I still have yet to print or see any ink come out of the head or to the waste tank of my VJ 1204. I have the lines primed, did a head soak(30 mins), and no luck. I was told to check the head fuses on the main board. I took the main board out, checked the fuses out of circuit along with the other fuses as well and all were OK. I did another head soak and powered up. It went through a cleaning and I could still hear an air sucking sound(normal or leak?). The head seemed level and square and I have a entire new maintenance station coming in the mail. Does this sound like the cap isn't sealing well enough or should I look for something else? I've even installed a new cap top & wiper with no luck. Seems like I've eliminated all the possible problems up to the head/cap station. Any advice would be great! Thanks
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Mutoh VJ 1204 Maintenance Station
- Thread starter Kollman32
- Start date
chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
If the print head is in there level then it would be the maintenance station 9 times out of 10. It is not uncommon for them to loose suction on the bottom of the print head. Best thing to do is just replace the entire maintenance station.
I used to work at a 3M facility using Markem-Imaje & Leibinger printers. We had to always rebuild pumps, replace diaphragms and would get ink clogs. My question is--what is failing on the maint. station? Is the pump failing/failed? I'd have to believe you could replace the pump & ink lines and everythign would be hunky-dory again.
chrisphilipps
Merchant Member
If you can get the parts separately you should be able to rebuild them. The parts that fail varies from maintenance station to maintenance station. From our experience when you factor in labor and parts it is cheaper to just replace the entire thing. I have never seen anyone successfully rebuild one where it was anything other than the cap it self causing the issue.
FatCat
New Member
Typically in the 1204 models the main issue is the very small/tight drain lines. They tend to clog easily and thus prevent the pump from clearing the cap and head. Many times I had to disconnect the drain lines and work to flush them out, often with chunks of hard-gooey ink coming out in clumps. Seems the black and blue ink were notorious for clogging the one side of the dual line...
*NOTE - I would recommend running cleaning flush through your cap and lines weekly to prevent build up.
the fact that you hear air sucking leads me to believe the pump is not the problem. Empty the waste tray completely and clean it out. put some cleaning fluid in the cap. see if it leaks out the bottom at all. I have seen the little hoses that run from the cap to the pump, fall off the cap. Then it sucks air. If it does not leak, run a couple strong cleanings. Check the waste tray. Is there anything there?
I ended up putting in my new maintenance station that I ordered. I then did a head soak for prob 40 mins or so. I powered up in maintenance mode(up, right, & down pressed). I did a cleaning and tried to do a little ink charge being the lines are already primed. I don't see any ink on my lint free wipe when I pull it out after the soak, nor in the waste tray. I'm on my last leg, if I can't figure this out, I'm going to sell the damn thing because I'm obviously not smart enough to figure out a Chinese printer!!!!!! If anyone is interested in a BARELY used Mutoh 1204 w/ vinyl, banner media, 2 sets of ink, extra maint. station, cap top, and wipers, LET ME KNOW!!!!!
FatCat
New Member
OK, can you get a flashlight and physically "see" that the head is making good contact with the capping station? If the cap and head aren't making a good seal then there is no way ink is going to be drawn by the pump.
Also, can you see any air bubbles in your ink lines? If so, you have an air leak somewhere preventing the ink from flowing.
The fact that you aren't getting anything from any channel leads me to believe the head isn't making good contact with the cap...
The head is making good contact with the cap and no air bubbles at all in the ink lines-they look and have maintaned to stay perfect. This has me frustrated because I have drawn in in manually and now I sit. I will look further into it to see if I can make any adjustments to try and make a "better" seal. Even with a new capping station it seems like the head is plugged possibly....
TDFcustomSL
New Member
I have been fighting a clogged tube on the left side of the pump for months. Usually its the white plastic adapter so I keep extras on hand. This time tho I think its the clear tube itself. What is the best way to clear the blockage?
I purchased this from a sign shop in Nebraska and have never seen ink come out of this machine yet(except on my hands from priming the lines) that's why I'm frustrated and want to get rid of it and stick to cut vinyl.
I could be wrong but it is very likely that all head nozzles are blocked with solidified ink that is why you are not getting any ink at all on the capping unit.
Supposedly it was flushed out twice, but it's almost what it sounds like. Is there a way to "force" cleaning fluid through to see if it is plugged and what would I need for tubing size, etc. ???
In case all nozzles on the printhead are blocked with solidified ink, you're probably better off just getting a new one to replace it.