Mutoh 1204 Banding / Bad Nozzle Check

[Bradley Shackleford]

Good Morning Everyone,

I have been browsing the forums the past week looking for his answer and seems like every post hits around what I need, but nothing exact.

I have a Mutoh 1204 that was given to me by a closing shop. I’m connected, made test prints, all good to go. However, the blacks, and from what I understand is often the culprit, but the black has banding in it.

It also appears that one of the blacks is not firing at all. Clogged?

I have done so far, cleaned everything to include multiple head cleanings, capping station, wiper, and a few other places that are suspect.

I have been reading about a “head soak”
But have not seen instructions for that. Any advice?

 

[Ryse Inc]

Good Morning Bradley. Have you changed the capping station? Or atleast the cap top? Do you use OEM ink or after market?
I have the same machine and have the same issue many times. I wasted so much ink and vinyl trying to clean it to no avail. Then I replaced the capping station and it it was finally able to make a good seal and suck the clogs out. I had to replace the cap top or head about every 3 to 6 months.... Then one day it dawned on me. This all started happening after switching to aftermarket ink. It went 5 years with no problems, then I switched to the aftermarket ink and it was a nightmare for 4 years. So I switched back to OEM and the problems went away. Its been about 2 years now and I have not had to replace the capping station. So my advice, use OEM ink. As much as you think you are saving on the cheap ink, you pay for in time, material and money trying to clear clogs.
Make sure your machine is set to cycle every 24 hours to make sure the ink does not get clogged.

Here is the best place to buy the station, trust me after years of research. These work just the same as OEM and cost about half the price. In most cases it's easier to just swap the starion out then it is to try to replace just the cap top, only to find you still have a clog further down. The 2 tubes that hang below the cap top like to collect ink and dry in the line, then it can not suction anymore. They also ship overnight for super cheap, it comes from Belgium. They also have most of the other supplies you need for cheap, even OEM parts.
https://www.digiprint-supplies.com/en/vj-1204-maintenance-station-assy-ppudivj01.html

 

[Bradley Shackleford]

Hey Ryse,

Thank you for the detailed reply! The INK is in fact OEM and according to the previous user/owner, it has always had OEM ink. The Maintenance Assembly has never been replaced, so I have one of those on order! Thank you again, I am performing a head soak for now until the maintenance assembly comes!

 

[Pitzu]

If the printer sat for a long time without printing, the ink viscosity changed. It would be a good idea to flush the old ink using cleaning cartridges and put in some new ink cartridges.
Doing so, you might unclog the printhead and clean the capping station too.
Just an idea.

 

[Santimus]

I agree with Ryse Inc. OEM inks all the way. We had the SAM ink big tank addon with 3rd party inks and chip cards and the system was a pain to use and nozzles were constantly getting clogged.

Check the suction of your capping station. You can check the suction via the waste ink tube coming out from the bottom of the capping station before the pump. Put the carriage over it and align the printheads to create a seal then use a syringe to try to suck ink out. You should meet resistance. If you suck a lot of air that means the capping station isn't sealed properly and could possibly need replacing. If the seal is good you can try the head soak by filling the capping station with solvent flush and letting the heads soak there for an hour or so. You can refill the flush solution as needed and see if that helps clear out some nozzles. If that fails and you feel adventurous you can pull the printhead out and literally soak it in a small shallow tub overnight. A syringe with flush can also be pushed through the top end and out the printheads carefully. Don't get any solution on the electronics or cable receptacles. I had to do it manually like that numerous times after the 3rd party inks clogged up bad enough. It's no fun. The DX5 prinheds are pretty easy to clear out clogs.

 

[Bradley Shackleford]

Hey All,

Here is where I am at now. I performed a head-soak last night with no improvement. Tech support from the sewer advised that it could be the maintenance station assembly.

It sounded more like they were trying to get me to spend money; however, since I am not sure if it was ever replaced or maintained correctly, I am replacing it in a couple of days with a Generic Version as it is no longer under warranty.

If the maintenance station doesn’t correct the issue and I still have clogged nozzles after multiple head cleaning and head/soak, the next step would be to replace the actual head?


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[Solventinkjet]

The manufacturer recommends changing the maintenance station once per year. That is overboard but I see about 2 years in the field. Usually I recommend changing the cap top once per year or as needed and flush the waste tubes while you are in there. That makes the station last longer.

 

[Bradley Shackleford]

Thanks! Usually once that is replaced, does that generally help with clogged heads?


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[Solventinkjet]

It will definitely help if it was the original reason for the clogged nozzles. If the nozzles are damaged or have really deep old clogs, it may not do anything. It's always hard to tell until it's installed. As stated above, it might come down to manually flushing the head but that is a last resort because there is a possibility that it damages the head irreparably.

 

[Bradley Shackleford]

Got ya. Thanks again. So once that is replaced and hopefully it takes care of the issue, but if it doesn’t try flashing the head with “magic bullet”?

Last resort of course, it the ultimate last resort is to replace the head? Anywhere US Stock that doesn’t break the bank?


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[Nick761]

As a VJ1204 owner myself i can tell you that the black nozzles seem to love to clog. currently I'm missing a few black nozzles on my 1204 witch causes minimal banding in my prints. Dx5 heads are some what fragile so be easy on the head soaks. you may just need to bite the bullet and get a head and new maintenance station. running small prints daily will help keep your machine unclogged as they don't like to sit.

 

[Bradley Shackleford]

As a VJ1204 owner myself i can tell you that the black nozzles seem to love to clog. currently I'm missing a few black nozzles on my 1204 witch causes minimal banding in my prints. Dx5 heads are some what fragile so be easy on the head soaks. you may just need to bite the bullet and get a head and new maintenance station. running small prints daily will help keep your machine unclogged as they don't like to sit.

A new head and maintenance assy was purchased and installed. Back to optimal performance!