mutoh falcon problems!

[luggnut]

i thought i had this thing figured out.. wrong. i replaced maintenance station and all dampers and i get a good seal if i want to pull ink with a syringe. the first time i pulled ink i could see the dampers filling up so i knew i had a good vaccum seal. but now i can not get all the colors to fire!

i'll clean and get some back and loose others then i will clean again and get some of the lost ones back and then loose some of the others...?? if i pull ink with the syringe i get most nozzles firing but bad cross contamination issues..

i need some advice..

also i read about bad ink cartridges causing people issues... is this the issue they were talking about?

 

[randya]

Sounds like an air leak.

If you overtighten the fittings you can distort or damage the orings.

 

[luggnut]

i can pull ink and it is very hard to pull the syringe so i thought i must have everything tight?

on a worse note i cracked the display screen! can i get that part any where?

 

[luggnut]

wow... just got off the phone with signwarehouse and he said that if he could get the board with the screen off an old printer he has .. he would just give it to me!!

keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[randya]

GREAT!

Good luck!

 

[luggnut]

randya... back to my other issues with colors.. if i get a good seal when i pull ink could there be an air leak? and if so how do i find it?

and where would i get those tiny orings if i needed them?

 

[randya]

You should be able to buy them from the same great folks at Signwarehouse who are helping you out already.

If the leak is before the damper you can just look for bubbles in the ink like.
If it is at or after the damper, you wont really be able to see it, though.

 

[luggnut]

yes the tech at signwarehouse was unbelievable! he gave me a free part... i did buy the printer from them almost 3 years ago but he really went above and beyond.

i will be giving them more of my business now for sure..

i'll get in touch with them about the o-rings...

when i described my problem to him he said the new ink carts could very possibly be the problem , they have a lot of angry customers because of the carts now. he said they could be letting air in the lines.

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

did he tell you to prop up the ink cart so it is level or a little bit more than level to get the ink to not have an air or suction problem

 

[luggnut]

did he tell you to prop up the ink cart so it is level or a little bit more than level to get the ink to not have an air or suction problem

Yes he did and i got it back working better but still not perfect. i think i may still have air in the lines or can air get in the cartridges and screw it all up?

i'm gonna get new orings, but i have changed out everything else already ... ugh!!! this really sucks!

 

[artbot]

you can get the air out of the carts... just take it out, get a syringe designed to give horses shots, it will pierce the cart's rubber seal. be verrrrry careful to match the hole already there. in fact, i prefer to sand off the needle like tip of the syringe so it is flat/not sharp. prop the cart with the seal facing up. insert the syringe so that only the tip wil enter past the seal. the seals are about 1/2" long. if you hit the side by being clumsy, the bag inside might get damaged and you've got a messed up cart. slowly pull ink, tapping the sides. when you get gentle flow on only fluid pull the syringe out while still pulling fluid simultaneously.

(also remember if when pulling the ink, it seems under restriction. observe the membrane on the damper. when you take out the syringe, it should relax. if it doesn't, and stays caved in. you are sol on that printer working until you get the negative pressure out of that line).

 

[luggnut]

thanks artbot.. i'll give it a shot. i am up for anything at this point.

 

[artbot]

i'm not saying that there is air in the carts, that's just the method... to me if you are getting intermittent patterns after pumping... first just get the ink all the way to the damper, and just let it hang unattached to the print head adapter. come back about five minutes later. is the ink still at the same level or has it receded back into the line? if it's not receded, than you don't have an air leak at the supply side. when pulling look for restriction on the syringe and a damper that stays under vacuum after removing the syringe. if this happens, reverse flush the lines with solution vigorously. if you don't have restriction, etc... start looking at the pumps. look to see if when doing a cleaning cycle, you've got good flow at the waste tank. if not, look for a clog at the bottom of the waste tank. also you can blast those pumps with straight MEK.

also, if during pulling ink from under the cap with a syringe, the cross contamination is because you can pull much harder than the pump. the pump pulls controlled dots of ink. the syringe pulls a stream that floods the inside of the cap, thus mixing the ink across the head.

 

[luggnut]

come back about five minutes later. is the ink still at the same level or has it receded back into the line? if it's not receded, than you don't have an air leak at the supply side.

i thought the dampers have valves that allow ink to flow only one way? or is the valve on the opening connected to the print head? and what do you mean reverse flush the lines if the dampers don't relax?

 

[luggnut]

OK i left the dampers unconnected from the print head and it didn't appear that the ink level went down... and the dampers seem to relax when i let off of the syringe, so does that mean the carts?

 

[Compilla]

i thought the dampers have valves that allow ink to flow only one way?

Nope, only the VJ-1614 is equipped with such valves ( Dampers ).

 

[randya]

OK i left the dampers unconnected from the print head and it didn't appear that the ink level went down... and the dampers seem to relax when i let off of the syringe, so does that mean the carts?

My understanding (sorry, really not up to speed on this, just what I have read here) of the issue with some of these carts is that they are becoming disconnected allowing air in the lines.

If they are pushing themselves out, you should have bubbles in the airlines between the ink carts and the dampers.