Mutoh Valuejet Error "Ink Not Original"

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Hi All,

Really need to find a solution for an ongoing problem. I get an error saying "Ink Not Original" on the printer, this can happen at any time, most of the time the ink cartridge is still 40%+ full. Anyone else have this problem? I've read that this is a common prob with the Mutoh valuejets, people in the U.S can get Mutoh to get new cartridge chips sent out to them, but I've been told by Mutoh Aust they don't do that in Australia. Out of frustration I have bought new inks to get rid of the problem, and now I have too many ink cartridges that are almost half full sitting on the shelf. I only use original inks, have never put anything generic in. Anyone got any tips?

Most of the time it will show that only one color is not original, sometimes two colours. Now I have the Black and Cyan saying it's not original! Thought I'd get a second opinion on here before I go buy more cartridges at AU$198 each!
I've read that maybe updating the firmware might help but haven't got around to doing that yet.

Any comments/help will be much appreciated!!! Thanks!


Ashley

 

[FatCat]

Sometimes placement of the card itself is to blame. The ValueJets are very picky about where the chip itself is located and if it doesn't make perfect contact with the sensor it will throw that code. You can try measuring a cartridge that works against one that doesn't and see if there is more than a few millimeters difference up/down/right/left of the placement of the chip itself. If there is a difference just remove the card and move it in the direction it needs to go.

However, strange that this is happening to OEM and it sounds to me like you're able to use part of the cart and then it errors? Are you inserting/re-inserting these cartridges at any time? Do you leave your printer on 24/7 or do you shut it down every night?

If the card placement isn't to blame, there may be some kind of problem with the board or sensors, but you need to find a way to get some extra cards to test first. Even if you have to buy them through a 3rd party ink Co. you should have at least 1-2 of every card color on hand for just this problem. Here in the USA they are about $5-$8 USD each.

Please post back.

 

[Matt-Tastic]

You can also check firmware on the printer, as they change the "lockout" for chips with each new firmware. If you're not using 3rd party inks, upgrading firmware is a perfectly fine option.

The way Mutoh explained it to me, they use an extra data bit on the chips, with a random number in it. If you put in 3 carts within a specific time period with the same random number on them, they will assume all your inks have the same number and they are non-OEM. This is why it happens with OEM carts, is because there is dumb luck that a distributor will get a lot of inks, and you'll randomly get several with the same random bit.

Its dumb luck you've gotten the issue, but its what they feel they need to do to avoid 3rd party ink providers outselling them. I know that Mutoh US will take back partially full inks, measure them for volume of ink left, and if its enough, they will shop you replacement ink in similar volume (i.e. - you have 5 carts of random colors that have 50mL in them, they will ship you one random ink cart at 220mL). I'm not sure if AUS will do that as well, but its worth a check. You can also try to see if inks from another distributor could help, just to see if they get the same lots of ink your current vendor does.

 

[CS-SignSupply-TT]

Contact Frances at Fieldcenter http://www.fieldcenterusa.com/ for the CHIPS

 

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Thanks for the replies! I did get into contact with a company that sells chips in the U.S. Think I might purchase some and see if it temporarily fixes the problem.

I did re-insert them a number of times but nothing happened, same error msg popping up. I don't use the printer everyday so it's usually turned off overnight.

Mutoh doesn't seem to want to help. They kept telling me that they can send out a technician and if it's been happening to more then one ink on a regular basis then it's most certain that it's a printer problem and not chips.

This might be a stupid question (can't seem to get my answers anywhere in Australia coz no one sells these things here), but I was recommended to buy a Smart Card Charger with 20 smart cards for US$250 by a company. Can you just simply replace the original chip with one of these smart cards on a used cartridge? Do these smart cards allow the printer to detect how much ink is actually left inside a used cartridge?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[FatCat]

I wouldn't waste the money on a chip charger. You can buy a lot of chips for $250. However, I would still only buy a few of each color to test your problem and then keep them on hand for future issues. This should allow you to determine if the problem lies with the chips/carts or is a printer issue.

 

[Matt-Tastic]

The way a "chip charger" works is to write it 100% full most likely. you have to keep an eye on the cartridge to ensure the ink doesn't run out. Then, write the % on the chip when the ink actually runs out, and use it again down the road when another chip doesn't work.

It's not really worth it, when you have to do the same with smartcards you buy pre-programmed. unless you want to start reprogramming chips for everyone in AUS, which may be a decent source of income ^_^

 

[archsigns]

Yeah, I'm going to buy a few cards for each colour to keep on hand for now. I was told that the smart cards will read as a full cartridge but the printer has a low ink sensor anyway. Apparently delivery from the U.S only takes two business days, so hopefully get this up and running next week.
Thanks for all the tips guys! Much appreciated!

 

[archsigns]

BTW can you guys recommend a reliable company that sells these smart cards with reasonable shipping rates? I've looked at two online sites. One wants US$140 for shipping to Aus for a few cards, the other requires me to purchase 10 of each colour!

 

[jeffburris]

We buy our ink and cards from Jetbestusa.com . We have their ink in a 1614 and a 2606 valuejets. We still have issues with not original popping up sometimes. yes it can be the position of the cards (we use bulk cartridges and the card is attached to a green circuit board about 10" long that needs to be moved to align with original position). We recently has old bulk cartridges that started to leak some air at the "bung", the rubber at front of cartridge where ink flows out. So as we were waiting for new bulk cartridges we just put back in Mutoh brand cartridges and the problem went away. We only got 8 new cartridges so we had to use Mutoh cartridges for a few days for Light Cyan and Light Magenta and we ironically got "not original" on the only original cartridges in the printer and the only way I could get it to recognize it again was to A. pull all of the ink cartridges out and put them in again one at a time waiting to here the beeps that the machine makes before inserting the next cartridge. Last time I did that it made the machine recognize the Light cartridge and I was back to printing. Maybe that would work for you. This was on our Value Jet 2606.