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Printer problems, colour dropping out
Hi folks, as stated im having printer issues. I understand most of you dont have a Mutoh but hoping this might seem like a generic problem that you may have come across before.
So printer in question is Mutoh VJ eco solvent-
So 2 incidents which i believe are related, 1, last week i was printing some red wallpaper and the colour started to change to more of a brown. i did nozzle check and everything was good, kept printing but it continued then i get flashing lights and sirens telling me the Magenta sub-tank is empty. I check the Magenta ink levels and it has 10% but the cartridge seemed empty (i later cut it open and it was empty) so i changed it for a new one and did “little charge, sub tank refill” and we were back up and running. Since then ive only prined few metres.
2, today im printing large orange and grey stickers, i get 5 metres into the job, start printing same lot again and straight away the orange looks like shit. i try again and again but it keeps getting worse, 2 nozzle checks are fine then the 3rd shows magenta missing half its nozzles. Now i know i have nearly full magenta cartridge, i do little charge and sub tank refill again and off we go we are back to the races. Im now printing 4 metres in but expect it to soon do the same again.
Seems to me Magenta related
So, any ideas what this could be?
Thanks
Update, printed that run fine, then resent the job and no magenta again
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10 Replies
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Hi Martin
I had a similar problem on my Mimaki, it ended having a new head, I know both machines are different Though
Regards Steve
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Thanks stephen, i was thinking of starting with the damper
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Had the same with my Roland. Magenta has stopped working entirely.
Now selling for spares.
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Sorry to hear that simon. Did you go down the damper route?
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Am no tech but if your printers been sucking a empty cart I would of thought either
1) you’ve got air in the lines. New roland machines you can do a damper fill on them. Don’t know about mutoh. Worth YouTubing. Run it twice.
2) it’s sucked so hard it’s picked up some crap it shouldn’t of that’s now sitting in the head and blocking the tiny nozzles. Several powerful cleans and manual cleans might pull it through.
Also worth running a 100% magenta block a few times. Like half a meters worth. It might help clear it up.
I’ve never had an cart run empty but I did buy a roland with green ink 😂 so these are things we have had to do. More than once.
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Thanks for the suggestions. i have no idea why the machine didnt pick up that its empty, never happened before.
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I am far from an expert on this and although we had various Roland solvent printers for around 15+ years before moving to latex, I would think these types of machines have come a long way from then!
I do not know how Motuh are set up, but leading into the heads, you have the pipes, Damper, Manifold then the head, capping station, pump and pipes.
Quick non-expert check:
Pipes: do you see air in the lines
Damper: you should see a little foil or similar filter, does it have little clumps of ink sticking to it?
Manifold: the pin on the manifold can split that holds the damper causing suction pressure to drop.
Head: make sure it’s clean, with no signs of visible damage. Run print tests.
also, I like to print 150mm squares up the width of the machine of 100% CMYK and lite cyan and lite magenta.
Capping Ports: check the heads are docking the capping station properly.
Pumps: make sure the pumps are not losing suction etc
waste bottle: Make sure your waste bottle is not full.doing this from memory years ago mate, but it’s a process of elimination for each element.
I think the print tests guide you to the starting point. I like doing the squares of 100% of each colour as a non-techy visual way for me to understand where the problem is.back then everything sat “exposed” I could open the latch and see all the parts and access them pretty easily. when I was at Roland’s place in Bristol some years later I remember looking inside the machine e and being shocked at how simplified it now looked or how well hidden all the parts were now. that I guess can be a good thing or a bad for all of us “give it a go ourselves” type people trying to save on call-out charges… 🙄
I used to buy spares from online sources. Companies similar to Josero spares, cheap to buy dampers and manifolds etc not so much when it comes to heads.
That’s a big benefit to a head going on an HP latex. you can change a print head on your own in a couple of minutes and costs around £100.im rambling now, so i will shut up. best of luck!
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Thanks rob, i will go through your checklist and see what i come up with. Having been dealing with this problem on a few jobs now it seems to do it once the job finishes and you restart the job. So prints fine then once it stops for few minutes magenta then stops. Cleaning gets it back again to print next job.
Anyway thanks
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Hi Martyn
Did you sort this problem out? I am a tech if you need help you can look me up. PWSE Ltd
Or WhatsApp me on the number on my website.
Regards
Pete
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Hi Peter, thanks for your message and great to have a contact that can help in the future.
We did find one issue which we have solved, the new inks that Mutoh are now providing had problems with the tabs not coming out when the ink gets low and therefore not setting off the low ink sensor and then emptying the subtank. Its a known problem which mutoh know about iand i have since had new inks sent. However i still think there is an issue but for now it has gone back to sleep. I will check out your website and get your details for the future. Thanks
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