Valuejet 1604 Capping Issues

[jc1cell]

Let's see if you guys could put a bit of input on this issue.

We've been having issues with our capping station not sealing properly against the head causing in turn no ink to flow through the heads during cleaning. This means that no auto cleaning is being done overnight or during the time we are not printing.

We've been back and forth with our distributor and came to conclusions that didn't resolve anything.

First we simply replaced the maintenance unit and everything began to work great. Two weeks later, clogged heads because no seal. So they suggested to press up on the capping during cleaning. Worked well until even pressing didn't help make a seal. So they told me that mutoh had issues with a weak spring under the capping station. Sent that and a new capping station.

Our local tech replaced only the capping because he forgot to bring the spring with him. That helped but we were still missing the spring. It worked well for a while. When it began to falter again the tech finally mailed the spring and upon replacement it didn't improve anything.

Right now we are expecting a head and a new maintenance unit to see if replacing that works.

However, I'm concerned with one thing. As a test to see what kind of cleaning was performed, I set the auto cleaning to 1 hr. The thing is, I never see it going through the motions of cleaning anything. Not a strong clean, not an economy clean or even a little charge.

Any suggestions or opinions.

PS: We are using a bulk ink system from the distributor and the display always reads CMYK not original Ink and is using an older 1.04 firmware. Everything always prints fine and when the seal is working it cleans fine..I just don't see it performing the auto cleaning.

 

[Compilla]

As far as the AutoCleaning issue, I would definitely upgrade the Firmware.
Current Firmware it is 1.10

Did Mutoh void your Warranty due to the fact you are using 3rd party inks ?

 

[jc1cell]

Who Knows!!!!!!

The fact is that the owner of the shop was in such a hurry to save money that he didn't even think about that or listen to any suggestions. The distributor is the one providing the one year warranty on the equipment and so far they have been replacing all needed parts without any major hassles....though we have been waiting over a week for the head and maintenance unit.

So let me ask you. Can you tell me exactly what kind of cleaning the VJ goes through on during the autoclean.

PS.

If I change the Firmware then the bulk ink won't work.

jc

 

[randya]

So let me ask you. Can you tell me exactly what kind of cleaning the VJ goes through on during the autoclean.

PS.

If I change the Firmware then the bulk ink won't work.

jc

The Autoclean function will perform a cleaning before the next print if the printer has been idle for longer than the Autoclean Timer.

 

[jc1cell]

The Autoclean function will perform a cleaning before the next print if the printer has been idle for longer than the Autoclean Timer.

If autoclean is set for two hours, then every two hours it should perform an cleaning cycle. Am I right???

 

[randya]

If autoclean is set for two hours, then every two hours it should perform an cleaning cycle. Am I right???

No,

If autoclean is set for 2 hours, AND the printer is IDLE for more than 2 hours, then it will perform a cleaning when the next print is sent, BEFORE it prints.

 

[jc1cell]

So how does the printer keep the heads moist overnight if it's not by using the autoclean setting?

What's the purpose of keeping it on overnight as specified if it's just going to sit idle and not keep the head moist with ink flow at the specified time?

Might as well just shut the machine down for the night and save on electric.

jc

 

[randya]

So how does the printer keep the heads moist overnight if it's not by using the autoclean setting?Currently it does not.

What's the purpose of keeping it on overnight as specified if it's just going to sit idle and not keep the head moist with ink flow at the specified time?Currently, only to activate clean before start the next day

Might as well just shut the machine down for the night and save on electric.

jc

jc see above

 

[RVSG-THOM]

I’m running a new 1604 VJ and we haven't had an issue. I run a weekly maintenance on the head every Monday, and run a clean each and every morning when I walk in. the inks shouldn't matter. The major thing to check for is if you print a lot on banner material, to check the head and see if there are a lot of small strands of lint, this may be causing the capping station to no cap fully. I also clean the capping station when I clean the head. Overall, I spend about 15-20 min cleaning each week, and it works perfectly. I also keep a log book of each time I clean it and what I cleaned.

 

[jc1cell]

I’m running a new 1604 VJ and we haven't had an issue. I run a weekly maintenance on the head every Monday, and run a clean each and every morning when I walk in. the inks shouldn't matter. The major thing to check for is if you print a lot on banner material, to check the head and see if there are a lot of small strands of lint, this may be causing the capping station to no cap fully. I also clean the capping station when I clean the head. Overall, I spend about 15-20 min cleaning each week, and it works perfectly. I also keep a log book of each time I clean it and what I cleaned.

Hey RVSG,

At a time I was cleaning the printer everyday in the morning and at end of day. Pretty much overkill but with the situation I was having I figured it would be best. Also cleaning the wiper and the capping rubber after every print. Along with all this I ran a little charge every morning; that's how I noticed the sealing problem.

Regarding the Banner media, until about a month and a half ago we didn't used the type of banner that had the strands at the edges. I figured that wasn't the problem so we started using it with great success.

We have recently changed all parts involved (head, maintenance unit) and things seem to be working well. I had noticed that during the morning hours everything was printing great and as the afternoon came about some ink starvation was ocurring in the head. I decided to suggest putting a stronger AC unit to see if that would help the situation. So far we haven't had any issues with anything during the day.

The only thing I have noticed is that since the air is turned off overnight, when I get in the next day the printer has difficulties sealing. Sometimes it works and others I need to slightly press the capping up.

I'm keeping a keen eye on everything and I will post any changes here and conclusions I may come up with so you can beat them down (or agree).

jc

 

[SE SignSupply]

Sleep Mode

I don't know if it has been said or not but...

In order to promote good capping you need to put your printer in sleep mode. If you don't have this mode update the firmware. This will "splash" the head every 8 hours (or any interval you set) to keep the nozzles moist and the seal wet. You can find sleep mode under the 1st menu, I believe this is option 8=sleep mode. Press enter to restart, any jobs sent while in sleep mode will be lost!

 

[jc1cell]

Heres the lates info...

So everything was working just great once the A/C was put into place. The little charges were taking without any help and printing was excellent for a while there. The temperature setup is excellent. But we're back with the same issues and it's only been less than a month since the full replacement of the maintenance unit and the capping. I find myself having to nudge the capping in order for it to take properly and I'm noticing that it's a bit more forcefull as days pass. It's a bit concerning.

I went back to old notes and can only think of two reason why this could be happening: bad capping unit or bad pump.

I don't think it's the pump because once I get the seal on there manually it pushes ink like crazy. I did a bit of research and found the following on a different forum:

"Capping stations should be good for about 6 months, sounds like you may have another problem going on"

"I have had the same problem. I've replaced the capping stations only a coupla months ago, and it's doing it again"

Granted that these were from Mutoh Falcons and not the valuejet, but it could be an indication of the problem I'm having.

So far, everytime the maintenance unit is changed or only the capping station is change things work great for a while. When something else is changed it pretty much stays the same.

Any ideas, questions or suggestions.

jc