JV33 Swap ink cartridge positions?

[JQUEST]

Hi, I'm wondering if there's a way to change the order of the ink cartridges in my printer to try and squeeze a little more life out of my print head by moving a different color to the damaged part of the head.

I'm having an issue with some black nozzles on my JV33-160. I replaced the head about 3 years ago. I did have a couple of head strikes in that time. It seems like the black was the only color affected by it. I thought I would get the nozzles back, but I didn't and it's getting worse now. Any kind of grey has thin streaks in the print. Only 100% rich black prints a solid color and even still you can see it at the right angle.

I swapped the dampers and confirmed the failed test print with yellow. I should have used cyan, but I edited the photo so you can kind of see the lost nozzles in the yellow when it's in the black position. Everything else is perfect except that black channel. The grunge in the photo is just from the edit to make the yellow more visible.

The other two photos were printed unidirectional on the slower setting. This was the solution the folks were using when I bought the printer second hand. First thing I did was change the head, cap, dampers, etc.

Is it possible to change the order of inks? I think it might be worth trying if I can put a light magenta or cyan in that damaged slot?

Any help is much appreciated!

 

[Neil]

What are you running it as now?
Not dual CMYK, I presume?
If not, change it to that.
Those nozzles aren't that bad

 

[Solventinkjet]

You can't change the order other than changing the ink set from 4 or 6 color. It's in the firmware and there are no user or service level ways to change it.

 

[JQUEST]

Thanks for the replies. I figured there wasn't a way to change it but I wanted the confirmation so thanks again.

I am running 6 colors (Lc and Lm) and haven't thought about going the dual CMYK route. This has me considering it though. It seems like the extra black might improve the quality in my situation but would that narrow the gamut overall?

I'll definitely be looking into this, but I've been so backed up with work lately.

I know the test prints look "ok" but the output is not what I'm comfortable with.

I'll be reading up on the conversion process. I found a couple of posts in here already about it, but can anyone speak to the general quality pros and cons of 4 color vs 6 color?

I appreciate the help!

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Usually going to dual CMYK just cuts number of passes in half. Great for speed, little, if any difference on the amount of total ink being jetted in the particular area. If you need black, you can adjust color bias in your RIP or the art itself.
Most people cannot see much difference between 4 and 6 color, unless doing high quality photo or art reproductions. If making stickers for Jimbo's boat or general advertising stuff, 4 color is an easy win.