean the ionizer heads
2. Do a disway wash
3. Clean around your capping station
4. Clean your wiper
5. Change the white pad next to capping station
6. Clean around your print heads
7. Do cleaning cycle (normal should be ok)

Also running at a Hughes pass rate will get rid of this sometimes as well


What are you doing for daily/weekly/monthly/yearly maintenance?

Didn't even KNOW I could clean the ionizer heads.

I do a manual cleaning daily or every other day depending on usage (carriage and station, all areas).

Weekly I do a full sweep and mop in the print room as well as a more thorough manual cleaning and a NORMAL auto clean, check print head tests, etc...

I only started here about a 5 weeks ago so haven't really gotten into the monthly tasks yet.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Hey Brett

give me a call on Friday I’d be happy to discuss what we do with you. Might help you out a bit

Ron Scheel
Modern Ink Signs & Graphics
262.548.0055

 

[AM Signs Ltd Hull]

Did this problem get sorted as I’m having the same issue?

 

[Adam Vreeke]

Did this problem get sorted as I’m having the same issue?

I agree here with Modern Ink and Solventinkjet. I run into this problem occasionally and the best solution I have found is cleaning the cap tops, and if you haven't changed them in a while get them replaced. Most people say to change at 1 year.

 

[FutureSigns]

Having this issue as well. Reds, oranges..... Just ordered new cap tops and keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[guillermo]

I had exactly the same issue as the first post, black ink into a red at the start of the print, we had a tech and no luck, finally, that issue went away by itself, but missing half of the cyan and yellow started, we had to replace print head and not issues since then. I forgot, also, we were using third party inks, it was recommended to go back to mimaki, (even that is very expensive, but better to replace a printhead) and we have not got the problem since.
I am not saying that the print head needs replace, but this is how on my machine started,

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Filters tend to get overlooked a lot on these machines, and they are a bit of a messy and time-consuming task to do. As for ink, using fresh tends to be most important and Mimaki inks have a bad habit of being 6 months old by the time the customer gets them. Also, these printers need climate control, TONS of issues caused by poor environment that cause things to drop out and heads to clog like crazy due to that. Stable temperature, clean air and stable humidity are all important.