Changing ink procedure 1204

[Pinfinity]

Is there anything I should know or do when changing ink cartridges in my Mutoh 1204. It's a fairly new purchase, and I don't want to develop bad habits in the future. Is there any way of determining how much ink has been used with a particular cartridge? I'm always on top of cleaning the head etc, but I'd like to prepare myself for changing the cartridges.
I seen alot of different posts on this subject. Any advise appreciated...I know it sounds elementary, but I want to be sure not to miss any info on this.

 

[bob]

Just pull out the old cartridge and put in the new.

If you want to know how much ink is in a cartridge weigh it. Pull it out and set it on a scale. Then put it back. On my scale a new cartridge weighs ~14 oz and an empty cartridge tips the scales at ~5.5oz. A bit of elementary arithmetic should give you a clue as to how much ink remains.

Your mileage may vary so you might want to weigh a new cartridge and an empty cartridge on whatever you're using for a scale to give you your very own baseline.

 

[jiarby]

I use a digital kitchen scale to weigh my cartridges.

I weighed a completely empty one (169g)
A completely full one weights 365g... Pretty close to 1g per ml. I use 220's mostly

I put a label on each new cartridge and document the purchase date, the install date, the starting weight, and then I weigh them whenever I am curious where I stand.

Here is the thing...

The printer does not give a crap how much ink is actually in your cartridges.

The printer talks to the smart card on the cartridge. It then deducts ink from the total based on how many pump cycles and print parameters (like dot size, wave type, etc..)

When it calculates you should be empty the printer pronounces the cartride dead. No matter how much ink is actually still in it.

If you have a bad capping station then the pump thinks it is pulling ink to do cleanings, but it is really sucking air. It deducts the ink from your smartcard, but the ink never left the bag.

You will need to call your vendor and get some replacement smart cards when this happens so you can reclaim the still-full cartridge.

I do not replace the cartridges until the printer stops printing. Then I pull the dead cartridge and the printer starts going again using the ink from the sub tank (I have a 1604, with 150ml subtanks) Then I replace the cartridge when that job is done in case I get an "not original ink" error when inserting the new cartridge.

Tip:
Keep at least one full set of ink cartridges AND a full set of replacement smart cards.... Cartridges always seem to die on Friday night at 6pm for a job due Saturday.

 

[Pinfinity]

Thanks alot J and Bob! I thought there might have been a properties menu for the printer so you know how much ink you have left. Epson desktops has this and I'm sure every desktop printer has it also. I just thought the same would apply to the Mutoh. Guess what, I was wrong! You think it would have been installed in the production manager wthout saying? Oh well, gotta get me a scale! I appreciate the help guys...by the way J where do I get a hold of those labels, I'd like to use them. I'm totally anal with everything I do! Thanx

 

[John Butto]

menu

1204 has a percentage for each cart in the menu, I don't know the exact sequence to get to it but it is fairly simple to see how much ink is left.

 

[Pinfinity]

Thanx JB I'll take a look

 

[jiarby]

It is a label I made in Corel. I print them out whenever I need one using my shipping printer (Zebra ZP450)

it is fairly simple to see how much ink is left

Not exactly... it displays how much ink the printer THINKS SHOULD be left, but not at all related to how much actually IS left.

This is one of the biggest problems with the smart card "feature".... it isn't very smart.

The system exists so you keep buying OEM ink. NOT so you can conveniently determine how much ink you are using.

 

[Pinfinity]

Jiarby, thanks much! you would have thought for making a sizable investment into a nice printer, Mutoh could have easily provided a quick and easy solution to accurately determine the levels of ink in the printer, so one doesen't have to use scales and weigh each cart. am I missing something or am I on the right page here?
Anyway, I love the label idea!

 

[jiarby]

it sucks to have the printer tell you the ink is out but you can still feel it sloshing around, and it weighs 75ml still.... that is 30% left, about 20 bucks!

 

[Stealth Ryder]

There is a tab that closes a switch when he cart is empty, simply replace the cart when empty... It can be done in the middle of a job if needed... Nothing complicated here, just change it when the machine says to...

 

[Pinfinity]

Hey Stealth...thanx for the info.

 

[jiarby]

here is that tab....