Mutoh 1304 Help

[Frozewizard]

Hello everyone,
thanks for your help in advance.
99.9% of my problems have been troubleshooted and solved through these forums. Very helpful!

Today, I'm having issues with my printer and I don't even know where to start. I've switched profiles, heat, and media to determine it is in fact a problem with the printer.

I've attached a photo of whats happening. Any help would be appreciated.

I've raised the head and printed with the same results.

I use factory inks, nozzle check is good, missing 2 in black. When arriving this morning, I found the machine with No Ink (Magenta) most likely related?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Usually over spray is caused by deflecting nozzles, bad head cables, bad head and/or bad main board/other electrical issues. Since your nozzle check looks good, we can rule out deflection.

How old is the head? Have you done any work to the machine recently that would involve any of the electronics?

The first thing I would do is print a cyan block using a low resolution, fast speed, non-variable dot profile. See if the issue goes away. If it does, your head is most likely bad. The reason this shows that the head could be bad is that the nozzle check uses the largest dot size which is easier for the head to fire. If the problem doesn't show up when you only use the large dots but does shows up when printing high quality variable dot, it means the head is having a hard time being accurate with the smaller dot sizes.

If changing the profiles doesn't yield a result, try re-seating your print head cables. While you are in there check for burn marks, debris and anything else that may show signs of, or actually short a connection out. Make sure to turn off the machine, unplug it and hit the power button a few times before you do anything with the electronics.

You probably have already done this but clean everything really well. All the maintenance parts and especially the chrome lining that surrounds the print head. That part can have a lot of ink build up and it is supposed to move static away from the head. If it can't do this job properly, it can cause your issue.

 

[Frozewizard]

VanderJ,
Thank you for your reply. I were hoping you'd catch this.

This morning I had cleaned the chrome lining extremely heavy with solvent cleaner. Then proceeded with printing low res, no wave, non-variable dot profile of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, blocking the other three channels while printing a solid of each. I had found no overspray with this setting on either colors. I had then proceeded to try a high quality, fine & wave, random diffusion, trying each CMYK again with no over spray.

I had then tried to reprint the job. There is little to none noticeable overspray. Seems like the more its printing the less it is occuring. It's happens more with blues.


Should I be expecting some down time in the near future for head replacement?


I really appreciate your help.

Skyler

 

[Solventinkjet]

If the problem is intermittent it means you probably either have static issues, which is common now that the cold weather is setting in, or it's a sign that the head is experiencing the beginning of the end. Try using a humidifier to get the room to 40%-60% humidity and make sure your room temperature is between 68 and 89 degrees while operating. Other than grounding your machine better, which I have not seen improve most conditions in my experience, that should rule out static issues.

If your head is over 3 years old I wouldn't be surprised if it is starting to fail but I have seen some heads last 8+ years. It all depends on how much you use it and how lucky you are.

Other issues that are more rare include, failing main board and/or failing CR cables. The main board is the rarer of the two. If you start experiencing the over spray again, try taking the long cover that runs along the top of the machine that covers the CR cables off and print like that. If the over spray goes away, your CR cables and/or the plastic retainer that holds them in place may be bad.

 

[guitarguy69]

My vote is static. It just reared it's ugly head here this week as it's getting cold and dry. I see it mostly with various shades of blue.