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mimaki jv3 self cleaning question (should it change?)
for the first year I had big problems with the ink useage on my Mimaki jv3 in sticking so much waste into the bottle it was creasing me and the costs were unreal.
Hybrid came down just after crimbo and changed the firmware from 5.3 to 7.3 and its now running a treat, i also changed the clean cycle from 8 hrs to 24 hrs, which i know is what a lot of you guys are doing but a couple of questions,
no probems whatsoever with the heads test clean pattern very rarely plays up and i run it every 48 hrs
question 1 when the weather changes and starts to get a bit more hot and sticky, should I change back to cleaning every 12 hours or maybe 8 hours to save the heads?
another question 2 as I clean the machine meticulously and set it up well, i now run most of my stuff now on 720dpi x 360dpi with still good results, if i am only running half the ink will the prints only last half as long? can i expect them to fade quicker if theres only half the amount of ink on the vinyls.
i have been weighing the inks before and after big runs and its now with experience and help of this site it is now a very cost effective printer, but it was set up initially to drink ink! which i found out for almost a year of operation.
i would never recommend anyone changing over inks to another manufacturer, but i would question how cost effective they come out of the factory unless i got a rogue badly set up model.
set up well its a very good earner
i reckon I am running at £30 a month cleaning cycle
and anywhere in between 85p and £2 a metre ink useage costs -
4 Replies
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Hi Simon, my JV3 auto clean cycle is set to 12 hours and I haven’t had a problem no matter the ambient temperature. IMO, an 8 hourly cycle is just a waste of ink. I can understand why it might be a real killer seeing too much ink hit the waste bottle when you pay such a high price for OEM ink. It costs me about $10 (£5) per month in wasted cleaning cycle ink (about 1/3 litre).
It seems reasonable to expect that an image composed of less ink will fade more quickly. Perhaps a parallel example is seen with hand painted signage which has faded and exposed the brush strokes where the paint has been applied thinner in some areas. I think fading of digital prints is determined by a number of factors including amount of ink, ink quality, media, lamination, etc. Therefore, the more ink you lay down, the longer a print will last in the sun, all else being equal.
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well to be honest the only way I can measure the waste is how often we empty the bottle.
So, lets say i emptied it once this year so far… before then about october – november time… the machine in regular use
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just was googling and found this 🙂
Historically our JV3 cleans every 2 hrs and I am emptying that bottle way more than i like… are you guys still running on a 12hr cycle and if so still no issues?
I didnt want to change it – but after doing some sums on cost per sq.m I was looking around for an answer as to why I am using a bit too much ink!
Oo
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No problems here on a 12 hour cycle for the last couple of years. I’m even thinking of changing it to a 24 hour cycle.
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