Rockhopper 38 – not printing colour

[Martin Pearson]

When was the last time it was used? Are the heads damp or dry? When was the last time it had a service?

[Dianne Webster]

Hi Martin,

It was last serviced 2 months ago.

I would say the heads are dry.

I have been told to clean the heads with cleaning solvent, do you know if this is correct.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Dianne

[Robert Lambie]

i know nothing about these machines, but are you leaving the heads soaking when not in use?

what is the average time you leave the machine between prints?
hours, days, weeks?

[Dave Harrison]

Hi Dianne, try the following…

1) check that you are not getting any error codes when the machine turns on.

2)check the level of your ink carts.

3) lift the media cover and check the print heads are sitting on the capping station. ( right hand side when viewing the machine from the front.. you may need a torch )

4) disconnect both waste tubes from the waste bottle right hand side of the machine.

5) connect a syringe to the first waste pipe and suck / draw the ink trough until ink is entering the syringe. repeat with second waste pipe.

6) refit waste bottle and waste pipes, be sure the bottle is sitting on the micro switch or you will get a no waste error code.

7) clean wiper and capping station ( as per weekly maintenance )

8) perform a powerful clean.

9) print solid cmyk colour block to test.

if the above doesn’t work you may need to consider professional technical help or a new machine.

best of luck !

[Dianne Webster]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your tips. I do not use the machine everyday normally, but I have quite a few banners to make, so a little stressed at the moment without the printer.

Robert, what do you mean when you ask if I am leaving the heads soaking?

Anyway, I will give your tips a try and let you know the outcome.

Many thanks everyone.

Dianne

[Dianne Webster]

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the delayed reply. Got the RH printing again, so I have been busy catching up on my work. Thanks for your help, really appreciated.

Thanks,

Dianne

[Barry Williams]

Hi Diane,
I have been absent from the Forum for a while. I also use a Rocky 38 and have experienced similar problem but you got the correct advice to solve it.

Do you ever experience "freezing" or "hanging" when printing a file.
Have had the problem for years and no solution in sight.
Regards, and good luck with the Rocky!!
I feel that you will need it (!)

[Barry Williams]

Hi all,
just an update on my problem that existed for a couple of years.
I finally got thru to Mutoh techies in Belgium and was advised to ensure that the power supply pot on the main power board was set at 5.12 volts.
The board had been modified at manufacture and was set at 4.8 v instead of 5.12.
I have been running the Rocky for the past 3 months and at last no more freezing.
The above may be of help to fellow sufferers!! :lol1:
Barry

[PAUL12862]

Hi Barry
Im having the same problem with myRockhopper 38. it just randomly stops in the middle of a print and I have to restart the printer to clear it. Looking at the power board there are 2 adjustable pots and I cant see anywhere to measure the voltage. Do you have anymore info on what needs to be done. I have had the printer for just over 2 years and in that time more vinyl has ended up in the bin scrappped than has gone out through the front door, so Im hoping this will cure mine aswell

[Martin Pearson]

quote PAUL12862:

Hi Barry
Im having the same problem with myRockhopper 38. it just randomly stops in the middle of a print and I have to restart the printer to clear it. Looking at the power board there are 2 adjustable pots and I cant see anywhere to measure the voltage. Do you have anymore info on what needs to be done. I have had the printer for just over 2 years and in that time more vinyl has ended up in the bin scrappped than has gone out through the front door, so Im hoping this will cure mine aswell

Are you running the printer from a separate rip or the computer you use for everything else? Often problems are caused because the computer is overloaded (to much going on) & the answer is an upgrade, faster processor, more memory etc. worth checking as it may not be a voltage problem. Not sure if the rocky 38 is covered in my service documents.

[PAUL12862]

Hi thankyou for the quick responce, your help is much appreciated. Sorry for not introducing myself as i am new to the forums and such, My name is Paul and i run a small independent shop in Bristol selling footwear, PPE and other work clothing. I offer embroidery and heatprint on garments aswell as vinyl signs and alike. The main reason i purchased the printer is for printing T-shirt transfers. The printer itself is rarely used mainly due to the problems encountered. Everytime i send somthing to print i encounter a MH01 error [RTL] without fail, i am experiencing many errors occasionly such as MH01 error [B], [A], [$] and many more. The main issue i am encountering is the printer ‘crashing’, it will randomly stop during the print then after 5-10 seconds the heads will return to their docked position, at which point i can do nothing except cycle the power to the printer. I have experianced these problems on my last computer where i was using an ethernet print server (hp j3258b), i have recently spent around £1000 on a new computer, it has an intel core i7-3770 @3.40GHz 2.10 GHz with 8.00GB of ram running windows 7 64-bit. I have tried various parallel cables and have now done away with the print server and am connecting directly from the pc to the printer via parallel. This computer is used for my print room running PE Design next (for my embroidery machines) and i am also running vinyl master expert for my plotter and the Mutoh Rockhopper 38, i have microsoft powerpoint showing some advertisment on a second screen and i also use the computer for light internet use. I have metered the power board and between the red and black cables i am getting 5.14v dc, One thing i have noticed is that the transformer seems to be making a bit of noise, almost like a quiet electrical crackle, has anybody else experianced this?
Thankyou again for your help, if anybody has any ideas i would be extreamly grateful.
Regards
Paul Hooper

[Martin Pearson]

If the voltage difference caused Barry’s problems then there is always a chance you are experiencing the same problem but might also be worth eliminating the driver as a potential problem.
Guessing there is not a windows 7 64 bit driver for the printer based on the age of it so are you driving it using the rip in VMX using their driver? If so have you spoken to Future Corps about the problem. Might be worth asking them as they are very good at this sort of thing & always willing to help customers from personal experience.
These machines don’t like sitting around idle which may not be helping either, solvent printers need to be run to prevent ink clogging of heads, one of the reasons I don’t own one is because I simply don’t have the volume of printed work required to keep one going.

[Barry Williams]

quote PAUL12862:

Hi Barry
Im having the same problem with myRockhopper 38. it just randomly stops in the middle of a print and I have to restart the printer to clear it. Looking at the power board there are 2 adjustable pots and I cant see anywhere to measure the voltage. Do you have anymore info on what needs to be done. I have had the printer for just over 2 years and in that time more vinyl has ended up in the bin scrappped than has gone out through the front door, so Im hoping this will cure mine aswell