Need Help UCJV 300 - Media Jam and Missing Nozzles

[marcohs]

Hello,

I have been printing with a Mimaki UCJV300 for about 18 months now. A couple of days ago the head gotcaught on the media, it basically touched it, as the vynil wouldn‘t stay down, but it kept printing. It left a lot of ink on the media, so I presume it printed with the media „touching“ the printheads.
Well, next day I had a couple of nozzles missing but I didn‘t think I would be s problem, but even after all the possible cleanings I could do, they woun‘t come back.
Now I have:
- a bunch of missing nozzles and some that are weirdly printed;
- And I noticed that the cap station is messy, there is color around the cap.

I have already read every possible post I could find but nothing.
I did a manual clean on the heads yesterday, but still nothing. I‘m not sure though if I did it right, I was afraid of damaging it.

Could anyone help me, cause I‘m out ideas. I have multiple printers and I have seen media jams and this kind of thing as well, but I have never seen a printhead being damaged that „easy“, if that‘s the case.

Im attaching a foto of the test print, so you guys can have a look.

Thank you and hopefully someone can give me some insights.

 

[InkHead]

Did you try a nozzle wash? If not, start there. You can even do an extended wash by turning off the machine when the wash countdown begins. You can try 15-30 mins or longer. Then do a couple cleans (normal, hard, etc..)

You could also take a foam tipped swab and dip it in cleaning solution and wipe the head in 1 direction.

Kind of looks like the ink dried on the head

 

[MelloImagingTechnologies]

Buy an EPSON

 

[Mark Spandorf]

First off If head strikes are an issue I suggest moving the head to its highest position as explained in user manual available to download on the mimakiusa.com web site. After moving head to high its suggested to perform the user accessible "drop position" adjustment found in the setup menu. This will correct for the bidirectional alignment that will be off due to head height change.

As suggested by other user a head soak and head cleaning is a good idea.
I typically use the lint free cloth (important) that came in your maintenance kit bag. I fold in quarters and with a gloved hand i soak the cloth with the special Mimaki cleaning fluid in the small brown bottle. As previously suggested wipe in one direction moving cloth to fresh spot. Don't shine a flashlight directly on head but ok to indirectly illuminate to see that all clean under carriage.

After 18 months it is probably time for an air purge. See manual or ask your local Mimaki factory trained technician to give you a hand.

Also look closely at owners manual for maintenance items and procedures. It may be time to replace your wiper and cap absorber and other mist and soak pad. Your caps need to be clean if not the cleaning it does when you select that option may not work.

Also can try head fill and hard cleaning. You should be able to recover heads they are very durable industrial type

I don't think Epson makes a uv roll printer and just introducing a uv flatbed. The ucjv offers clear and white inks with a long successful proven uv printer track record.

If you need any consumables or advice please feel free to email us at service@imagetechdigital.com

 

[marcohs]

First of all thank you all for the answers.
So, i did pretty much everything you guys said. Normal, hard and ultra clean. I did a couple of normal nozzle washes, then one 4 hrs long and another one the whole night.
Today i did the air purge and still nothing.
I try printing today, and the print is good, but the nozzles are still the same. Actually, today I took a look at all the test prints i‘ve done, and the nozzles missing are not always the same. Some i could get back, but later on they were gone again.
I‘m just trying to unterstand why I have those strange lines on the test print, as oppose just to have blank spaces where there‘s a clogged nozzle.
Could that be „dust“, maybe because it scratsched as it kept print even if it was touching? I‘m attaching a close up photo in case you guys didn‘t noticed it.

My technician told me that of the top caps are not sealing good enough, it would make harder to get a good clean, he also told me that sometimes nozzles may recover after some printing?

Any thoughts?

Thank you for your help

 

[Solventinkjet]

I single head strike is usually recoverable but if the head slid across the vinyl back and forth for an entire print, that could definitely do damage to the nozzles. I'm also seeing cross contamination in the yellow which is a sign that either the cap top/pump isn't working 100% and/or the head is damaged.

Once you get it taken care of, make sure to have the tech adjust the media jam sensor. It should have tripped and not allowed so many head strikes to occur.

 

[marcohs]

I single head strike is usually recoverable but if the head slid across the vinyl back and forth for an entire print, that could definitely do damage to the nozzles. I'm also seeing cross contamination in the yellow which is a sign that either the cap top/pump isn't working 100% and/or the head is damaged.

Once you get it taken care of, make sure to have the tech adjust the media jam sensor. It should have tripped and not allowed so many head strikes to occur.

Yeah, it didn‘t actually kept printing that much, when I saw it, you could just see that the head had touched and moved, because there was a „brush“ of colors on the vynil. But i know what you mean.
I think that it‘s worth changing the cap top first….i may still have a chance to recover the heads.
By the way, you cannot see on the photo, but the head with clear and white is just the same….i think i forgot to mention it.
thanks again

 

[Solventinkjet]

Yeah, it didn‘t actually kept printing that much, when I saw it, you could just see that the head had touched and moved, because there was a „brush“ of colors on the vynil. But i know what you mean.
I think that it‘s worth changing the cap top first….i may still have a chance to recover the heads.
By the way, you cannot see on the photo, but the head with clear and white is just the same….i think i forgot to mention it.
thanks again

I'd start there just to make sure you're getting the best suction possible. If that fixes most of it but there are still some missing nozzles, remember there is a nozzle replacement function that allows you to replace that nozzle with one behind it. I believe it's up to 10 per channel but that may have changed with firmware.

 

[marcohs]

I'd start there just to make sure you're getting the best suction possible. If that fixes most of it but there are still some missing nozzles, remember there is a nozzle replacement function that allows you to replace that nozzle with one behind it. I believe it's up to 10 per channel but that may have changed with firmware.

Will do. Hopefully that will solve it.

Did you take a look to the last pic i attached? Have you ever encountered those kind of patterns?
I‘ve been printing for abou 7 years with latex and mostly mimaki ecosolvent, i have to admit that i have less than 2 years experience with uv, but the pattern on the test print is annoying me.
thanks a lot.