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JV3 head alignment is their a simple way?!!
- Thread starter heyskull
- Start date
heyskull
New Member
Well I spent another couple of hours trying to set this machine up and with no luck.
Please help as everything is out of alignment now and probably no better than I started.
I tried to do a unit adjust but it just prints one black line and no light magenta (at least I can't see it!) as it is supposed to do.
When you try to repeat the unit adjust print it looks like it prints but, no ink is laid down.
You have to re-start the machine but it still only prints one black line!
Cheers
SC
Please help as everything is out of alignment now and probably no better than I started.
I tried to do a unit adjust but it just prints one black line and no light magenta (at least I can't see it!) as it is supposed to do.
When you try to repeat the unit adjust print it looks like it prints but, no ink is laid down.
You have to re-start the machine but it still only prints one black line!
Cheers
SC
particleman
New Member
You can't align the JV3 without some sort of magnification lense, like a loupe or similar. We bought something cheap off of ebay that worked fine. It sounds like what you are seeing is right, the point of that particular alignment is to align the position of the other heads to the black. A proper alignment would be the other colors firing directly on top of the black line. This typically doesn't change unless you replaced a print head. If you replaced a printhead you need to be doing a slant adjustment before this one, it is critical to get correct.
Hopefully I'm giving you good info, haven't worked on a JV3 in years now
Hopefully I'm giving you good info, haven't worked on a JV3 in years now
heyskull
New Member
All of the print heads have been changed so their is no base point to start from or assumption that one of them is correct.
Further on yesterday with a little bit more time on it.
I have found that the slant adjustment on all 3 heads was tightened so much it physically was doing nothing as far as adjusting the slant!
I have now got this freed and you can now physically see the head move when you rotate the screw.
The only issue is that it does not move the head freely left to right, you have to physically move it.
Should there be some grease or some form of lubricant on the base plate to allow for this movement.
I am just looking for a simple explanation on setting the adjustments to get half decent prints.
Cheers
SC
Further on yesterday with a little bit more time on it.
I have found that the slant adjustment on all 3 heads was tightened so much it physically was doing nothing as far as adjusting the slant!
I have now got this freed and you can now physically see the head move when you rotate the screw.
The only issue is that it does not move the head freely left to right, you have to physically move it.
Should there be some grease or some form of lubricant on the base plate to allow for this movement.
I am just looking for a simple explanation on setting the adjustments to get half decent prints.
Cheers
SC
particleman
New Member
I know you're looking for a simple explanation but there isn't one. This is normally something you hire a tech to do. This manual has the best explanation on doing the mechanical adjustments. You can't just turn the screw on the front, you need to loosen the head screw in the back to allow it to move, then tighten and reprint the slant adjust. Personally I never did the unit adjustment because even on a head swap that part should not have moved. Even if you replaced all the print heads, the black will be the reference for the other heads.
http://www.ko4bb.com/Manuals/11)_St...imaki/Mimaki jv3/JV3Head_Replacement_0605.pdf
Once you complete this part, you can move onto the various visual adjustments.
http://www.ko4bb.com/Manuals/11)_St...imaki/Mimaki jv3/JV3Head_Replacement_0605.pdf
Once you complete this part, you can move onto the various visual adjustments.
Samurai_Screwdriver
New Member
An experienced tech can usually do this in about 30-45 minutes. Doing this yourself will probably take quite a bit longer but here are the steps I recommend:
First make sure you have a pocket microscope of at least 35x mag. It should be the kind that gives a reversed image of what you're viewing. A magnifying glass or loupe won't cut it. This is a good choice for those on a budget:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...18&gclid=CLCmxZvBo70CFeNo7AodgVMAAA&gclsrc=ds
Mechanical Adjustments:
1. Check the Slant as per the linked PDF above. Usually you don't have to adjust it unless the Carriage has taken a good whack and shifted out of square)
2.. Check and adjust the Slant as per above PDF. It's not uncommon for the Heads to stick a little bit so you might ave to give them a nudge to make sure they stay sitting against adjustment ramp. Also take care to make sure that the ramp hasn't flipped over on it's side. Another thing to note is that you should never try and make this adjustment with the Heads parked on the Capping Station, instead hit the left arrow key after the print has run and the Carriage will move out over the Platen.
Electronic Adjustments: (This assumes that you have at leave ver 4.0 FW or above)
1. Make sure Head is in THIN setting
2. Go to #ADJUST => PRINT ADJUST2
3. Select THIN/HIGH SPEED
4. Go to X-DIRECTION and run the print
5. Pick the Pairs in the pattern that best align and enter these numbers into the LCD. If the values entered are beyond +/- 12 then you probably mounted a Head on it's plate incorrectly and you should really remount it and start over if you want optimal printing.
4. Go to Y-BASE and run the print. Because yours is a 6-color machine the pattern printed from right to left will be:
- 1-2 (Magenta to Black)
- 1-3 (Cyan to Black)
- 1-4 (Yellow to Black)
- 1-5 (Lt Cyan to Black)
- 1-6 (Lt Magenta to Black)
5. use your scope to examine the pattern and make adjustments. In a reversing scope a positive adjustment will move the colored line to the right, a negative adjustment will move it to the left. You'll have to play around to get a feel for the amount of adjustment to use but typically a value of 1.5 to 2.0 makes a move of about a dot width. Repeat printing and adjusting until perfectly dialed in.
6. Go to VARIABLE 2 => Y-SI FINE (I go straight to FINE as the coarse adjustment is a waste of time) and run the print. The pattern has no labels and prints a bunch of extra stuff you don't really need. locate the same pairs of lines as above.
