CJV30-160 Not printing Cyan

[rogerb]

Hi Folks,
We have a near new CJV30-160 that we are starting out with in our new printing department.
We worked out that we have had to keep this machine turning over, which we have done using a standard image that we made sure we printed day and night and washed the heads and did the usual cleaning.
We then had a public holiday after a week end - (were in Oz so it was Australia day!) making it a 3 day weekend.
The machine sat in sleep mode (front green illuminated power button slowly flashing) and it did its usual cycle of cleaning etc.
Now it will not print cyan, and most of the other colors are not 100% either. When I do a print test the cyan is missing.
I have run hard cleaning 10+ time, nozzle wash for 20, 60 and 99 minutes, I even ran the full discharge and wash routine and re inked the machine, and the cyan is still not flowing.
I created a cyan only series of large words and color blocks, and they are hardly visible, no blue flows at all.
The machine is set up MmCMcCKY.
I do not know what to do next? Any suggestions, I have blown a day working on the machine and I need it to run for production.
Thanks
Roger

 

[Tekkie1]

Hi Roger you say near new but really how old?
I suspect you need a new capping station.
In my experience thay last between 6 months to a year and then need replacing when you lose colours, as you are having.
They are not that hard to replace just a bit fiddly.
You can PM me your ph number and I will talk to you via phone to help.
Tekkie1

 

[Solventinkjet]

I would start with the cap top as well and make sure the pump tubes are not clogged. Also, I have noticed once in a while that an ink cartridge can be empty but not flag the printer as empty. This will cause one color to not print as well. I have even come across a cartridge that went from near sea level to Denver(1 mile up) and, even though it was half full, caused the printer to stop printing that color due to a pressure issue I'm assuming. Popped a new cartridge in and they were up and printing.

 

[rogerb]

Hi Roger you say near new but really how old?

It was installed late October so its about 3 months old. HOWEVER, it was on the show room floor at the vendors for a while.
They guaranteed it was new and only printed a few yards/metres!

 

[Rojo]

When my Mimaki does this after sitting a little too long I do an extended head soak. Set it up to soak then turn the machine off with the front button and let it soak overnight. Once after a vacation I had to do it two times but my test print was perfect after the soak with a regular cleaning. If you try it and you see some improvement a second soak should clear up more.

 

[rogerb]

Ok, I have it sorted. Because the machine is still under warranty I was hesitant to get the tools to it in case I voided the warranty.
A very good tech from Mimaki called me and gave the go ahead after he worked out I was screw driver friendly and a long way from the city.
I undid the front pump cover and the issue was immediately clear, one of the vacuum pump lines was snapped! I took some photo's and emailed them to him.
Once we worked out it would take quite a while for their tech to get here with the parts, we hatched a plan to do a bit of bush mechanics, reverse the broken line, so I had a long tube to go through the pump and join the broken piece so it would act as the drain by using an empty ink tube from a ball point pen.
It took me most of the day to clean out the crud and dried ink from in and around the pump. When I finally go it back together, it worked first time, and the nice thing about the ball point pen ink tubes is that I can see if the cleaning solution and ink is moving!
It is now printing better than it ever has, the tech advised me that it sounds like it was defective from the start, and he thinks the vendor swapped the pump out for an incorrect, but similar part, as the pump I have is for an older model. This makes sense as I know they had it on the showroom floor for quite a while and I guess when they went to set it up for me they found the pump was dried up and the easiest way was was to pop in a new pump, in fact any pump and ship it.
I have found that if the left side tube (this is the one that was busted) is not secured out of the way, it rubs on the gear wheel of the pump, all it would take is for it to catch and the gear wheel could drag it into the workings and cut it and we would be back where we started!
Anyhow I have now run a nozzle wash, and a hard clean and it now is printing 100% on each color when tested! Yeh!

This is what it looked like when I removed the cover.
The area all around the capping station is also full of dried ink, when the tech does get here next week, I will be sure to get it cleaned out and I will press for a new capping station.
Thanks everyone for your assistance.
Can anyone advise if I can use an alternative to the Mimaki Cleaning Solution 200 that comes in a bottle with a crappy pair or gloves and cotton buds with long thin wooden sticks.
Roger - Downunder

 

[SightLine]

That's a mess! I'll say this much. The dealer that sold you the machine was pulling something on you. That is not an original Mimaki pump. OEM original Mimaki pumps have clear ink tubing and MANY of the cheap Chinese made aftermarket pumps are absolute junk and will fail very quickly. An original OEM Mimaki pump will generally last 2 to 4 years (or more). Someone already had some issues with that machine which is why they put a piece of junk dirt cheap aftermarket pump on it. I've seen at least a dozen pumps for Mimaki JV3, JV33, CJV, and JV5 machines and not one original Mimaki pump had white tubing. I have also not yet had one aftermarket pump last more than 6 months while OEM Mimaki ones seem to last a few years. The photo is a brand new OEM Mimaki spare I have for ours. I'd make certain they replace that pump with an original Mimaki one like the one shown. Nothing like getting your first "demo" printer and the dealer has hacked at it with crap aftermarket parts. You would think a Mimaki dealer would actually use the correct parts.

We use bulk cleaning solution from Triangle inks but you can pretty much use any aftermarket cleaning solution from whatever brand of aftermarket ink some local supplier sells which will probably be a quarter the cost for four times as much.

 

[Neil]

Yeah I thought the same thing when I saw those white tubes.
Haven't seen those since my Roland FJ printer circa 1999.
I now have a CJV myself and can tell you they are clear.

