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Print head problem
Hi
Newbie here, please go easy 🙂
We’ve been using a Mimaki CJV30-60 daily for 2 years and its been brilliant. We’ve done the daily maintenance and always used Mimaki inks. Of late we’ve started to see the blues and greens appear kind of uniformly pixelated.
Had a search but not sure what I should be searching and Ive attached the print test.
We’ve paid about £400 to the Mimaki engineer who identified and fixed a pump failure. He gave us the option to ‘flush’ clean the print head with a syringe (maybe Im using the wrong term) which he said would have a 50% chance of wrecking the print head. We decided to just leave it as it was rather than risk paying £1500 for a new print head. The prints are still acceptable but if they get any worse we’ll have to reconsider.
I just wondered if there were any other options open to us. I did read about ultrasonic cleaning, I dont know whether this is an option for us. Any suggestions welcome
thanks
Rob
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11 Replies
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Hi Rob,
I’ve just run your issue past my colleague Martin, he’s suggested the following…
You may want to try a new cap. Then try an overnight or over the weekend nozzle wash. To do this, use the nozzle wash function, fill the cap with cleaning fluid, set the timer for five minutes. Then after 30 seconds, turn the machine off using the white switch on the side and leave it. When you turn it back on, try a couple of hard cleans and a test print to see if any improvement.
Just an idea…
Thanks,
Simon.
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Many thanks will give that a go
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No worries, he did say that the cap may not be sealing properly any more, even though you’ve got a new pump, it won’t work as well as it should if the cap is leaking air in.
A new cap would be recommended anyway after a few years!
Good luck with it, hope you see some improvement.
Simon.
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Hi
What does the cap do? I thought it was just to hold the sponge that cleans the print head. Please excuse my ignorance….
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I absolutely agree with Simon about the cap and weekend nozzle wash. Make sure you buy a genuine cap and not a generic one, otherwise you’ll be buying another one before long.
The cap makes a seal between the head and the pump. If it’s deformed at all, it will let air in and not pull ink through as it should.
If it’s still no better after a long soak, it’s unlikely it will recover again in my experience.
Stafford
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sorry to jump on the back of this, but what do you do if one of the caps won’t hold the cleaning solution anymore ? it just runs straight through.
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Hi Gary.
More often than not, that’s because the pump is not locking off and is on its way out.
Stafford
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quote Stafford Cox:Hi Gary.
More often than not, that’s because the pump is not locking off and is on its way out.
Stafford
thanks Stafford, its only on one colour, yellow, I thought one pump did 2 colours ?
Thanks Gary
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You must be using a JV3 then Gary? In which case, you’re using 2 x pumps. Each pump has a left and a right, so….
Pump 1 L = KK
Pump 1 R = MM
Pump 2 L = CC
Pump 2 R = YYTry swapping the left and right side of the pump and the fault will probably switch from yellow to cyan.
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Thanks Stafford, are you ever up this way ( lancashire ) I need a head alignment doing Mark was meant to sort it but never has, asked roger 6 months ago, customers dont believe me when i tell them that "the blue haze around the graphics is classed as special but we won’t charge you extra for it 🙂 my mobile is 07711 064574
Thanks Gary
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I thought I recognised the picture Gary 🙂 Nice to hear from you again.
Sorry to hear you’re not getting the support from AIT. I’m not often over that way but I have got an engineer who spends most of his life up and down the M6. However, as much as I would love to come and see you Gary, I don’t want to tread on anybody’s toes. Leave it with me and let me have a chat with Mark before we do anything.
Just to keep the post alive, post some pictures of the fault you’re getting on your cyan and I’ll see if I can help you on here first.
Stafford
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