Head issue on JV3, running out of ideas

[particleman]

We are having an odd issue on one of our JV3s. The magenta head loses about 1/2 of one side of the head in semi consistent areas after a few feet of printing. I keep thinking that an air leak would do this but I just can't find it. So far I have replaced capping station, pump, damps, orings. Today we swapped magenta bulk cartridges around to see if the problem moved to the other side. It didn't, stayed on the same head. Can a head going bad actually cause this?

 

[J Hill Designs]

I would suspect an air leak as well - maybe the head manifold cracked?

 

[signage]

Have you tried artbots suggestion about mechanics stethoscope?

 

[artbot]

if you have a head that is giving you no trouble beside it, do a damper swap and see if the magenta heals up in the black or cyan position. it magenta prints fine at a different manifold then you probably do have at least a cracked manifold or a clogged manifold screen. i don't think it could be the cap because the other side of the magenta head is not an issue.

(if it's a clogged manifold, just take if off, do an ultrasonic cleaning and replace. you can aggressively syringe fluid through a manifold but i prefer ultrasonic for manifold cleaning.)

 

[particleman]

Thought I would report back. I replaced the manifold and seals and all seems well now!

 

[MikePro]

nice! I once wracked my brain over a cracked manifold for an entire week before I realized the problem started soon after the last time I pulled my dampers.

sure enough, pulled the head and the nipple on the manifold was cracked. luckily, I keep EVERYTHING, and was able to pull the manifold off an old head that I had replaced over a year prior.

 

[Dave Rowland]

i had similar issue

after bleeding the ink out, that helped

Also noted some dodgy new caps going around, rubber doesn't seal very well... the full mimaki cap replace (of all caps and black plastic) solved mine