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Mutoh 1604 - Banding Part Way Across - Any Help?

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Panett Signs

New Member
I'm including a scan of a printed portion showing my problem.
The size of each print is about 2 1/2" x 10 1/2".
This color shows the print problem very well.
It always starts bad on the right side (capping station side) and corrects to the left side... and it doesn't matter where the image is place on the vinyl.
It can be place way on the right side, or in the middle, or towards the left side and have the same results.
The distance of how far it prints bad varies.
It may go from 4" to 12" and then back down to 6".
Sometimes it'll print a whole 4'x8' job without any issue at all... but that is getting increasingly rare.

Thank you,
Paul
 

Attachments

  • Mutoh 1604 Print Test.jpg
    Mutoh 1604 Print Test.jpg
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Panett Signs

New Member
Randya,
I changed the first ftp to http, and then it worked fine.

I cleaned it, and regreased it, and did another test print... the results haven't changed.

Thanks,
Paul
 
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Panett Signs

New Member
Some things that I've done to it (that haven't changed it):
- New Capping Station
- Changed Tubes In The Pump
- New Dampers
- Head Flush
- Tried Different Wave Patterns
- Tried Different Profiles
- Internal Prints Have The Same Problem

Here is an attachment showing a CMYK print.
The size of the print is about 8" x 10".
 

Attachments

  • Mutoh 1604 CMYK Test 2.jpg
    Mutoh 1604 CMYK Test 2.jpg
    40.7 KB · Views: 143
Last edited:
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Stealth Ryder

New Member
Panett Signs said:
Some things that I've done to it (that haven't changed it):
- New Capping Station
- Changed Tubes In The Pump
- New Dampers
- Head Flush
- Tried Different Wave Patterns
- Tried Different Profiles
- Internal Prints Have The Same Problem

Here is an attachment showing a CMYK print.
The size of the print is about 8" x 10".
Click to expand...

It will have something to do with the Y axis movement........
 
kffernandez

kffernandez

New Member
hi,
given that you've pretty much replaced most of the usual culprits, have you tried a different media?

...or turned off heating - just to troubleshoot?
 
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Panett Signs

New Member
I haven't yet, but I'll let you know as soon as it's fixed.

I've purchused a new print head and while working on installing it, I found out that my magenta ink supply line between the cartridge and the sub tank is blocked.
So possibly that is my problem (that it was just starting to block).
 
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eastboundpartners

New Member
This is exactly happening to my mutoh 1604 the past few weeks. I printed CMYK separately. CYK are okay, only Magenta is having this one sided banding problem. Right side to be precise, looks like ink feeding problem.

I cleaned all nozzle and did nozzle check, all nozzle firing okay. Changed new magenta damper doesn't seem to fix it as well.

Looks like we all having the same issue at the same time.
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
couple suggestions to isolate the issue....

this can be either partial/intermittent ink starvation or a partial head height issue or partial feed issue.

feed issue? if the material seems to track straight over long periods of time then not possible. the material would have to be running quicker through the machine on one side.

head height? if the heads are heading up hill scanning across, you could get this effect. essentially altering the head height. but not likely because the pics you show, the issue arrives abruptly. head height gradually rising would band more gradually. also, because eastboundpartners is only having a single color issue, it's looks like a supply.

a sudden alteration in ink supply. that is possible but still troubles me because the dampers should be able to compensate for such positive/negative issues across the scan of the printer on such a quick basis. this is happening in a matter of a split second across a few feet. but inksupply is the most likely culprit. i'd suggest eastboundpartners do a damper swap and report back to everyone it he's able to transport the issue to another color position. this would eliminate a ton of data related possibilities.

if it is ink supply, keep in mind that these printers have drastic fluctuations in pressure inside the ink lines during printing. i used to have an encad with the hull taken off. once i was testing a mod (the ink lines were partial...ink and long portions of air) and you could see the ink/bubbles surging back and forth inside the lines as the carriage went from left to right. this is no different than when you empty a garden hose by whipping it and the water flows away to the end. this kind of alternating pressure might be pulling vacuums against the ink supply, thus starving the head on a second by second basis. if so, this is a design issue that could only be fixed by slightly raising the ink supply and making sure that your carts or tanks have a maximum amount of ink.
 
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eastboundpartners

New Member
I followed Artbot's suggestion. Did a Magenta to Cyan damper swap. So now Cyan nozzle is shooting Magenta and vise versa. Funny, now all prints are fine. No more vertical banding cause from magenta ink-starvation!?!?!

But when switched back, Magenta bands again. This rules out pump problem, tube resistance/blockage and new dampers. Any idea?

My temporary solution for now is to probably to swap the damper and swap the ink cartridges.
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
do all the lines to the heads look properly trimmed to the perfect length? did they look "more relaxed" in their new position? do the dampers sit perfectly upright without stress on them when installed? is the magenta line in any way kinked or making an odd curve back toward the damper? i'd say from your result, the most likely failure is the interface between the damper and the head adapter.


and that is a strange result. just for scientific method, i'd try to make it happen twice in a row.
 
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