 

[rogerb]

Hi Neil and SightLine, Thanks for the info I will follow up with Mimaki to see if they know if it is a copy part. They have already said it does not look to be the correct one for the machine, but I did know it could be a non-OEM part!
I am hoping the Mimaki tech will get here tomorrow or Wednesday to change out the part, I think I will also purchase a spare pump to keep on hand.
We have been printing since I did the repair and I must say the quality of the print is so much better than when it first arrived, I have wasted so much time and media trying to get it to work, let alone the stress!
Thanks again!

 

[rogerb]

Latest Update, Mimaki have decided to bill the vendor for labor of the replacement of the pump as it is the vendors fault for installing a non genuine/incorrect part!
That's a problem as I have no idea when the vendor will get here. PITA! We are now having other issues that I think originate in the set up as we are getting Mark Detect Error-36 when we go to cut! It traveled in a van a fair way and from reading some of the other posts and threads the sensor may have budged, I will measure it and make sure its 3mm from the media surface - might ring Mimaki first to get their ok!

 

[Tekkie1]

That is just wrong..
I bet Mimaki would like to see that..the dealer who sold it should be made to compensate you!

 

[rogerb]

Hi Tekkie1,
I have been thinking about getting legal advice. Its cost me a heap of time, both mine and fully paid staff. Mimaki has been great and are very helpful, but the vendor has not done their job from the start.

 

[rogerb]

The saga continues

I was called to our "new" printing department yesterday because my colleague thought they were having a flash back, and to my horror the "other" hose on the vacuum pump had broken! More mess. So I called the vendor and Mimaki to find that the vendor had not ordered the part I had been promised!
Question asked: Why have you not ordered the part?.........Answer........"Well **xxOo** is a big company you know and we use SAP and it does not allow us just to order any old thing that we might want, there's a whole process you know"!! I told them all Mimaki needs is an order from you and jobs done...... "Well its a real problem getting the order raised.... " he retorted. My suggestion......... "go down to the stationary shop and buy an order book fill out one of the pages, fax it to Mimaki................. send the book to your accounts dept and tell them to sort out the back office linkages............." response from vendor "........ that's a good idea!!!!!!!!!! but I will get my butt kicked!" My response, respectfully Sir, that's not my problem" So I got off the phone and did the bush mechanics on it again and got it working..................... These people are not in the right business, they should be running a government somewhere................. And not near me!
Does anyone know a Mimaki reseller who has a genuine Mimaki vac pump for a CJV30-160 anywhere in the world, I will pay to get it from Timbuktu if I have to, in fact I want two of the bloody things! I will even buy spare hoses if I can get them!

 

[SightLine]

Genuine Mimaki pump. They do have it in stock too.

http://www.digiprint-supplies.com/jv3-s-pump-l-assy-m004868.html

It does ship from Belgium but they are pretty fast and do have fast shipping options. This is where I got the one we are currently using which I showed a photo of above.

It also comes with the tubing to the waste end a couple of feet in length which you will need to cut to the length you need leaving you a couple of decently long pieces of spare Tygon tubing.

 

[rogerb]

Hi Tekkie1, just tried to reply to your PM, but I need to do 3 more posts before I reach the minimum quota to permit PM's, so after this its 2 more!
Thanks for the info in the PM and I am acting on advice. I will send a PM once I pass the posts threshold. You were right with one of the names, and it was not the one ending with an x.
I know the vendor can do better, the people I deal with are very pleasant, they just can't get the company to do what is needed.
I am sure the tech put in the copy part as that's all he could get due to the company running SAP and having internal processes that are road blocks to success.
Mimaki have been great, I do not expect them to cover the damage that the Vendor causes, they are prepared to help and have done a lot, the vendor just has to place the order.
Frustrating, but I will work around it and source this part and future consumables and parts elsewhere and I will not deal with the Vendor unless I have to, sad as the sales rep is great but is genuinely frustrated by the back office issues of the Vendor, he could be selling lots more to us but won't be as the issues are the company policies and practices.
Roger

 

[rogerb]

Well the saga continues, the Vendor called me today and told me that they had not yet sent the order for the pump to Mimaki as they had uploaded the part number into SAP but they had not managed to send the order. The rep was embarrassed to say the least, but honestly, after all of the unkept promises since late last week I am amazed that they cannot get it organised! I cannot imagine how that vendor can keep any customers. A competitor of theirs (Bi-wize) visited us today after we first made contact on Monday and ran through the issues with the machine and said they made many valuable suggestions, their rep obviously knows a lot about the machine and showed us lots of different options to achieve better results on what we are doing. Mimaki also came to the party and have offered additional upgrades and training. Hopefully we can now leave this saga behind us and we will get it all sorted in a few days once we get our hands on a pump.

 

[rogerb]

Finally the saga has come to a positive close. I and 2 staff traveled to Sydney on Thursday last week and did a full day with the geniuses at Mimaki. They handed me a pump, which I have now installed. They work-shopped all of the other issues we had. Most of them were due to the unstructured, inadequate training provided by the vendor AND our lack of experience. It was pleasing to see the issues we had with our artwork and media caused their test machine to have the same headaches, but credit must be given as they had one guy work to resolve the issues whilst they continued training us. And they did solve all of the problems. We started back on our Mimaki on Friday and we have had the printer working flat out since. Print quality and cut quality is excellent. Thanks to all who have helped.

 

[serkan22xx]

mimaki cjv 30

I NEED HELP !!!!

My Printer doesnt Fill Up Ink.

I Think my Printhead is Over.

The Ink in the Dumpers mixing together.

Can I buy a Printhead without elektronics ? and use it

from the old Head ?