losing ink???

[Knep]

I am having issues with it using way to much ink, I'm not sure if its the cycle setting on the printer that keeps the heads from drying out, or if I am using the wrong .icc profile that I downloaded from Arlon's site or what the heck is up. But I did one back window film for my personal vehicle and I didn't print anything else for 4 or 5 days, then did a small race car job, and was out of 2 of the inks I had just replaced 2 weeks ago...I just got this printer used, I do not know a lot about it. Nothing like my old Mutoh that I had! Im using Flexi 8.1 Pro to rip...


Thanks,
Mike

 

[Solventinkjet]

What is the machine model? Is the waste tank filling up? Have you taken the cartridges out and felt how full they are? If the cartridges feel fuller than the machine is saying, you might have a bad ink level sensor. If the waste tank is filling up and the cartridges feel empty, you probably have the cleaning cycles set too low.

 

[Knep]

Sorry I thought i put it in the post but didn't! It is a Jv3 160s, the ink carts are empty and the over flow was full, I cam to the shop to find it overflowed and ink all over the place!

 

[Solventinkjet]

Definitely check your auto cleaning settings. I normally set machines to anywhere between 8 and 12 hours although some people will go to 24 hours so that it only cleans once a day while you aren't using it. It is possible that your setting is just really low but that would affect all of the cartridges and not just 1 or 2.

I think what you have going on is a bad pump, submerged ink lines and/or bad cap tops. The pumps can go bad and when they do they don't close like they should when you turn the machine off. If they stay open, it can cause the ink to slowly pull through the system until empty. The same effect happens when the waste tubes are submerged in the waste ink. Make sure the tubes are hovering above the waste bottle and not in the bottle. Also, check the cap tops that the head sits on when it's not printing. Sometimes the sponge can swell or become damaged in a way that creates a wicking effect that pulls the ink down.