3042 MKII change clear to primer

[Raghaus]

HELP - What's the procedure of changing clear to primer on a Mimaki UJF 3042 MKII?

I've had my machine for nearly three years and it's been pretty flawless. Turns out, I almost never use the clear varnish and the print quality of the clear isn't so hot either. Now I'm thinking of switching the clear over to PR-200 primer, which would benefit my workflow greatly.

My research so far lead me to flushing solution to clean out the lines and then I'd have to go into maintenance mode to change the ink set for this channel? Or, does this happen in Rasterlink - maybe both.

I'm keeping the other five channels as they are, so I'm hoping I can just flush the clear and be done with it?

Any advice appreciated. TY

 

[Adam Vreeke]

I run a jfx200-2513 and the only way i can get a nice looking clear on my prints is to play around with the amount of passes and the resolution. For instance I need to run it 600 x 600 resolution with 32 pass. That may be different for your machine, but I would play around with those settings until you can get a nice print. This is all of course with no missing / redirected nozzles or clogs, get those sorted first and then play with settings.

 

[Raghaus]

Thanks... Yeah. I use the clear so little that I'm looking for guidance how to change it to primer. I'm not familiar with the procedure.

 

[Adam Vreeke]

Thanks... Yeah. I use the clear so little that I'm looking for guidance how to change it to primer. I'm not familiar with the procedure.

Sorry, got caught with only reading half the post, my bad.

As far as changing ink set the only thing I know is basically what you know, sorry.

 

[netsol]

YOU WOULD THINK mimaki would have a "choosing your inkset" type of document, so you could make an informed decision, while the machine is coming out of the box.
assuming they did the right thing, 3 or 4 years ago, it should give you information on setting up, USING THEIR PRIMER, and all that sort of thing including how it works with their inks, if you need to program a delay or a special heat setting when laying down a primer layer.

we don't have any mimaki equipment but they seem like really high end stuff, have you reached out to mimaki?

i would hope it doesn't work like the older epson stylus pro's where you chose inkset based on which ink you loaded & could NEVER make a change of chemistry (they lie about that, but a story for another time...) Those epsons write to an addressable eprom when you first load inks

my point being you should at least find someone who has done this before, incase you need a special flush, to change ink line for the primer channel (no reason to think there is, but lets not damage a functioning machine then find out there was a procedure!)

 

[Adam Vreeke]

Thanks... Yeah. I use the clear so little that I'm looking for guidance how to change it to primer. I'm not familiar with the procedure.

Also Depending on the material, you could sort of use the clear as a primer. I do it on Coroplast and Acrylic along with normal promoters. I run LH-100 ink and sometimes even with just promoter it just isn't enough, but with clear down it seems to adhere better.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I don't work on your model as we've never sold one but I do work on many Mimaki machines including the JFX200 which works in a similar fashion. Usually Mimaki has a procedure to change ink sets and they always recommend a tech does it. They also usually recommend basically changing every part in the ink system except the ink line. That being said, I bet you could get away with simply manually flushing that channel with solution and a syringe, change the filter and sub tank, manually fill the primer, do an air purge on that channel, and then set the ink type in service mode. If you aren't the DIY type of person I would definitely recommend a tech though.

 

[Raghaus]

Also Depending on the material, you could sort of use the clear as a primer. I do it on Coroplast and Acrylic along with normal promoters. I run LH-100 ink and sometimes even with just promoter it just isn't enough, but with clear down it seems to adhere better.

I have tried to use clear as a primer in varying densities and cure levels... works OK for some applications – I'm specifically looking to apply foil and clear does not work for that.

 

[netsol]

Also Depending on the material, you could sort of use the clear as a primer. I do it on Coroplast and Acrylic along with normal promoters. I run LH-100 ink and sometimes even with just promoter it just isn't enough, but with clear down it seems to adhere better.

Adam
you are right, EXCEPT, i would imagine the primer makes up for shortcomings in the inks adhering to certain substrates

as they teach painters "primer sticks to stuff,, paint sticks to primer"

 

[Raghaus]

I don't work on your model as we've never sold one but I do work on many Mimaki machines including the JFX200 which works in a similar fashion. Usually Mimaki has a procedure to change ink sets and they always recommend a tech does it. They also usually recommend basically changing every part in the ink system except the ink line. That being said, I bet you could get away with simply manually flushing that channel with solution and a syringe, change the filter and sub tank, manually fill the primer, do an air purge on that channel, and then set the ink type in service mode. If you aren't the DIY type of person I would definitely recommend a tech though.

