Mutoh Ink Starvation?

[300mphGraphics]

Too bad I don't have any cotton swabs or pieces of paper around here..

RIPing a file now. Sent it at the 1440 though and it got me to thinking, maybe it's the slower feed rate keeping the material flatter and printing better, not the amount of ink. I'll have to send a file at the 720 setting where I'm having the issues. I'll do that after this order prints and see.

Thanks for your help Randy, I greatly appreciate your, and everyone else's input.

 

[300mphGraphics]

There are waves in the material that run in the same direction and location as the light spots I've been getting. Too much heat? I've haven't changed those settings since I got the machine. Time of year? Material getting colder over night and then heated up during the printing process?

Three more banners and I'll switch to vinyl and see if it waves too.. Interesting..

 

[randya]

Yes, lower your heat.

Less ink falls on the peaks, giving them a lighter appearance.

Could be media, environment, or lack of time for the media to stablize in your environment.

I typically run 40 preheat, 42 platen, 50 dry for vinyl
35/38/50 for banner or even 30/35/50

You can go lower on the preheat and platen, but keep the dry high if you can.

Good luck!

 

[300mphGraphics]

Better, definitively better. Still there though at 30-35-50 settings. Is it possible I goofed a profile setting where my RGB black (0-0-0) is printing only 100% K when it should be the 5-5-5-100 that vinylink0331 mentioned? I can't find where to adjust that.

 

[Signet]

We've had our 1204 for over a year with very little maintenance or cleaning. Running OEM ink and never had a problem, runs like a top. Until recently, we're having some light ink coverage, mainly in the black. See picture. Looks like starvation to me, but would appreciate some direction in what needs fixing. First print is the worst, if I cancel and resend it looks quite a bit better, but still not perfect. Any help would be appreciated as we're over 2 hours from a tech. Actually, we're only about 2 hours from Mutoh in Phoenix.

Thank you!

I have seen your problem with not the correct heater temp with older vinyl. Some vinyls seem to oxidize with time and require a higher temperature to remove it. If your heater does not get hot enough I have used a torch to quickly move accost the vinyl to get rid of oxidation.