CMYK Parts for a JV33 Printhead?

[TheSnowman]

I've ready a lot about CMYKParts.com and people seem to be happy with their product. I had a headstrike and trashed my printhead. I'm trying to justify paying $3,500 to pay a tech to come to me and install one from a service company, but the service tech also said knowing my background that I could possibly do it myself. I haven't found any mega awesome videos explaining how to do it, but there's a HUGE difference between $1,100 and $3,500 to get this accomplished. Just wondering if CMYK has tech support for if I get stuck, or if it's just a roll of the dice. I can afford to spend an entire Saturday jacking around with this if I can come out on the right side of it. Just don't want to do something stupid and ruin something else, or have other issues.

Just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts on it were. If you had done it, or if you just paid the piper and don't regret it. The machine is 2 years old, and was running great until my material bucked upward and I wasn't there watching it when it happened. Done 90 minute head soaks, and just am not making any progress anymore. Time to do something because my prints look like garbage.

Also, just found this site for one, just hoping someone can tell me who they've had success with.
http://www.grahasign.com/products/Mimaki_JV33%2fJV5_Print_Head.html

 

[TheSnowman]

Ha, and now that I look, they don't even have the JV33 printhead, just the JV3. I feel like I'm just stuck paying $3,500 for this with no way out.

 

[SightLine]

JV33 head is an easy swap for a do it yourselfer....

Unplug the printer. Let it sit for 15 minutes to be 100% certain all voltage has drained from the capacitors in the boards. Remove the head cover, have some paper towels handy, carefully remove the 2 metal damper retainers, carefully pull the dampers up (do NOT press on their flat sides), and put them to the left side (still attached to the tubes). Remove the screws holding the head on, carefully disconnect the head memory cable and the 2 flat cables. Reverse the procedure....

Do a search on here and also get the service docs from the jv33 bible thread. You can swap the head literally in under an hour, easily. Also - several merchant members here also carry both OEM and non-OEM DX5 heads for the JV33. The one catch - if you go with a non-OEM head then your JV33 will need to have its firmware at version 2.2 or lower and you might need to swap the head manifold if the non-oem head was intended for a water based ink. Solventinkjet.com is a reputable company as well as others. An oem head for 687.00 from Indonesia - well, let us know if you receive it. I'll take 2 as spares for that unheard of price for a true OEM Mimaki DX5 head. An OEM head (will have a green connector) will probably run you closer to $2000.00 but works without having to mess with the firmware on the machine. Also - some non-oem head also have a newer deal where they will still not work right leaving a line every so often.

Edit to add - just checked on eBay for "Mimaki DX5" and there are a few genuine OEM Mimaki heads on there for $1800. Ebay also nowadays gives a buyer 100% protection against being scammed and the sellers are in the USA and have 100% positive feedback. The heads are even cheaper on their websites. I'd have no hesitation to buy from them through eBay.

Solventparts.com is also excellent. I have personally bought a lot of parts from them. Jorge is always very helpful and has very quick service. He might even match that other places price. http://www.solventparts.com/products/print-head-dx5-for-mimaki-jv33-jv5.html


Pretty much no place is going to give you a warranty on a head though since you are installing it yourself.....

 

[TheSnowman]

Thanks for the info! I might check out Jorge. I looked in the bible, and all it showed in mine was "please see video help"...and I can't figure out if these videos actually exist or not. If I could see a decent video on it, I'd be glad to try it myself.