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Mimaki JV-160 SP, Damper Replacement

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Eurodesign

Eurodesign
HI There,

I have a problem with the cyan damper as I have to change it, this part of the printhead is not printing. One of the ink lines does not fill up. Tried everything like nozzel wash, disway wash etc. I think the only option is to replace the damper, Ihave a new damper here in front of me, but don't know how to change it. there is still that data cable in front which blocks the access to the damper, also the bracket which hods the dampers in place.

Does anyone have a discription how to change them? Also How do I remove the data cable.

thanks a lot, the Service manuel which I got from a nice member a few days ago does not help me a lot with the matter.

Kerstin
 
B

BoF

New Member
You dont need to unplug the head cable!

Power the machine off, lift up the front cover and slide the carriage onto the bed.

I'm guessing that the head cover is off so get a small crosshead srewdriver and unscrew the screws that hold the damper steady bracket.
You only need to unscrew them enough to be able to push the bracket back to clear the dampers.

Once that is done you can pull the damper up and off, then wiggle it though the tubing and head cables.

Unscrew the nut on the damper (dont lose the nut or the o ring) and swap over the damper.
Tighten the nut up.

What I like to do now is get a suitable syringe and offer it up to the damper and suck some ink through the line into the damper to prime it.

Wiggle the damper back through the tubes and head cables and slide it back onto the manifold, push the bracket back over the dampers and tighten up the screws.

Push the carriage back onto the capping station, cover down, power the printer back up and do an ink fill.

Voila, job done.

Dont blame me if it breaks ;-)

P.S.
If you find a piece of black tube in the throat of the damper, its come off the manifold and changing the damper wont get it back. You'll need to get the head out and put a new manifold on it.
 
E

Eurodesign

Eurodesign
I have a JV3 160SP, 63 inch width,

Unfortunately I still couldn't get it going as BOf explained it very good, thank you for that! I must have forgotten a step or did something wrong, now one inkline of the Magenta is empty too mh...I know know what is going on.

I Will shoot Robert M an email.

HOpe I can get it going,
 
E

Eurodesign

Eurodesign
BoF I still couldn't get it going, you definately did a great job by explaining it. I think I might have done something wrong, would I have to pull the ink with the syringe as long untill the inkline is filled up totally to get the air out? I didn't do that as I thought it will do it by itself once i do the refill. I would appriceiate it if you could let me know if you or someone who knows have a minute,

Thanks a lot
 
E

Eurodesign

Eurodesign
HI Everyone,

I got it all fixed now and I am up and running, just want to say Thanks you for all your input which is highly appriciated.

Happy Helloween!
 
P

Pacific Sign

New Member
Hey Eurodesign,

I'm having the same problem right now. I just changed the dampers and pump. The Cyan and Yellow lines that go to the dampers are full, but the Black and Magenta lines are empty. I was wondering what you did to fix your problem, Thanks for the help!
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
last post was over a year ago... he most likely fixed his issue, never to return again until he needs more help.

solution: chances are, when you changed your damper, that you never restored the siphon effect of the ink supply. The ink simply ran all the way back to the print cartridge and if no amount of ink fillups fix this on its own, you'll need to:

manually draw on the line, using a large syringe with a plastic tip that will adapt to the output of the damper, until you're able to pull ink out the bottom of the damper before reconnecting to your printhead.
Heck, if you're really cheap... you can simply do this with your mouth, if you don't mind having black/red lips for a few days.
Make sure you don't drip ink on anything, especially your ribbon cables and/or printheads!!!!
 
P

Pacific Sign

New Member
hahahaha...you know, i was actually considering using my mouth. I can't for the life of me find a syringe around here. The one I did find is fairly weak. Thanks for the advice, that's kinda what I figured. I'll post again when I fix this problem, thank you again for your help, and timely response!:thankyou:
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
Walgreens/CVS pharmacy sells em for $1 a pop! Just gotta ask the pharmacy. I like the little ones for flushing cleaning solution through printheads, but the large one is best for drawing out air from ink lines.
 
P

Pacific Sign

New Member
Hey Mike,

I tried the method you mentioned, however I'm still having trouble.

I siphoned the lines through the bottom of the damper (the part that connects to the print head).

Im still not getting any ink to flow through. I've noticed that the black and magenta are connected to the same pump, could this be the problem?
 
MikePro

MikePro

New Member
did it work tho'? to this point, i mean...
(skip the read if you can't even draw ink up through the damper, that will be a whole 'nother :banghead:)

anywho,
IF you're able to get ink back through the line and through the damper, you're halfway there. I once replaced my head and had the same issue. When working properly, the ink supply works like a siphon with just barely enough downward pull to feed the ink but not dump it out the bottom of the printhead. The ink pump does the rest to maintain flow and keep the head wet with fresh ink.

Even if you're able to get ink through the damper, you still may be faced with the problem where your printhead now has an air bubble inside it and/or dried ink on the printhead itself that is disrupting the flow. An air bubble anywhere in your ink supply will keep your printer from drawing ink properly.

I'm no tech., so anyone can feel free to correct my process, but when I replaced my head.... before hooking my damper back to the head, I fixed tubing to a syringe full of butyl carbitol (or cleaning solution, as most mimaki owners have come to know it) and flushed the printhead with about 20cc @ 1cc/30sec. Gotta go slow, these things are delicate.

I then used my big syringe to draw ink through the damper, and used that ink to flush the printhead with 20cc of ink @ 1cc/30sec. which basically "primed" the printhead and assured me that there were no airbubbles anywhere throughout my system. Draw on the damper once again to make sure your lines and damper are "primed" to match and quickly insert it back into place atop the printhead.
Follow with a 99min Nozzle Wash, just in case, and you should be good to go.
DO THIS ALL CAREFULLY.
(I fried a printhead, once, because one drop made it to a ribbon cable which channeled it down into the connection.)

***********
this has even saved my arse when I had a y-current error on a friday night after I had left for the weekend. no nozzles firing at ALL come monday morning! but did a 99min nozzle wash followed by a "priming session" followed by another 99min wash and all my nozzles have been firing since. you can also leave nozzle washes for an entire weekend, if you wish. Just have to turn off BOTH power switches, since the green button doesn't stop the printer from doing its regular 4hr ink cycle.
***********
anyhow, best of luck to ya.
hopefully hear good news tomorrow.
 
P

Pacific Sign

New Member
Hey Mike! sorry, it took awhile for me to reply. Thanks for your help, I greatly appreciate it. Pretty much did everything you said, but I was still having trouble with the black ink coming through. I read somewhere that it was possible to have the head in the capping station and suck the ink through the bottom using the line that goes to the pump, I did that and it seemed to work. Thanks!
 
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