Views on JV3-130SPII versus SP540v

[Karl Williams]

Hi Andy,
I have the Mimaki. You are advised to clean the heads, capping station and wiper blade everyday. But it’s just a 5 minute job. They are good reliable machines in my view. When I eventually decide to buy another machine though I will look around to see whats out there but to be honest for me it would take a fair bit of arm twisting to make me go for another brand. Hope this helps.

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi Karl,

Is that frequency of cleaning suggested no matter which ink set you are using?

Andy

[John Childs]

The instruction I received on my old JV3 were a little different to Karl’s.

Our engineer said to clean it every day that it was used (five minute job) but that if the printer wasn’t used then it could be left for four days. Sometimes it got left for a bit longer, but suffered no ill effects.

That was using full solvent inks

[Andrew Blackett]

Hi John,

Is that the SS2 Ink? Sorry for the stupid questions but I’ve always been a roland man! Just frustrated with the rubbish print cut alignment so looking for a seperate cutter with continuous crop detection.

Andy

[John Childs]

I think it was SS2 ink Andy, but it’s been a while.

Now on SS21 with a JV33.

[Peter Normington]

I would go with Johns advice. The mimaki is self cleaning,
Capping stations need to be wiped now and again, to avoid sealing problems, and a once a week disway wash should keep it happy.
Karl what do you mean by cleaning the heads?
I only do a head clean if the test print shows any signs of a nozzle blockage.
I do a test draw everytime before I print.

Peter

[David Rowland]

the CGFX machine certainly does a very good cut from a mimaki print when i used them at another company.

I know u know ur stuff Andy, but those rubber rings just need to be moise and not covered in crappy dried ink. the under side of the head needs a little attention to from time to time.

I be interested in Tom/Tech8 opinion on looking after a JV3 if your about.

[Karl Williams]

Peter, when mine was installed the engineer advised to make sure there was no ink at all on the heads in the morning and carry out what I said above.

[Tom Plunkett]

Guys,

The information you have all received from the engineers is all perfectly correct. There really should be no confusion over what you actually need to do. You have all been dealing with printers for quite some time and I know you all know by now what to do and look out for. Manufacturers give different ways of looking after printers with regards to daily/weekly maintenance it is there for your benefit and is a good starting point. Below is what Mimaki recommend on the JV3 I have put my comment in blue against what they suggest, I am sure there are those of you who may agree and some who do not, that’s fine because what suits one site does not necessary suit another, and you know your site not me and I am sure you will know what is best for you.

MIMAKI JV3 MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES
Careful routine maintenance on a daily basis is critical to ensure proper performance of the printer. This will also significantly reduce down time and lost revenues.

Daily
1) In the Morning – Nozzle Test. Push the test/clean button once, then enter, to perform nozzle test. If nozzles are missing push the test/clean button twice to perform cleaning. You can choose between soft/medium/strong. Medium is usually sufficient. Not much wrong with that as this ties in with what Peter mentioned and is common sense.
2) Before you go Home – Clean platen, etc. – Remove ink spots using cleaning solution and a lint-free cotton/polyester wipe. This is customer choice; I have seen very clean printers and some real dirty ones. Will not have any real effect on the printer running and if inks spots are on the platen they will probably be on your image and you would take action.
Clean Capping Station – Using a mildly saturated Square-Tip swab wipe around the rubber seals of each capping station. This should be done at least every one – two days, again as Peter mentioned to avoid sealing problems.
Clean Print Heads -Turn off Printer in front and back, manually move the capping station over to access the print heads. Using a mildly saturated Square-Tip swab wipe around the 4 sides of the print head and remove ink build-up. Do not wipe underneath the print head – I assume this is what Karl meant by cleaning the print heads, the frequency of this is down to the user and will depend on how much print is being done. There will almost certainly be a build up of ink on the side of the heads and this will eventually lead to problems. Normally what would happen is that a fibre from the media gets stuck to this and acts as a path for ink to build up and drop onto your prints, again something you will see and act on. It is certainly worth checking this every couple of days and cleaning. If only to avoid any ink falling onto a print that is two metres in length and after 1.9 metres ink droplets appear.
Clean Wiper Blade – Function/Maintenance/Station/Carriage Out/Enter ,use either a lint free wipe or square-tip swab moistened with cleaning solution. Like above this will depend on the amount of print being done as ink will build up on the edge checking and cleaning every one to two days is recommended.
Execute DisWay Wash – Function/Maintenance/Station/DisWay Wash/Enter. Fill each capping station 5 times.Fill capping station when pumps are not in motion – Peter mentioned this and I would have to agree based on above it would only make sense to carry out once a week and only done earlier should you feel there are issues with the capping station.
Execute Nozzle Wash – Function/Maintenance/Station/Nozzle Wash/Enter.Set timer to 15 Minutes. This should be used where there are issues with blocked nozzles that cannot be cleared by normal cleans. Putting this onto daily maintenance does increase the time taken to complete and once a week should be sufficient. Peter has already mentioned that the printer does have the sleep clean feature which you can setup the timing of this can be set to 4,8,12,24 hrs. And by having this enabled will almost certainly help to eliminate nozzle blockage.

Once a Week
Execute Nozzle Wash – Function/Maintenance/Station/Nozzle Wash/Enter. Set timer to 99 Minutes. I think based on the above you can make your own minds up, this procedure will obviously ensure pumps and drain pipes are clean. But if you carry out the one above keep an eye on your drain pipes and if you suspect they may be getting blocked carry out the procedure.
Oil Carriage Rail – Using a square tip swab, oil guide rail .Once a month is sufficient for JV3-160SP
Empty Waste Ink Bottle – A bit obvious I would of thought

Additional Comments
Prior to Printing, a media comp should be performed – Function/Set-up/type ?/media comp/enter Up arrow opens overlap/Down arrow closes gap. Again with all your experience this should now be second nature when switching from on media to another, you may already have the required value set up in your rip software
Tensioning Bar – After running a print job where the take-up and tensioning bar have been used, be sure to return the tensioning bar to its home position prior to using the up or down arrows to move the media forward or backward. Not placing the tensioning bar in its resting position can result in damage to the tensioning sensors.

Temperature and Humidity – The JV3 printer (and all others) are quite adaptable to a variety of print environments. However, be aware that extreme fluctuations in temperature and humidity can affect the print quality. And it is always worth questioning should you suddenly fins strange things going on which you cannot explain.

I hope this is not too long an answer and hopefully gets some point across.

[Peter Normington]

most helpful Tom.
Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us.

Peter

[Peter Normington]

quote Karl Williams:

Peter, when mine was installed the engineer advised to make sure there was no ink at all on the heads in the morning and carry out what I said above.

Karl I think I crossed wires, I was talking about the machine head clean, rather that a physical swab around the heads,
Peter