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Mutoh 1204 new printhead no ink

Kelsey Adams

New Member
Just replaced printhead and maintenance station. Am not getting any ink to print. I’ve also tried pulling ink thru the drain line with one of the lines closed off. Thinking it may need a new fuse. I have the back covered pulled off but have no clue where the F2 fuse is located.
 

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
The main board is the largest board on the very far left from the back of the machine. The fuse is on the main board close to the large black heat sink that sticks up off the board. Depending on how old your 1204 is, it's going to be either a soldered on fuse or a socketed one. It's not a glass tube fuse like you're probably used to. It's a tiny ceramic fuse about the size of 2 grains of rice. It will also have a very small label next to it showing "F2". Unfortunately getting to it usually means taking the board out completely.

Did you get any ink when pulling from below the cap top? If not, it could still just be an ink flow issue. If you did get ink, it's probably the fuse.
 
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Kelsey Adams

New Member
It also appears that something is wrong with the maintenance station. I’m putting solution on the capping station and it doesn’t go down, it just sits there. When trying to pull it thru the lines, I get a lot of tension on the syringe and it collapses the line
 

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
It also appears that something is wrong with the maintenance station. I’m putting solution on the capping station and it doesn’t go down, it just sits there. When trying to pull it thru the lines, I get a lot of tension on the syringe and it collapses the line

On a brand new station, if you fill the cap with solution and then pull with a syringe without docking the head, it should flow through easily. If the tube is crushing and no solution comes into the syringe, either the tubes themselves are clogged (not likely on a new station) or something else is preventing flow. Have you tried running a cleaning or fill up cycle via the machine's menus yet instead of manually pulling?
 

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
I’ve done both cleaning and 2 little charges. I’ve got one black and one blue nozzle firing.

That rules out the fuse then. Keep in mind that if you changed the dampers along with the head, the ink naturally receded back to the cartridges. It can take a couple little charges to get it all back. It sounds to me like the station might not be working properly. The most common issue with a maintenance station is that when you pull with a syringe from below the cap top, all you pull is air. Getting a lot of suction should eventually pull ink down through the entire system. The suction should feel like it's getting weaker and weaker until ink starts to fill the syringe. If you just get suction and it never weakens, that usually indicates a clog.

I'd run a little charge and watch two places for ink flow. 1 will be the ink lines above the dampers and the 2nd would be the waste tubes. During a little charge you should see ink fill the empty lines and then eventually flowing fairly heavily through the waste lines. Usually it's such strong flow that the waste tubes will bounce up and down. If you don't see that type of action, I would suspect something is up with the station.
 

Kelsey Adams

New Member
This is suppose to be grey. I also have one blue nozzle that is not firing at all. Could the incorrect color be caused by this nozzle?
 

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Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
This is suppose to be grey. I also have one blue nozzle that is not firing at all. Could the incorrect color be caused by this nozzle?

For sure. The lack of cyan is shifting it towards magenta. You actually have a lot more printing than I realized. Since it's really only the missing cyan, I would suspect a bad damper in this case. Do you see air in the cyan line? Also, it's hard to see if the yellow is printing.
 
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