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Boss wants me to flush out our bulk ink system - black tank/head only. Please help.

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RapidSignSystems

New Member
Hi - My shop has a Mimaki JV3-160S, about 11 years old. We switched ink brands about 3 months ago from Bordeaux to Chroma Express and are just now starting to have problems with our output. Heads are spraying ink all over the place during banner prints and large jobs especially, also there is a lot of haloing going on. Printer tech says ink brand switch and viscosity differences between the two are causing the problems. He ran alignment tests (as I did) and heads are aligned, so we have deducted it's a problem with the ink.

As a last ditch effort before we go on and look at new machines we are going to try a full flush, but we have a CISS bulk ink system (This one: http://www.shopdyesub.com/WideformatCIS.htm) and I have never done a solvent flush on it before.

My problem: My boss wants me to flush the black tank only, but I tell him that it will also flush the magenta tank at the same time. Since they both run through the same head, I'm under the assumption that we need to flush both tanks with solvent, and then go back and fill them both back up with Bordeaux inks, do a "fill up ink" procedure until the Bordeaux comes through fully, and then do some test prints or else we won't be able to tell whether or not this has fixed the problem.

Do we need to flush both magenta and black tanks? Has anyone done this before with this CISS system? And, if so, is there anyone who can do a quick step-by-step for this procedure because I've never attempted it before and I want to make sure I've got the right ideas about how to do it?

Thanks in advance.

- Lisa from RSS
 
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RapidSignSystems

New Member
We've done a 99 min "nozzle wash" to no avail - Over the years I've replaced the capping station, pumps, tubing, dampers, etc. Now from everything I've read online about the problems we've been experiencing the general consensus seems to be: Try replacing everything one by one to see if that fixes your problems, start with reverting back to your old, good-quality Bordeaux inks... Haha

Is there a way to have the heads sit in the solution for more than 99 min? I've never tried it because I heard it's not necessarily a great procedure, but at this point I'm willing to try just about anything - my boss is basically giving me carte blanche to try whatever I think might help.
 
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MagnetStew

New Member
I take two lint free clothes and fold them over together twice then soak them in cleaning solution (sometimes I even use Acetone) then place them on the capping station so when the head is placed back over the capping station it sits right on cloth. If there is any build up inside the nozzles it will dissolve it (in most cases) after a few hours. I have even let it sit overnight if things got really bad. We use CISS on 4 of our Mutoh's and have this problem occasionally. Just a thought.
 
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GTSTech_1

New Member
Lisa,

Only way your going to be able to isolate the black channel would be to remove the black damper. Once black damper has been released from the head, then insert your syringe and start drawing ink. It will take you forever and a day if you don't empty the ink from the tank before you pull ink thru the damper. After you have drawn all the black ink out, then add the flush to the tank and draw all the flush thru. After you have cleaned/drawn I would suggest replacing that damper, more than likely the screen will have alot of dried ink particles in the screen....aka clogged screen. Good luck, and give us a call for a demo of your new equipment.

My .02

GTSTech_1
 
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RapidSignSystems

New Member
3 colors flushed so far, new problems

Hi all - So, after soaking a micro-fiber cloth in flushing solvent and leaving it between the heads and the capping station overnight the problem with the clogged heads/crap prints did not resolve itself so I went through the process of completely washing out and flushing the black, magenta and yellow ink tanks/lines/dampers and refilling them with Bordeaux inks. After a little under a week of printing we are still getting "satellites". (I know I have to do the same to the other three tanks but unfortunately my boss still wants production to go on in the interim/doesn't want to spend the money to do the other three if it didn't fix the problems with the black head...)

On top of all this though, a new problem has arisen: the lc and lm ink head has dropped out completely. Now I know that since both are out, it's unlikely that a clog developed in both the lc and lm lines overnight so I'm assuming the pump for that capping station broke. My boss wants me to flush the lc/lm tanks and lines next and replace dampers before replacing the pump (sounds backwards, I know, but I was gonna have to do it anyway... Plus he is very... "cost-aware"... and despite his lack of knowledge about the printer he still would rather have me do it his way. Yup.)

I'm going to do what I can to fix this problem with the lc/lm head (which is only about a month-old, btw) but until then the thing is everything is coming out SUPER YELLOW.

tl;dr My question is: Can someone please explain to me how to change the Mimaki Jv3-160s from 6 color to 4 color printing, at least until I can get all the heads firing again?
 
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RapidSignSystems

New Member
Success

Alright, I found in the RIP Preflight where I needed to change from 6 color to 4 color and it's looking good so far. I'll keep you guys posted, for anyone with a similar problem in the future's sake, if anything.

My plan is to check the capping station on the lc/lm ink head first, then the pump, then go from there.

We're gonna do a tank/head flush on the cyan, light cyan and light magenta when we get the rest of the supplies in as well.
 
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