jv3 - command to run an alignment?

[gabagoo]

2 questions actually.

1) I am not sure of the term but it is function to have the machine print all the lines and you match up to the one that is lined up properly + or - of the centre point. I am pretty sure mine needs to be adjusted as just about every print lately looks like crap.

2) I read on the forum once that when you find the best vertical match you add or subtract that value from the one you currently have.
Is that correct?, or do you simply plug that value in over riding the old value.

Thanks

 

[Case]

1) Print Adjust
2) You plug in the value of the lines that match up the best on a JV3...If -4
lines up the best, you plug in -4......... I read what you read too on a
post, and on a JV3 that is wrong to subtract or add the amount to the
existing amount... For some machines that is correct procedure, not on the
Mimaki JV3... Just plug in the values of the correct lineup.....

Case

 

[gabagoo]

Thanks Case. Yes it was pertaining to that older post. Completely threw me for a loop. Made me think....Holy %$%#$ I been doing it wrong all these years. lol

Thanks again!!

 

[gabagoo]

Now I need to know one other detail here.
I have run the adjust and made some small changes. This is with the heads set in the thick position. If I put the heads down to the thin position I can run unidirectional fine but as soon as I go to bidirectional everything is off.
Is this the adjustment to fix that or does that require a different method.

 

[J Hill Designs]

There may be a bidi alignment as well...not sure tho

 

[Case]

print adjust is the only alignment other than media feed/comp that is in the regular menu settings........ All the other "tech" alignments are not in the standard menus........


Case

 

[Case]

The print adjust needs to be re-done if changing the head height..... It should be done every time it is adjusted from thick to thin or vice versa.......

Case

 

[gabagoo]

OK I understand what you say. When my heads are in the thin position I can only print uni as bi makes the print blurry. In thick I can run either.

 

[Case]

OK I understand what you say. When my heads are in the thin position I can only print uni as bi makes the print blurry. In thick I can run either.

Well, did you run the print adjust when you switched to thin again when you went to thin? And did this not help?

Case

 

[genericname]

Gabagoo, are you using the "Y BI-D" adjustment in the "PRN. adjust2" menu? If so, are you also using the different preset groups? It seems to me that for a machine as sophisticated as the JV3, readjusting each time one switches from thick to thin makes no sense, and defeats the purpose of the huge amount of settings and options the JV3 was made with.

You could have Setup 1 set, with all alignments intact, for thin materials, and use another setup number for thicker materials. Switching materials while associating proper alignments should be no harder than just choosing a different setup number at that point.

That being said, I can't use bidirectional either, but it's more an issue of chromatic banding than blurriness, which seems to be under control.

 

[Letterbox Mike]

OK I understand what you say. When my heads are in the thin position I can only print uni as bi makes the print blurry. In thick I can run either.

You need to run the print adjust again after you lowered the head height. A number of the sets of lines it prints are bidirectional calibrations. If you don't calibrate it after changing the head height, the settings will still be for the previous height. Changing the head height alters the exact location where the ink drops because the distance from head to media is different. The calibration changes the timing the ink is sprayed out so the drops line up between passes.

Unidirectional doesn't require nearly as precise calibration as bidirectional, as long as it starts spraying ink in the exact same spot at the beginning of each pass, it'll be accurate (oversimplified). Bidirectional printing requires two different starting points, so if the calibration is off, your print will look blurry.

With our JV3, we have our print adjust dialed in for the low head setting. The only time we raise the head is for banner material. We don't bother recalibrating it when we raise the head for banners, it's off a tiny bit but banners are banners and it's not noticable from 6" away, let alone 20'. Then when we drop the head back down to low for regular vinyls, it's already ready to go, the print quality is much better, and we don't have to mess with calibrating it. We still run the calibration every few weeks to dial it back in, raising and lowering the head can eventually throw it off a little.

 

[MikePro]

yeah, thanks for clearing that up again... its actually on multiple posts where people "add the value of the print adjust" and it screwed with my head too!

I've fulltimed Thick-BiDir-Normal speed and all my prints are great! The only time my prints become blurry is when I try running at Fast speed. I frequently switch to banner material, so I've always just liked to leave it on one setting. Plus, headstrikes depress me... any extra clearance over the material just makes me feel better about myself.