wiper seems to be getting jammed!!

[gabagoo]

My jv3 130spII although getting on in age (8 years) still prints good and I have kept up the maintenance quite well, or so my technician tells me. I had an issue a few weeks back with my black ink, and somehow 2 bottles were drained completely dry and I called him in to syphon the lines and get the machine back up and running.

Since then each morning I come in I can hear the printer is on and it seems stuck waiting for me to hit enter so that the wiper can return to it's home. I replaced the sponge and cleaned it all out in there several times. I scraped the undersides of the rails and did find some gunk caked on. Still seems to be getting stuck.

What I have been doing for the last 2 weeks now is putting the machine into a nozzle wash before I leave and turning off the main power. I am not sure if this is good to do every night and especially on weekends. If it is safe then my problem is solved, but I can't figure out why the wiper when first starting up or during sleep cleaning stops just as it is coming out from it's home?



2 part question.... What else can I do to solve this and is it safe to leave the printer in nozzle washes over extended time?

 

[SightLine]

Going by memory on this so some details might be off.....

You need to remove the entire wiper unit to really get it good an clean. It runs on two small metal bars and has a small metal bit clamped to the little rubber belt. There will be stuff gunked up on the belt itself as well as those rails and the gear on the end that drives the belt. When you unclamp the small piece from the belt there will be a flat spot on the belt so that's where you will want to re-clamp it to the belt. Once you have it out its actually pretty easy to fully disassemble. Just be very careful picking dried ink off the belt and gear. You will be able to clean the shaft that the gear spins on, the gear itself, the rails, and all and then it will be like new again.

 

[ptmiff]

What I have been doing for the last 2 weeks now is putting the machine into a nozzle wash before I leave and turning off the main power. I am not sure if this is good to do every night and especially on weekends. If it is safe then my problem is solved, but I can't figure out why the wiper when first starting up or during sleep cleaning stops just as it is coming out from it's home?

I have a UJF-3042 and do this every night inc holidays and (touch wood) had no problems. Incidentally has your problem only surfaced since a recent Firmware update? I have had problems with switching off. Having to switch power to the machine off too (best practise I know) since a recent update. If I don't switch power off, the machine switches itself back on

 

[gabagoo]

I have a UJF-3042 and do this every night inc holidays and (touch wood) had no problems. Incidentally has your problem only surfaced since a recent Firmware update? I have had problems with switching off. Having to switch power to the machine off too (best practise I know) since a recent update. If I don't switch power off, the machine switches itself back on

Mine is purely mechanical and I suspect because the black ink had drained out, somehow it has made a mess inside that area that I cant seem to find. This morning I fired it up and the wiper moved out fine...Maybe it was the gunk on the underside of the rail that is not visible. I will say this...I bought what looks like dental tools for $7.00 . They have strange shaped metal ends which are great for getting in on hard to reach places to scrape

 

[jfiscus]

Take the back panel off of the machine behind the parking area. check to see where all the black ink has gotten into and clean it out.
I can't remember doing any recent firmware updates to our machines, unless the tech did one when he upgraded us to Onyx 11... so that may also be part of your problem, but it sounds more mechanical especially with the black ink mystery.

 

[gabagoo]

Take the back panel off of the machine behind the parking area. check to see where all the black ink has gotten into and clean it out.
I can't remember doing any recent firmware updates to our machines, unless the tech did one when he upgraded us to Onyx 11... so that may also be part of your problem, but it sounds more mechanical especially with the black ink mystery.

I have never done a firmware upgrade and basically run the printer on a comp that can't access the internet. . Playing it safe.

 

[MikePro]

its the wiper sensor.
on my jv3160 it was located under the right silver-rail that the blade traveled back/forth on, towards the inside of the machine (a thin metal spring-trigger attached to a little black-box)

yours is most likely caked with ink, not surprising if you've been bleeding black lately.
I was able to depress mine with my finger and hear/feel a click, and when it was gummed up it never clicked. So I kept scrubbing with cleaning solution until it worked as it should again.

doubtful hunks of ink in the gears would be your issue, buuuuuut another thing worth doing every few years, is getting into the gears of the wiper mechanism and chiseling out the chunks of dried ink. using a toothbrush and cleaning solution to scrub away the rest.

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your draining ink issue may be caused by a bad capping station/ink pump.
test your capping station with a disway wash, if it's not holding fluid then there's your culprit... either your pump is not closing the line completely(most likely) or there's a leak somewhere between it and the cap.
the open-line allows your siphon ink-supply to just drain-out of the machine when it parks. If you opened up the back of your machine to examine, I wouldn't be surprised if you found a pool of ink just below your ink pump.

 

[MikePro]

and is it safe to leave the printer in nozzle washes over extended time?

completely safe.
when my test prints would get really hairy from overnight-errors, I used to set overnight/allday-long nozzle washes and unplug the machine to disable the automatic cleaning cycle.... sometimes for up to an entire weekend.

 

[gabagoo]

completely safe.
when my test prints would get really hairy from overnight-errors, I used to set overnight/allday-long nozzle washes and unplug the machine to disable the automatic cleaning cycle.... sometimes for up to an entire weekend.

Thanks guys, I will use your advice and do some rigorous cleaning in there.