Mimaki jv33 conversion from Dye Sub to Solvent ink

[Reelimpatient]

Looks like I'm buying a jv33 that has been used for several years as dye sub. The certified technician said he will flush everything and make it ready for the solvent inks I buy.

My questions are:
1. should I go with 4 or 6 color solvent inks-( Mainly printing vinyl stickers and banners )
2. Is there anything I should be particularly be aware of or look out for ? cautions etc?
3. Can I use the current CISS bottles and cartridges if we clean them out first?
4. The print head is about 3 months old, is it likely to make it through the conversion ?

Thanks for any help or comments, newbie on these machines.

 

[Solventinkjet]

1. 4 color for sure. It's faster and the 6 color doesn't help with anything really. It's more of a gimmick to sell more ink. People have different opinions on that but I guarantee you you won't see a difference.

2. I could go through a bunch of things but the most important is general cleanliness. If the machine is covered in thick dust and/or ink splatter all over the place, it most likely wasn't maintained properly.

3. You probably could if you clean them out very well but I wouldn't do it.

4. If the machine is flushed properly, the head should make it through. The order should go like this; flush the dye sub inks out of the system, then flush the system with dye sub cleaning solution, then put new dampers in, then flush the system with solvent cleaning solution, then fill with solvent ink. Sometimes you might have to do the flush multiple times if it doesn't clear the ink out. Make sure to check the lines between each step to confirm there is no more fluid in the lines. It's ok to have little bits here and there but there should not be any large areas where fluid still exists in the line. The reason for all of this is that large quantities of the fluids mixing together can cause issues.

 

[Reelimpatient]

Great! thanks for the reply and suggestions. I will stay with 4 color. So I take it that the dye sub and solvent clash and will create clogs or lumps, so the lines and everything need to be real clean.
I'm trying to avoid buying the bulk bottles and complete system, maybe I should just start with a fresh set of cartridges and when they are about spent, go over to the bulk system.

Does anyone know if the Rasterlink 5 that comes with it will run on Windows 10pro ? 16gb ram, SSD and i7 processor.

thanks !

 

[Solventinkjet]

Great! thanks for the reply and suggestions. I will stay with 4 color. So I take it that the dye sub and solvent clash and will create clogs or lumps, so the lines and everything need to be real clean.
I'm trying to avoid buying the bulk bottles and complete system, maybe I should just start with a fresh set of cartridges and when they are about spent, go over to the bulk system.

Does anyone know if the Rasterlink 5 that comes with it will run on Windows 10pro ? 16gb ram, SSD and i7 processor.

thanks !

Exactly. Starting with cartridges is probably the best way to go and then see how it goes from there. Rasterlink 5 will work on that setup. You might look into getting Rasterlink 6 though. I don't know if it is still this way but a while back Rasterlink 5 users could download 6 and use there 5 password and it would work. 6 is more stable in general.

 

[hybriddesign]

Just wanted to chime in for anyone else doing a conversion. Our JV150 (solvent) started overspraying and after trying everything it looked like it needed a new head. Our JV300 (aka money pit) that is set up for sublimation and just keeps having issues had one good head and one blocked and I decided to throw in the towel on it and swap the head over to the JV150. Followed Solvent Ink Jet's advice and first pulled all the ink out (disconnected the lines by the cartridges and pulled through the capping station). Next I pulled about 500ml of sublimation cleaning solution through the head emptying the lines completely at the end. Finally it was about 250ml of solvent cleaning solution. This step was a little sketchy as bits of sublimation ink must have still been in the lines and I could see it coagulating and moving through the lines but just crossed my fingers and hoped the damper filters took care of it. Pulled the lines dry, moved it to the new printer and got lucky as after one hard fill we were up and printing again!

If I had to change anything for next time I'd get a larger syringe. I was only using a 50ml and it took forever. A 200ml would have been a lot better but I didn't have any with the right type of tip.