Mutoh 1204 horizontal banding / bad nozzle check

[utmtech]

I agree with the previous post, if you have clogged nozzles per the test print the siphon the two lower transparent maintenance station hoses with a solvent resistant syringe.

Additionally I have made modifications to avoid expensive sponges (40+$!) and pads (20+) by cutting down solvent resistant natural sponges (the same type as the OEM uses) and also by tapping my waste tray to allow drainage into a jar.

And lastly though perhaps inadvisably I have plugged the capping line that runs over to the side which causes the cap to lose suction when the head travels away because mine wasn't making good contact to begin with and was losing the suction at this point.

1. Custom cut sponges from Amazon:

Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RC4FSK/

2. Drainage for Waste Tray

Source: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0046ECKWC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

3. Safety line plugged at 1/2" from new cap that wasn't holding suction. view also shows the two clear lines that are suctioned.

Also a great compatible cap: http://www.ebay.com/itm/321477492593 for 20$


Good luck from JayCo Vinyl Designs of Texarkana.

And do not buy the rubbish about aftermarket inks all being damaging, I have been running Bordeaux purchased from PremierColour with awesome results for several carts. And those guys are awesome. Give their printable laminate a try it works for either application and is every bit as good as the oraguard I was using.
Source: http://www.premiercolour.com/ if you order let them know I sent you from JayCo ;] They actually test all their ecosolvents in a warehouse on different machines fully equipped with vent hoods and post production spectrography to assure reflective properties in the inks are the same as OEM.

 

[Carolina Girl]

Valuejet 1204, ink dump

I have a 1204, 1304, and a 1604. I do not pay ridiculous maintenance contracts or ridiculous service calls. Two were bought used and one I bought new 7 years ago from signwarehouse and I have printed like crazy with it. I have no formal training in these printers other than I use them daily in my sign business.

If you haven't messed with anything else on the machine, for the first 5 years or so 99% of the time it's the maintenance station, or more specifically the cap on the station. The rubber gets stiff over time and will no longer seal against the head. You can replace the cap only on the station for about 30 bucks, or the maintenance station for $280 to $380 off ebay if you are a little price savvy. Don't pay OEM Pricing, ($600) or (100)

Take the side cover off at the panel.
Take the two hoses that exit the pump to the black part above the waste ink tray and pull them out of the black 'receiver' or whatever you want to call it.
Put a plastic or other solvent proof "T" onto those two hoses in effect bringing them into one single hose that you will have to add on. Make sure the one single hose is also solvent proof silicone.
( a good thing to use is fuel proof silicone tubing that they use in .40 size gas model airplanes.)

After you do that leave the single line long enough to exit the bottom of the machine by drilling a hole in the plastic hand hold under the chassis.

Now you accomplish three things: You will only have to change your waste tray pads about 1/10th of the time as normal, and secondly you have a vacuum line that you can hook a large plastic or glass syringe to and check your maintenance station from time to time to make sure the head is sealing good. Finally, every time it runs a cleaning cycle you can see the ink moving and know things are working as they should. When not in use run the longer waste line into an old alcohol bottle or something to catch waste ink from cleaning cycles and empty as needed (like the 1304 and 1604 do.) Now only the ink from the wiper goes into the waste tray.

If the printer isn't printing well, put a syringe on the exit line and try to suction it. If maintenance station seal to head is good, you will pull ink and it will be difficult to pull the syringe. If it is not, you will hear it pulling air and it will be easy to pull. The techs do this sometimes to prime the system without clicking the percentages off of your cartridges. You can get clogs in the waste line that will prevent ink from pumping properly, you can get clogs in the small lines that run from the cap, down to the pump, etc. MOST of the time the problem is at the cap or below. I have rarely seen anything from the head all the way back to the ink cartridges, except for an occaisional o-ring malfunction and one color won't stay primed. It is usually all in the down line starting with the cap at the bottom of the head.

These things are qwerky. NOT USING ONE is way worse than running the dog mess out of it. They don't like to sit idle.

This weekend I bought a VJ1304 in pristine condition that the owner had let sit for too long (he thought) I bought it sight un-seen other than pictures for $1750. I drove 8 hours and picked it up. Took it to a friend's shop in a neighboring city and had it printing like a new one within one hour. The bottom end was gooped up, large buildup of ink on wiper, and overflowing off cap, etc. I spent ZERO dollars on parts. I just made sure some of the tubing was clear on the bottom end, cleaned all the goop off best I could and BOOM> new printer. The life times were all full on the internal counter for head, pump, and motors. There are many more out there like this. Knowledge is $$$$ Learn your printers inside and out and you will save big. Purchase a service manual offline on ebay in pdf format and learn it.

Just my 2 cents. !

