JV3 can I print white ink?

[homefrontsigns]

Hi,

I've picked up a used JV3 to try and convert it to print white ink.
Is this possible?
I'm hoping I can load it up with ink then use Acrorip to change the colour channels.
Has anyone done similar or can't it actually be done.
Any help would be appreciated !!

 

[Solventinkjet]

I'm sure you could probably figure out how to rig it but even machines that are built to print solvent white struggle to make it work.

 

[MikePro]

white ink settles & you may have longterm issues with your lines & printhead getting gummed up. If you do make it work, you'll have to develop a process of stirring your ink supply regularly & also flushing out the entire channel when you don't expect to run white for more than a few days.

 

[homefrontsigns]

I'm sure you could probably figure out how to rig it but even machines that are built to print solvent white struggle to make it work.

My plan is to put pigment inks in it and put a circulation system on. My worry was configuring it to actually print the white. Does anyone have experience of this?
I have a JV33 that I'm also doing, that will be straight forward as its configured to print white using the original software. It has a DX5 and will be slower though. I'm thinking the (x4) DX4 heads will be quicker.

 

[Pauly]

is it really worth all the effort?

 

[FrankW]

There are software available where you can individually config your ink channels. But it will be difficult to set up the printers ink system.

 

[jimdtg]

AcroRIP doesn't support JV3, it only works based Epson drivers.

 

[MikePro]

the only person i know of on these forums, had frankenstein'd a jv3 to print homemade clear inks and operate as a flatbed, was artbot. so i can confirm, that anything is possible with the Jv3 with some ingenuity.....buuuut that was a decade ago, and he hasn't been on these forums in about as long.

realistically, its more effort than it is worth and you should look-into the newer mimaki series printers, or other brands entirely (such as the new HP 700/800), that are designed to print white/silver/clear/etc. $20k might seem like a lot, but you can spend just as much in your own personal effort trying to spend the next 6months re-engineering a 20yr old Jv3 to still not work properly.
i've got a jv3 in storage, and have always wanted to try it myself.....but bypassing ink cartridge chip readers, forcing data through your rip, and cycling/flushing white ink through expensive printheads, dampers that would need replacement, and inklines that are obnoxious to replace, has stopped me in my tracks and i currently outsource these random projects to a nearby printer that has a flatbed UV mimaki and a waterfall UV mimaki that both print white.