That's what I'm thinking. I'm pretty handy with this kind of thing...

 

[Raghaus]

YOU WOULD THINK mimaki would have a "choosing your inkset" type of document, so you could make an informed decision, while the machine is coming out of the box.
assuming they did the right thing, 3 or 4 years ago, it should give you information on setting up, USING THEIR PRIMER, and all that sort of thing including how it works with their inks, if you need to program a delay or a special heat setting when laying down a primer layer.

we don't have any mimaki equipment but they seem like really high end stuff, have you reached out to mimaki?

i would hope it doesn't work like the older epson stylus pro's where you chose inkset based on which ink you loaded & could NEVER make a change of chemistry (they lie about that, but a story for another time...) Those epsons write to an addressable eprom when you first load inks

my point being you should at least find someone who has done this before, incase you need a special flush, to change ink line for the primer channel (no reason to think there is, but lets not damage a functioning machine then find out there was a procedure!)

It's the same old spiel... Documentation is abysmal & they all try to protect their turf.

& yes, I'm trying to find someone who has done this before. A few people have managed to run "unsupported" ink and I think the difference between clear and primer within the same family can't be that bad. Mimaki advertises the use of primer in these machines after all...

In the end, clear ink has proven to be of no value to me and I don't feel like dropping crazy money on a second machine.

 

[Solventinkjet]

It's the same old spiel... Documentation is abysmal & they all try to protect their turf.

I actually have to sign an NDA not to give out certain manuals. Seems to be the way the world is going unfortunately.

& yes, I'm trying to find someone who has done this before. A few people have managed to run "unsupported" ink and I think the difference between clear and primer within the same family can't be that bad. Mimaki advertises the use of primer in these machines after all...

The primer is much more harsh than the regular inks. On the JFX200 if you use primer you have to get a special metal sub tank instead of the plastic ones so that might be the same on your machine. I also believe that Mimaki does not recommend changing from primer to another color so once you switch, you technically can't go back.

 

[Adam Vreeke]

Adam
you are right, EXCEPT, i would imagine the primer makes up for shortcomings in the inks adhering to certain substrates

as they teach painters "primer sticks to stuff,, paint sticks to primer"

Correct, I was just throwing out another idea as personally we do print gloss so we keep it in the machine. But it seems like the clear has an easier time adhering to the promoted material than the normal ink does, so we kind of double primer it, almost. Just a suggestion if he ended up not swapping to primer.

 

[Headstrike]

I would advise against the primer. PR200 is very aggressive and it will ruin your caps, subtanks and heads a lot quicker. Also you need a different maintenance liquid for primer.
However if you really want to do it, PM me and I will explain you how to do it and what you need.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I would advise against the primer. PR200 is very aggressive and it will ruin your caps, subtanks and heads a lot quicker. Also you need a different maintenance liquid for primer.
However if you really want to do it, PM me and I will explain you how to do it and what you need.

Why PM? Let the world know!

 

[netsol]

Correct, I was just throwing out another idea as personally we do print gloss so we keep it in the machine. But it seems like the clear has an easier time adhering to the promoted material than the normal ink does, so we kind of double primer it, almost. Just a suggestion if he ended up not swapping to primer.

So I guess the clear is not just ink with no color. Good to know

 

[Dasdesignguy]

It's actually pretty easy to do. You'll need 4 bottles of flush because you'll need to flush all ink out of the entire head 5 to 7 times. Change the ink filters for the clear ink line then while in service mode, you need to bring the load the original parameters so the machine will start up like it was just installed. He you would need to go through the installation process so you can change your inkset. Update the firmware then ink it back up with the primer and perform all of the alignments and waveforms. Then add the new primer profiles on Rasterlink and you should be good to go. Piece of cake, right?

 

[lubo1972]

I agree with Headstrike at 100%. We remove our PR200 because:
1. It clog head badly!
2. It is very expensive!
3. It is not very good for metal.

Now we apply Bohle metal primer by hand.

Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk

 

[netsol]

I would advise against the primer. PR200 is very aggressive and it will ruin your caps, subtanks and heads a lot quicker. Also you need a different maintenance liquid for primer.
However if you really want to do it, PM me and I will explain you how to do it and what you need.

Headstrike, the sad part is, it only seems to be agressive when attacking the plastics mimaki uses, since they say it is terrible with metals