Please help my never ending mutoh problems!

[dj_elite]

So this is continuing on from previous posts i have made about black not printing correctly. I bought a new black print head about 2 months back and it worked for a little while then clogged and wouldn't unclog no matter what I tried. It would print, it just had a few nozzles that would shoot sideways. So today I installed a brand new capping station, another new black print head, new damper and O ring. I reset home position for capping station, entered new rank for print head, and suctioned ink slowly into the new damper with a syringe through the capping station. Ran two powerful cleanings and then ran a nozzle check. No black! So I then ran a black ink fill. Retried nozzle check...no black! So I then tried to just print a big line of black. It printed but it was like a dark gray. Weird I thought! Did this two more times, still grayish with tones of red and blue??? Let it sit for about an hour, figured maybe the ink had to sit in the damper for a little bit. Turn printer on after about an hour run nozzle check again. NO BLACK! It will print black, just grayish, but will not print black while doing a nozzle check. Has anyone ever had a similar problem that can help me? I am so sick to my stomach over this piece of s*&% printer. I'm losing business and losing money that I'm tossing at it! I will never buy a MUTOH ever again. Worst experience ever.

PS It is a Mutoh Rockhopper 38

 

[AUTO-FX]

i just had a similar experience, minus the head swap. one thing i did that you didnt do was block up the back of the black ink cart. but more importantly, check that the black cap is sealing well on the head. check for strong ink flow from the black waste line during the powerful cleaning.if the cap isnt sealing well, the cleaning is being performed properly. i found that the new cap didnt quite seal good enough until i messed with it awhile, cycling the head parking a bunch of times eventually solved it. good luck with it.

 

[dj_elite]

I have all my ink cartridges shimmed up if that's what you mean. I've been having problems with this printer for the past month now almost non stop. I'll get it going for like 2 days then something else will go wrong! I'll try to park it a couple more times and see if that helps AUTO

 

[AUTO-FX]

Yeah, propping up the back of the carts for a more positive seating. This capping station i put in was from signspecialist. When i questioned him he assured me it was from mutoh.Wether that's actually true or not, it has the brass mesh over the pads- their solution for the pad swelling. it seems flimsy-er then the last one i had but looks identical. i think it really needed to be broken in a little before it "found it's groove." as soon as it did, everything has been fine. did a bunch of printing today and only needed the auto clean cycle.

 

[dj_elite]

Yeah mine is a direct replacement from Mutoh i bought through Signwarehouse. It seems the print heads are not lining up with the caps. I checked it out after your post. The black looks fine but the color doesnt seem to lining up. The color head looks to much to the left of the color cap and blue ink is dribbling down the side of the cap, like its not seating properly. Any idea how to align this?

 

[AUTO-FX]

well, no i dont really. there IS no adjustment for the mounting of it. one alignment pin and one screw, that's it. mine did the same- it leaked alittle cyan at the front of the cap too.I wiggled it around a bit and moved it back and forth a bunch of times. There are alignment tabs to guide the headcap onto the head, non adjustable, but it more or less fixed itself with use in my case.

 

[dj_elite]

just compared my old caps to the new ones. The new caps are about 1/16th of an inch smaller than my old ones. I think Mutoh is using japanese crap now! The caps are also white my old ones were black. So sick of this printer its pitiful.

 

[dj_elite]

So I'm assuming Mutoh now uses 3rd party inks and parts for this printer. 3 years no problems besides regular maintenance and now its never ending!

 

[Stealth Ryder]

just compared my old caps to the new ones. The new caps are about 1/16th of an inch smaller than my old ones. I think Mutoh is using japanese crap now! The caps are also white my old ones were black. So sick of this printer its pitiful.

Mutoh is a Japanese company, of course the parts come from Japan...

 

[dj_elite]

3rd party Japanese crap! I specified... I can't stand it anymore and don't know what to do? This is more of a headache then what its worth. But I lease to buy my printer and cutter together and still have about a year and a half left on the lease. If I give it back now I lose the time I paid for it plus have to by another setup! I don't know what to do???

 

[Stealth Ryder]

3rd party Japanese crap! I specified... I can't stand it anymore and don't know what to do? This is more of a headache then what its worth. But I lease to buy my printer and cutter together and still have about a year and a half left on the lease. If I give it back now I lose the time I paid for it plus have to by another setup! I don't know what to do???

The 3rd Party parts are getting here by way of China. I repair printers all the time and have found that by buying parts from a reputable dealer of whatever machine you own ensures you get the best quality item. Having someone install said parts that know how to properly calibrate the machine is another plus that ensures the machine will operate as intended. The last of these machines were sold new 3 years ago if memory serves, meaning that OEM parts are now expensive but are still readily available. Just some advise, stating that you will never buy a Mutoh printer again tends to make the best techs who make a living repairing these machines not want to offer any advice in a forum where these guys give up "tricks of the trade" for free. Just my opinion...

 

[dj_elite]

Im just so fed up with it and all the stuff i have been hearing about Mutoh lately. I ordered a brand new capping station direct from Mutoh and get a piece of crap 3rd party one! What is that all about? The caps don't even cover my print heads! I have been venting that is all...

 

[FatCat]

Listen to stealth rider, the man knows Mutoh. I know it doesn't help you, but I would not hesitate to buy another Mutoh. I believe you are just experiencing some of the shortcomings of that particular series.

Have you looked into having a certified tech come out and fix your machine?

 

[Stealth Ryder]

Im just so fed up with it and all the stuff i have been hearing about Mutoh lately. I ordered a brand new capping station direct from Mutoh and get a piece of crap 3rd party one! What is that all about? The caps don't even cover my print heads! I have been venting that is all...

I understand your frustration but Mutoh does not sell parts to the directly to customers...

 

[dj_elite]

I got it through signwarehouse they got it direct from mutoh. I have the box to prove it. it was dropped shipped to me. FatCat i think your right and it is this series. Since it is a product they don't carry anymore I feel they just gave up on it and left us all to fend for ourselves! I have to wait for signwarehouse to call me back tomorrow and then figure out why this doesn't fit, their going to have to call mutoh and try and straighten it out. Meanwhile its going to be at least another 2 days I'll be down for a total of about 8 in the last month! Not good...

 

[Stealth Ryder]

The techs there will get this worked out for you if you give them a chance to do so, they are experienced and want to help. A positive attitude goes a long way in situations like this... These machines were around for awhile and were replaced with a newer technology in the ValueJet line, technology changes from time to time and some products must be dropped making way for new products... There are thousands of these machines out there still being used with little to no problems, they just have to be maintained on a regular basis... Towards the end of period they were sold at cheaper than normal prices, many opted to pay less for these machines rather than spend a little more for the newer ValueJet...

 

[dj_elite]

I know I know. Im just fed up. Like I said it has been problem after problem for the past 2 months. Now I just installed a new print head today any suggestions what I can do with it so it doesn't get clogged up on me? My printer is all apart capping station is out. Here are some pics of the caps Mutoh sent me. The ones in the top of the pictures are the old ones. Bottom are the new, notice how much smaller they are!

 

[CheapVehicleWrap]

ALL the capping stations are from China, including the ones from Mutoh. They never actually produced the part themselves.

 

[Wraps ink]

its all about those inks.....

 

[dj_elite]

Between all the problems with the inks lately and now this with he capping station Im about to give up on this printer. Going to talk to signwarehouse today and then my lease company and figure out my options