Mutoh Falcon Jr photos and questions, recent purchase.

[Knep]

OK, so a few months ago I bought a Mutoh Falcon Jr, and a Graphtech 30" plotter with ARMS system and software...well I didnt have money for inks and media right away so it sat idle for 3 weeks or so. Well I was told that it was cleaned and stored the right way, so I bought new cleaning cartridges, and new ink, and a new roll of 3m control media...so like 600 bucks worth of stuff! Printer fired up seemed to be cleaning right, no errors...but when it said to empty waste bottle there was nothing...so I thought well I'll run the cmy cleaning cycle and see what I get....Now me being new to printers I thought maybe it was cleaned good so I put the new ink in, let the ink load...tried a nozzle check and nothing...went ahead with a test print nothing!...so I started the tear down, here are the photos I have. First, the black ink damper has little in it, I talked the CMYK guy, he thinks the oring is bad in it. Now for the bad stuff! At first I traced the lines back to make sure nothing was clogged...got back tot he capping station, figured it would need replaced, but didnt really pay much attention to the pump. Well times have been tough, so its just sat there apart for a few weeks. Tonight I thought since I cant sleep i'll go down and see what else I can see...so I took the pump out and it looks like the gears were so gunked up with ink that it pushed the gear out the side and busted the pump! Should I still go ahead and replace the capping station too? I thought it looked like it could use it, the seals look ok, but the pads look kinda rough. What is someone with a Falcon Jr's or has dealt with them, opinion?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[tomence]

Man that capping station doesnt look good at all, at least those pads they are bad also if the pump is not working properly and you have no good seal between the capping station and the heads that could be one problem. In my opinion i think you should changed the capping station and the pump probalby it will cost you around $250 for both parts. Do you see any ink going thru the lines.

 

[tomence]

When you put the new ink in did you do any cleaning cycles coz i think you should do few of them until ink reaches the heads and the dumpers should be like half full .

 

[Knep]

I did several cleaning cycles...nothing ever came though the lines, but I think that is because the gear broke out, but yeah CMYKparts.com has the capping stations for 174, and the pump for 98...this guy seems to know his stuff, anyone bought from him?

 

[Knep]

Oh yeah, I will need that gear drive deal, CMYK has it for 28...so Im at 300 bucks right now....

 

[tomence]

if you look on ebay you can get a new pump for around 45 to 50 dollars, and also for the capping station i can let you know tomorrow or actually today later where you can get it cheaper. Also if you need new print heads i know a good place and a lot cheaper but will PM you about it.

 

[letterman7]

Get the entire capping and pump station from Mutoh. I don't think CMYK carries those. The entire unit will be around $650 or so and come pre-assembled. Lots easier than messing with a bunch of parts and trying to get them together yourself, since you have to replace everything anyway. I bought lots of stuff for my old Falcon Jr until it died, and the guy from CMYK actually bought the machine from me for parts!

 

[Jackpine]

I would buy a new maintenance station from CMYK or through Gregory and have it shipped from Mutoh. I just priced both and the Mutoh was $425.00. I would replace the dampers while it is being fixed. Victor at CMYK is very helpful and knows these printers inside and out.

 

[tomence]

Why spend $650 when they can be bought for less than $300

 

[manuelperezsigns]

parts?

where can i get these parts

Why spend $650 when they can be bought for less than $300

 

[Graphics.Atl]

sign warehouse has the capping station for $30 if I remember correctly. All I know is when I called I thought they misquoted me.

 

[laserman70]

Why spend $650 when they can be bought for less than $300

Let me know where you are getting parts for that price...
I have looked everywhere and no one is even close to that price.

 

[Finishline Signs]

solventinkjetparts.com has the best prices on the parts. Capping station for $80 and the pump for $63.50.