Are you open for other questions regarding you advice above?

 

[Carolina Girl]

How to align or replace cap on MS, Mutoh VJ 1204

Hello all, have a little (big) problem with my Mutoh VJ1204 recently and here's the run down.
1. Blue ink printing only
2. ran head wash, replaced all dampers, inks running through lines fine.
3. did a slight pressure test through the print head and all inks are going through.
4. flushed pump lines, draining good.
5. did a suction test on pump line to test cap seal on print head and heard air noise, obviously not sealing good.
6. new cap ordered and on way and keeping solvent soaked cloth under print head to prevent any drying.
Question is, does anyone know how to align cap to print head? or how to replace cap with new one and ensure seal?
Turned if off during the holidays and kicking myself ever since!
Thanks much for any advice.
CG

 

[RG]

Hello, CG. There is really no way to align the cap to the head. There are no adjustments for the cap top. The best you could do is to loosen the 4 screws that hold the maintenance station in place and then move the whole MS one way or another before you re-tighten the 4 screws. It won't move much. When I put a new MS in, I move it as far to the left as I can before tightening down its 4 screws. This may or may not help, but it doesn't hurt. Of course, remove the right-side cover. Then, there are only 2 screws to remove in order to remove the fixture that holds the cap top. I use a large, long pair of tweezers to remove the 2 ink drain tubes from where they connect to the top of the pump. If no tweezers are handy, small fingers will work, too. While the cap top is off, it's a good idea to force some cleaning fluid through it and the 2 tubes and force some trough the 2 tubes in the pump to help clean them. And, use a syringe to force air through the 3rd tube under the cap top to make sure it is not clogged with dried ink. Or, just put a new piece of tubing on. There is one small spring you will have to remove first. This spring moves the cap top horizontally. Next, you need to push down on the right side of the cap top to remove it from the fixture that holds it. It may not come off easily, but it can come off. There is a large spring under it that pushes it up to make a tight seal against the head. Before reinstalling this fixture, it's a good idea to put a dab of grease on the 4 surfaces on it where it slides. I use lithium grease, but others may work just as well. When you put the new cap top on, if it does not seem to be sealing right, you should wet a cleaning swab and moisten the rubber part of the cap top. May have to do this a few times. If you leave the head soaking for several days, you might end up with some cross-contamination. A few cleanings usually clears that up. Good luck and welcome to the IFC (Inky Fingers Club).

 

[Carolina Girl]

Thanks RG,
Got all sides off my Mutoh at this point, am able to remove part now but waiting for new part arrival. Not much allowance for adjustment on the cap, but hopefully new part will work fine. I appreciate all the info on removing said part, will update when new part is installed. I have flushed all lines from cap and below, except small one going to some sensor, will need to replace pressure rollers since I've learned the solvent solution eats them up; they're very expensive. Will update soon.
Thanks again,
CG

 

[RG]

CG, only three posts (threads) down from this one is a really good tip from NazGraphics describing in detail how to replace the pinch rollers for next to nothing as opposed to the $1600 Mutoh price. You might be able to find just the right size tubing at an auto parts retail store. Just ask for black, rubber, vacuum-line tubing. Also, small engine repair stores have several different size small gas line tubing. Getting the right ID tubing is important. I'd take one of the "inner core white plastic" pieces to the parts place to make sure you buy the right size ID tubing. Of course, the tubing suggested by NazGraphics will probably last longer.

 

[Carolina Girl]

All back together, inks flowing and draining but no printing. Ideas?
CG

 

[STICKER FAM]

Hello,

I have a mutoh 1204 purchased new from signwarehouse 7 months ago. We use the printer everyday and everything was fine until now. I started to notice horizontal banding on print, I did a nozzle check and there is a lot of missing lines for all colors. I tried to clean everything, apply cleaning fluid on a coffee filter and let the print head rest on it... I tried all that multiple times the last 3 days and the nozzle check is still bad.
The weird part is that if I keep printing for a while the quality will improve and it will start getting good toward the end of the print. Then if I let the printer seat for an hour or so the banding problem will be here again and I will need to print for a while to get better quality print with no banding.

Does my maintenance station need to be replaced ? the printer is only 7 months old.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

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Make sure and clean the area behind the wiper and that your wiper can slide effortlessly along it's track, I was having same issue with banding... My MS is clean and not real gunk or debris visible but I took a swab and cleaned behind the wiper and got out a bunch of thick globbed up ink from behind there and now my nozzle check is complete with out any breaks in it.... could have been a fluke but I'm thinking this had something to do with it... I am not an expert on them but have been using one for 10 years now and always have to figure it out on my own since SW is the worst... Hope this helps if you haven't already figured it out.

-Sticker Dave