7. Use your scope to examine and make adjustments to the pairs of lines. Again, a value of 1.5 to 2.0 makes a move of about a dot width. Repeat printing and adjusting until totally dialed in.
8. Repeat for V2 => Y-RE FINE. Exactly the same steps as above. If you never plan on printing in bi-directional then you can skip this step.
9. Make sure the media is laying completely flat and then select and run V2 => Y-BI.
10. This pattern is difficult to read as the outward and return passes are both printed in black. Adjust + or - until you have a single (not double) line. Again, if you never plan to print in Bi-directional you can skip this.
11. If you're only planning on printing in 720x720 dpi then you're done with these fine adjustments.
12. If you want to run in 360x540 or 360x720 mode, print and adjust V1 => Y-SI FINE, Y-RE FINE, Y-BI FINE. Adjustments are exactly the same as above but you'll only need to enter a number half as big to get the same move.
13. If you have a really old RIP (like the browser-based Mimaki RasterLink) then you'll want to do the N2 and N1 adjustments too but generally these modes are no longer used.
14. You can exit the Service Menu and run the regular MAINTENANCE => PRINT ADJUST, again, unless you don't plan on bi-directional use, in which case skip it.
That should get you dialed in and printing but I'd definitely recommend having a competent tech come check over your work. An experience eye will probably be able to dial things in even tighter.
Good luck!
First make sure you have a pocket microscope of at least 35x mag. It should be the kind that gives a reversed image of what you're viewing. A magnifying glass or loupe won't cut it. This is a good choice for those on a budget:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...18&gclid=CLCmxZvBo70CFeNo7AodgVMAAA&gclsrc=ds
Mechanical Adjustments:
1. Check the Slant as per the linked PDF above. Usually you don't have to adjust it unless the Carriage has taken a good whack and shifted out of square)
2.. Check and adjust the Slant as per above PDF. It's not uncommon for the Heads to stick a little bit so you might ave to give them a nudge to make sure they stay sitting against adjustment ramp. Also take care to make sure that the ramp hasn't flipped over on it's side. Another thing to note is that you should never try and make this adjustment with the Heads parked on the Capping Station, instead hit the left arrow key after the print has run and the Carriage will move out over the Platen.
Electronic Adjustments: (This assumes that you have at leave ver 4.0 FW or above)
1. Make sure Head is in THIN setting
2. Go to #ADJUST => PRINT ADJUST2
3. Select THIN/HIGH SPEED
4. Go to X-DIRECTION and run the print
5. Pick the Pairs in the pattern that best align and enter these numbers into the LCD. If the values entered are beyond +/- 12 then you probably mounted a Head on it's plate incorrectly and you should really remount it and start over if you want optimal printing.
4. Go to Y-BASE and run the print. Because yours is a 6-color machine the pattern printed from right to left will be:
- 1-2 (Magenta to Black)
- 1-3 (Cyan to Black)
- 1-4 (Yellow to Black)
- 1-5 (Lt Cyan to Black)
- 1-6 (Lt Magenta to Black)
5. use your scope to examine the pattern and make adjustments. In a reversing scope a positive adjustment will move the colored line to the right, a negative adjustment will move it to the left. You'll have to play around to get a feel for the amount of adjustment to use but typically a value of 1.5 to 2.0 makes a move of about a dot width. Repeat printing and adjusting until perfectly dialed in.
6. Go to VARIABLE 2 => Y-SI FINE (I go straight to FINE as the coarse adjustment is a waste of time) and run the print. The pattern has no labels and prints a bunch of extra stuff you don't really need. locate the same pairs of lines as above.
7. Use your scope to examine and make adjustments to the pairs of lines. Again, a value of 1.5 to 2.0 makes a move of about a dot width. Repeat printing and adjusting until totally dialed in.
8. Repeat for V2 => Y-RE FINE. Exactly the same steps as above. If you never plan on printing in bi-directional then you can skip this step.
9. Make sure the media is laying completely flat and then select and run V2 => Y-BI.
10. This pattern is difficult to read as the outward and return passes are both printed in black. Adjust + or - until you have a single (not double) line. Again, if you never plan to print in Bi-directional you can skip this.
11. If you're only planning on printing in 720x720 dpi then you're done with these fine adjustments.
12. If you want to run in 360x540 or 360x720 mode, print and adjust V1 => Y-SI FINE, Y-RE FINE, Y-BI FINE. Adjustments are exactly the same as above but you'll only need to enter a number half as big to get the same move.
13. If you have a really old RIP (like the browser-based Mimaki RasterLink) then you'll want to do the N2 and N1 adjustments too but generally these modes are no longer used.
14. You can exit the Service Menu and run the regular MAINTENANCE => PRINT ADJUST, again, unless you don't plan on bi-directional use, in which case skip it.
That should get you dialed in and printing but I'd definitely recommend having a competent tech come check over your work. An experience eye will probably be able to dial things in even tighter.
Good luck!
heyskull
New Member
Dave
Thank you so much for the information.
I will spend a bit of time one night this week to do the necessary adjustments.
My biggest issue is the heads are sticking and not moving freely when releasing the allen screws.
I think I will remove all the heads and clean the base plates also apply a very small amount of grease and make sure they are operating correctly.
Many Thanks
SC
Thank you so much for the information.
I will spend a bit of time one night this week to do the necessary adjustments.
My biggest issue is the heads are sticking and not moving freely when releasing the allen screws.
I think I will remove all the heads and clean the base plates also apply a very small amount of grease and make sure they are operating correctly.
Many Thanks
SC