VJ1614 Dampener Half Full?

[tgrinds]

Do the dampeners on a vj1614 need to be completely full? The reason I ask, is that I'm losing a full block of Cyan in my nozzle check intermittently. I have already replaced the dampener several times. After replacement it works for like a week and then same issue returns. In comparing the cyan to the other 3 dampeners, it appears that the Cyan one only fills to half full. Kind of strange as I can draw ink with no issue and there are no air bubbles in the ink line. Does anyone have any suggestions or have had similar issues? Thanks.

 

[d fleming]

Don't know about your brand, but on my Seiko half full is correct. The air damper works at that level. Sounds like you MIGHT need to replace o rings.

 

[tgrinds]

dampers

Thanks d fleming. Yeah, I changed o-rings and fittings along with damper. I'm going to check for kinks in the line, however, I didn't see any issues before.

 

[baijurj]

Hi,
Let me know if your problem solved, i too have the exact problem on my 1604, it is less than half full. and starts banding after a foot of printing.:Oops:

 

[tgrinds]

It's a strange one. When the issue happens, I'll shut down the machine. Manually draw ink through the damper, power machine up and do a normal cleaning and all fine. Then, anytime from 2 days to a week, one full cyan channel goes missing. There are no kinks in the ink lines, the solenoid fires correctly when testing in service mode. I might change the cleaning unit, but it's the only damper that is half full compared to the full Magenta, Yellow and black. I've changed the damper, o-rings, and fittings several times. I think the cap is the only thing left unless someone has another idea. Thanks.

 

[henryp]

Assuming you are using original Mutoh dampers and inks, the cap is probably not the issue since you only experience ink starvation on the Cyan. The cap is there is to seal the head and prevent the ink drying from out on the nozzles and also to draw ink from the printhead when doing head cleans. If the cap maintains a good seal and is capable of drawing ink from the head when you do a clean, it should be fine.

If you have a perfect nozzle print and you send the job to print, once the printer starts, the cap has nothing to do with the printing process, (unless you set your printer to do a clean while printing which is not recommended), the dampers should fill up automatically because the ink system is sealed.

 

[tgrinds]

Thanks for the info Henry. Yes, all parts and ink are original Mutohs. I am suspecting a partial ink block in the Y connector or tubing between main ink line and damper. Maybe the damper is just not refilling on one side due to a clog. Although I am able to draw ink from damper.

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Not sure on your printer but on my Mimaki there half full the way there suppose to be.

 

[timson_ads]

sharing my exp. I been encounter a lot of these the culprit is the head itself always start on cyan nozzle dunno why, but our assessment is head signal are damage theres no way to repair it but to replace a new head even though you perform a lot of soaking and purging it will be okay for a certain time but the problem will occur again.

 

[henryp]

sharing my exp. I been encounter a lot of these the culprit is the head itself always start on cyan nozzle dunno why, but our assessment is head signal are damage theres no way to repair it but to replace a new head even though you perform a lot of soaking and purging it will be okay for a certain time but the problem will occur again.

True, I find this happens occasionally. Sometimes due the head rank not being correct because the printer's NVRam had been reset for some reason or another, or just due to normal wear and tear on older printers. Btw, I am also from the Philippines

 

[henryp]

Thanks for the info Henry. Yes, all parts and ink are original Mutohs. I am suspecting a partial ink block in the Y connector or tubing between main ink line and damper. Maybe the damper is just not refilling on one side due to a clog. Although I am able to draw ink from damper.

Is this problem occurring only on one particular Cyan channel or on both? If always on the same channel, the problem might be on the head's ink manifold. The nipple, where the damper sits, could be partially blocked or even be damaged, possibly a hairline crack or something.

 

[Jeff South Florida]

I would suspect the manifold. I would switch the damper back at the manifold and see if it follows the channel. If it stays in the chanel, you know it is after thedamper.

 

[Graphics2u]

I would suspect the manifold. I would switch the damper back at the manifold and see if it follows the channel. If it stays in the chanel, you know it is after thedamper.

Good Idea! That would eliminate the ink flow to that point if it stays on the same channel.