JFX200 2513 EX - Head 1 - Magenta nozzles

[copage2002]

Hi

I have the JFX 200 2513 EX, the magenta nozzles from head 1 come and go, from perfect, to none and everything in between.

I think the surface of the head itself is fine, have air purged, pressures showing good on console, many cleans and washes. Have ordered a new primary filter to fit on arrival.

Someone mentioned potentially the damper so ordered a few, where are they even situated exactly? I struggle with the EX, I have parts list etc for the normal JFX200 but things a little different on the EX.

May be worth mentioning that a few of the cyan nozzles next to the magenta seem to be magenta when doing a nozzle check, not sure how that contamination could have occurred and not sure if part of same problem or something separate?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

I would take a bet on the subtank myself, p/n M020235. Same unit as on the UCJV300, so not too hard to get ahold of.

 

[copage2002]

I would take a bet on the subtank myself, p/n M020235. Same unit as on the UCJV300, so not too hard to get ahold of.

Hi. Thank you for replying. Can I ask where the damper is, someone i spoke to also mentioned that, driving me crazy, I think I can't see the wood for the trees. Thanks again

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

These printers use subtanks, which are filled by pumps. Similar to dampers, but not 'automatic' like them.

Here, keep this a secret tho, their manuals are apparently confidential.

 

[copage2002]

These printers use subtanks, which are filled by pumps. Similar to dampers, but not 'automatic' like them.

Here, keep this a secret tho, their manuals are apparently confidential.

View attachment 175771

Haha, Brilliant. Thank you. So when people are telling me dampers and others saying sub tank. They are both talking about the same thing? I thought dampers were seperate to sub tank? Thanks again

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

They do similar jobs. Dampers use springs and actuate with their little buttons when suction is present to open up and let more ink in. Subtanks tend to have sensors and tell a circuit to pump more ink when the float sensor says the ink is low. Sometimes subtanks are used in printers that have a long way for ink to travel and aren't on top of the heads. It's a whole hot mess. If the printer has ink that isn't gravity fed, in this case, the ink is mounted near the floor well below the heads and has to be pumped, and thus, subtanks are used. Though, the UCJV300 also uses them, and the ink is well above the head. It's just crazy, will leave it at that.

Oh, and take a paint pen and mark the sensors. Mixing them up causes a massive pain in the butt. Sensors are marked 3 in the diagram.

Good to do a subtank discharge too, under the #ADJUST menu.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Though, the UCJV300 also uses them, and the ink is well above the head. It's just crazy, will leave it at that.

It's because the Ricoh heads are designed to work with the positive and negative pressure system and those sub tanks are designed specifically for those heads and pressure system. It's the same reason Epson head based machines use a lot of Epson parts like dampers and the ink cartridge system; they say, if you want to use our head in your machine, you have to use or entire system.

There are "dampers" on the JFX200 but they are used near the ink bottles to release negative pressure in the ink bottles as they empty so that they don't pull pressure back on the system.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

I mean, the Gen5 has a damper system, Mimaki is just weird. Heck, the heads support dual ink feed and circulation, but Mimaki is weird and doesn't take advantage of it. Crazy.

And yeah, Mimaki using Gen4 dampers for the air release is silly and weird. I love that stupid bracket they made to make the non-barbed fittings for holding zipties on to keep the bleeder lines in place.

 

[copage2002]

It's because the Ricoh heads are designed to work with the positive and negative pressure system and those sub tanks are designed specifically for those heads and pressure system. It's the same reason Epson head based machines use a lot of Epson parts like dampers and the ink cartridge system; they say, if you want to use our head in your machine, you have to use or entire system.

There are "dampers" on the JFX200 but they are used near the ink bottles to release negative pressure in the ink bottles as they empty so that they don't pull pressure back on the system.

Thank you, do you think a bad damper could result in me loosing nozzles, them coming and going? Any opinion you have is very welcome. Thank you

 

[Solventinkjet]

Thank you, do you think a bad damper could result in me loosing nozzles, them coming and going? Any opinion you have is very welcome. Thank you

No those dampers shouldn't affect the printhead nozzles. I agree with Smoke, I'd start with new sub tanks for sure.

 

[copage2002]

Great, Thank you

 

[copage2002]

When I do air purge, never air, always ink, so I think the ink is there, would that still be the case if subtank was failing? Would it not be shouting at me with a warning from the sensors if the ink wasn't there? Or is it more a case of it not passing ink to the head? Thanks again, I really appreciate the help

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

The subtanks have filters that can clog over time and they are somewhat finnicky, just like dampers.

 

[copage2002]

Can the filter be changed without changing the whole subtank or is it all part of the same unit? Thank yoy

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

It's all injection molded into a sealed assembly unfortunately.

 

[ToTo]

The only filter in the subtank is the last chance filter in the air line. Subtank issue would affect both M-channels. You can try a subtank maintenance and see if it helps. This is described in user guide.
I would go for the printhead itself. If you can access #adjust you can try to raise or decrease the voltage of this slot. I had a case where only white slots stopped working during print, head was faulty.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

The JFX200 EX is typically routed with CMYK on 2 heads, 1 Magenta on each head. The third offset head being usually used for white, clear and sometimes [shudder] primer. Now, the older JFX200 is just 2 heads instead of 3. Each head has a dedicated subtank and it'd be weird for you to have an issue on both channels of the same color. The subtank filter is more of a screen than anything, like in a damper and, at least on the EX I have, there are no air line filters for the subtank pressure/vacuum system like there was on the older version. There are capsule filters inside the pump station box under the right front of the machine, but those getting clogged tend to result in supply ink errors.

Subtank maintenance routines are basically for flushing and refilling them, but you can use them as a bit of a janky cleaning cycle if ink use isn't a concern.