JFX200 2513EX White Ink Pooling at head

[copage2002]

Hi

Each Morning White Does not come through when printing. I look at the head and the white Ink has pooled underneath the head, I do a head fill from maintenance menu and it is then happy although the next day the problem is back.

I have done an Air purge.
Pressures are all reading correctly.
If I put the carriage to head maintenance and kill the power I do not see any ink leaking so either it is gradual or happens during its cleaning cycles


I recently changed a couple of boards on the Printer. One was one of the front INK boards.

On the EX the print boards are (INK System II Boards) they are different to the normal JFX200 and the EX has 2 rather than one (one is just a secondary board that had a few connections to it from the main Print board).

I struggled to get a INK System II Board but could get a normal JFX one and as only a couple connections to it and labelled the same I used that. All seemed fine so I am not sure if my problem is related to that or just a coincidence although it did happen around the same time.

When did the change of the Boards the printer went to a factory reset, could any parameters be causing the problem?, I am happy to go into the parameter menu but not sure what I am looking at really.

Also, If the capping station is not quite close enough could that cause the ink to seep? I doubt it but running out of options.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thank You

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

I would check the pressure/vacuum manifold and make sure that there isn't ink in it. Also might be a subtank, those are a bit notorious for going bad compared to the ones in the non-EX version. Only had my EX a few weeks, so still learning as I rebuild the thing, but it is basically a 3 headed UCJV300 bolted to a bigass aluminum table with a bunch of holes drilled in it. Ink dripping tends to be due to subtank (or in certain printers, dampers) issues, so I tend to start there. A vacuum/pressure test is fine and all, but a stuck head 3 solenoid, or a plugged subtank can cause the pressure to stop at the hose.

 

[copage2002]

I would check the pressure/vacuum manifold and make sure that there isn't ink in it. Also might be a subtank, those are a bit notorious for going bad compared to the ones in the non-EX version. Only had my EX a few weeks, so still learning as I rebuild the thing, but it is basically a 3 headed UCJV300 bolted to a bigass aluminum table with a bunch of holes drilled in it. Ink dripping tends to be due to subtank (or in certain printers, dampers) issues, so I tend to start there. A vacuum/pressure test is fine and all, but a stuck head 3 solenoid, or a plugged subtank can cause the pressure to stop at the hose.

Thank you for your reply. When you say ink in the manifold, where exactly am I looking, sorry I might be misunderstanding? thanks again Richard

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

This guy here, vacuum/pressure manifold for subtanks. Should be clear tubing running to pressure and vacuum lines, as well as the subtank on each of the heads.

 

[woody1512]

this might be an obvious and silly question but.. are you shaking the white inks at the start of each day? how long between using and not using the whites?

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

White ink shaking keeps the ink agitated inside the bottle before it even gets to the printer. That's not to say it isn't VERY important to do, the circulation system helps a LOT once the printer enters the ink. That said, leaving the printer off for a few days or more is when stuff goes bad on the white ink. Mixing is done in the subtanks, but once it is in the straight vertical tubing leading to the head, that's where heads get clogged BAD. The Gen5 heads are thru-head circulation capable, but for some reason, Mimaki doesn't take advantage of it. Highlighted in purple is the area that is the worst about clogging. When cleaning a Gen5 white head, it isn't terribly uncommon for me to use a drill bit to clean out the built-up titanium dioxide pigment. In about 2 weeks, the pigment settles down into the head and it can be the consistency of a thick drywall joint compound or worse.