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Solvent printer head problem again. Uniform Cadet
For those that read my posts in the “Orange jet V Versacamm” thread then here’s a sorry update.
After having four head changes in the first year down to banding, we changed the ink set in February over to Citrosol milder inks
and here we are less than three months in and guess what? Yes, more head problems.
This time the black has started banding and gives a rough edge to the prints like overspray. Have done several cleans as the engineer suggested two weeks ago, and let the heads soak. We can only do this for about twenty minutes as it syphons ink up into the other colour tubes. The symptoms are exactly the same as all the previous times, with very prominent lines through prints on lower passes but fine on the highest amount of passes and resolution. If you look at the pictures posted in the above post then it’s exactly the same but this time in black.
We thought the milder inks would cure this but apparently not. Can anyone suggest why this machine eats the heads?
We use it every day to keep the ink flowing but have not done a massive amount of large prints, mainly labels and 3′ x 2′ size prints. This machine is now 15 months old.
Waiting for a return call from B&P light brigade.
I will let you know the outcome.
https://youtu.be/Ay9KgPVCOFA
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7 Replies
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Martin
I have been told that black for most manufacturers is the coursest of all the inks, that is why the black head on most machines will be the first to need replacing. This applies to eco or solvent inks, even the new eco max inks.
Companies like techink, who I changed over to last year, put a great deal of R&D into having one of the finest inks on the market, but it does not come cheap.
I’m not sure about the citrusol inks, but I’m told by reliable techs that not all manufactuere have addressed the course issues of the inks pigments. Thus head failures, especially black.
The cheap inks are less likely to have fine pigments, and more inclined to have shorter head life.
That said, the issues you are experiencing sound like the same things I experienced last year.
The techs discovered that the head docking stations were partially blocked and were causing the heads to be only partially cleaned. They suggested every week, I load the stations with flushing fluid, waiting for it to drain thru to the waste bottle. I do this 4 or 5 times each time, until the drain flow is consistant and quick.
Plus, every 6 months, replace the docking station pads. They eventually go hard and have reduced cleaning effectivness.
Since I have done that, and cleaned the edges of the heads every month, I have no more issues with faults as you describe here.
I hope that helps.
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It sounds like youve had nothing but grief with that machine martin.
I too swapped to citrusol inks approx 4ks ago. Well so far so good.
I swapped over to the less aggressive ink for the same reason as you did.
Also i wasnt running the machine regular enough as i wanted to. Seems to me that solvent based machines need to be used full colour everyday to get the best out of them.
I cant report any problems with the ink as yet. But the jury is still out !
Have you checked your profiles? I find that the more dense the profile as far as ink limits go the more you need to clean. More ink spat around the base of the heads means a greater chance of evapouration of the solvent, resulting in nozzle blockage.
Sorry to state the obvious. Just a thought. Hope the engineer can solve your problem. Try to get grant to look at it. Hes a wizard.
Matt
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We like you don’t need to print every single day but I’ve got a file that is four squares of colour 2" each repeated and this is 100% of each colour and we run this several times a day to keep things flowing.
Since changing to Citrosol, The heads do not seem to get anywhere near as dirty as before on the full solvent inks, it seems a waste of time cleaning sometimes.
The engineers will be out soon but have said it sounds like a head. -
i cant comment on the problem, i dont have an answer. however, i have been using activasol inks since we bought our grenadier over two years ago… machine runs day in day out. never had a head problem yet. (touch wood)
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Rob
That’s the key to the problem. You run them day in day out. I’ve taken to ensuring a print is run virtually every day, including running it remotely from home.
Despite this, B & P have just replaced the heads on my Cadet Plus again after the banding got too severe.
Peter
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Just an update.
Had Kevin out from B&P today… and first time ever no new heads needed.
He gave the FACE of the heads a really good clean and slightly lowered the height as he says that the Cadet runs higher than the Grendier for some reason and lowering it gives a sharper print. He was here for a long time but solved the problem. I’ve noticed with the Citrosol inks that the heads don’t seem to get anywhere near as mucky as they did with the full solvent ink, but just goes to show you can’t always see the problem. Cheers Kevin ! -
Thats good news martin! Not bad for a change.
Glad you got the problem sorted.
Matt
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