my JV33 clone (chinese) gettting started

[artbot]

well, my jv3 wouldn't diagnose/repair so i had to punt and get a new printer. i run across this ad in craiglist for a "JV33 clone"??? i look at it printing recently on youtube and figure it looks good enough to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFEmyjl3pOk

so now i have this printer here and uncrated. it has dye sub ink in it. to start the conversion to solvent, i fill up the CIS system with distilled water and start doing ink fills to get the lines cleaned out of ink. i'll add some bissell hard floor cleaner to the mix tomorrow and do some custody washes.

does anyone have any experience converting from dye sub to solvent? what should i look out for. it seems the printer is a solvent printer with dye sub in it, so all parts should be mimaki jv33 spec.

thanks in advance!

aa

 

[Neil]

Whoah, chapter one of a whole new book for you now AB!

First 'd learn how to switch the carts on and off manually - remember there's valves in the 33's.

Here's how to do it Mimaki style...

Turn on machine while pressing function and remote.
Hit function key.
Scroll to #Test.
Scroll to Ink Cartridge.
Arrow to the correct cart no. - (NOT the location of the damper).
Press up to open.

In your case you could open them all.

Then you can put a syringe to the bottom of the damper and suck through.

I'd be inclined to empty as much water based stuff as possible before starting with the solvent flush.

Good Luck!

 

[artbot]

i'm not sure if the valve system is on this printer. it looks like they went with a very conventional ink supply.

 

[SightLine]

My guess would be a non-valved ink system. When it does a cleaning or anything you will hear some clicks as the solenoids open on the valves if it does have them. I doubt many (if any) clones will go with that sort of setup. Take us some good pics of the head area, dampers, etc. I'd think on converting it to solvent you would probably want to flush the lines and head to just clean them as much as possible with the water based flush first. Then somehow get the ink lines all filled with solvent and do the head itself last. Maybe even manually doing an alcohol base into the head to assure any traces of water are out and evaporated out. Then just run a couple of ink fills back to back to fully fill the head with solvent.

Not really sure though as I've never really looked at converting a water based machine to solvent.

One thing to be absolutley certain of for sure ahead of time will be to do some spot checks on the plastics to make sure they are all solvent resistant. Just dab a little on a non-critical part of the manifold and whatnot to be certain it's not going to soften up and melt.

 

[artbot]

so far, media lever very crude.

carriage, gangtry, capping station, pump... extremely quiet and smoooooooth. very nice. but then it is thk.

 

[rubo]

Hey Artbot, how's it going? Just a thought - why not just change the tubing - that is, get a set of brand new tubing - to save the aggravation of cleaning them up?

Rubo

 

[Dave Rowland]

sounds easier to flush it lol considering what i saw in a JV3-160S

 

[artbot]

after pulling water through (a gallon?) i'll run pure retarder of some sort, then ink. i need a rip for this thing still otherwise, i'm stuck. right now i have to get onyx for the CET flatbed so i'm figuring i'll run this printer on that.

 

[durafosinks]

Rip?

after pulling water through (a gallon?) i'll run pure retarder of some sort, then ink. i need a rip for this thing still otherwise, i'm stuck. right now i have to get onyx for the CET flatbed so i'm figuring i'll run this printer on that.

Onyx should be fine. I'm wondering about the firmware, original vs. converted

 

[artbot]

from memory.... it seems it said 8.03 when i booted it. i can check later. i'll probably start noticing some deletions later on as soon as i get more familiar with the OEM jv33 menu tree.

 

[artbot]

photos

final photographic proof that the chinese builders do not send you a crate full of sawdust.

 

[artbot]

more photos

text text text text

 

[Masseria]

Ok, im back from a little vacations sorry for the delay... i'll send as soon as possible to you Rasterlink 5Pro SG trial version so you can test it...

Looks like a jv33 to me, but 100% chinesse building....
and 100% chinesse means...
GOOD LUCK........

 

[jhanson]

Heh. That's a Mutoh ValueJet head carriage knockoff.

I doubt the printer firmware is going to be anywhere close to being compatible with the JV33 firmware. Quick question: To make it work, did you have to install a USB dongle and some Chinese controller software?

Also, for those bulk ink cartridges, you can just remove the plastic "lockers" altogether and plumb the lines straight from the bottles to the cartridges. The lockers have an annoying tendency to leak. Keep an eye on the cartridges as well, because when the valves inside get stuck open (they will, eventually!) you're going to have a big puddle of ink on the floor.

 

[Jack Knight1979]

that's a good looking machine!!!!

Please let me know who you like that bulk system. I currently use the easyfillpro. It's a garbage unit, but I've gotten passed the awkward shortfalls of the unit and can be productive with it.

I would like to upgrade to this unit at some point.

 

[artbot]

i'm sure i'll be selling the CIS. i just need the carts. these carts have a long float inside that pinches the line when floating horizontally. very simple system.

good or bad, this thing is smooth. it has a very light touch, very quiet. my jv3 can be heard from the next room just running the pumps.

only one issue that the owner did warn me about. if the rear power switch is turned off, you have to boot to the service menu. then you are good to go. if that is the only thing i run into, than i'm good.

and just to keep a frame of reference on how "cheesy" this printer is or isn't, i have a one year old, 60", dx5 solvent printer in my garage for $3780.

 

[SightLine]

Intersting. Definitley more like a JV33 than a JV3. JV33 style controls and frame, Mutoh carriage, definitley a DX5 head with DX4 style oversize dampers so it's not a valved ink train. Also will want to be sure the wiper is a solvent resistant one. The solvent wipers are usually blue on these. As long as that head is good and you can get a RIP to print to it you are going to love the alignment on that DX5. The RIP is going to be the trick, if one will run it using a JV33 config you will be set. I kind of doubt the dongle-less OEM Rasterlink versions will run though since they probably will not detect the firmware as original Mimaki firmware.

 

[artbot]

it originally was running on wasatch and identified as a jv33 in the rip. i hoping onyx production house will run it because i'm stuck with that on the CET.

if it prints well, which i'll bet it does, than i'd much prefer valveless, chipless, low tech printers. i still miss using my old fj50. that was two heads. i agree that i will love the one head. and replacing it, i'm figuring any dx5 will do. chinese OEMs use the bulk anything goes dx5s.

on the wiper, it is set up/purchased as a solvent printer that the guy put dye sub ink in. i'll email him and ask him. i really need to get this thing printing soon. i'm wondering if there's some miracle cleaner to clean up the capping station. ... from what you guys/sightline see... this looks to be a mutoh aftermarket capping station?

 

[SightLine]

Cannot tell really. They all use the same captop itself but the station is not like a JV33 one. I should have a picture of the JV33 one in another thread somewhere. Just clean the rubber edge of the captop itself just like you would the JV3 cap tops with some solvent. If it was setup for solvent to begin with you should have no worries and it sounds like they have something in the firmware to make it appear as a Mimaki which is great.

 

[artbot]

oh yeah. that was a very low anxiety moment. i turned it on and was off and running with the front panel.