New head installation (need assistance)

[Arstron]

Due to stupidity on my part, and the stubbornest of my boss, I have been forced into fixing our valujet 1204. To keep this thread from being a novel, I will keep out all of the details from what I have done to this machine, however I will say you should be extra careful when installing new dampers. The plastic pieces on the print head do break and you must replace the entire print head when that happens.

First here is what I have done:
I have installed a new maintenance station
I have installed my new print head.
The ribbon cables are back on exactly how they came off and are in good.
I have all of my lines primed with no air bubbles
I have soaked my print head many times with a lint free cloth and cleaning solution
I have used the "little charge" option in the cleaning menu around 5 times
I have a file saved with 4 cmyk blocks, each one being 4" x 30" (trying to printing on a 30" scrap vinyl). I have printed this file twice after each cleaning.

After all of this, nothing will print. The pump is pulling cleaning solution threw from the capping station. With my old head, when I would put the lint free rag with cleaning solution on the bottom of it, it would leave some ink on the rag, this new head isnt leaving any ink. Is there something I have forgotten to do?

 

[Rooster]

Are the dampers full of ink? If not use a syringe to draw ink through the lines to fill them and try again.

Was the printer unplugged from the wall when you performed the above? If not it's very likely you have blown a fuze on the mainboard.

 

[Arstron]

It was unpluged when I installed the head, the dampers are also full of ink

 

[Arstron]

I just checked, there was 2 fuses on the mother board near where the ribbons connect, they are both fine.

 

[randya]

Does it print any of the internal images/test prints?

If you are not getting any 'wicking' from your soaking, it does not sound as if ink is through the head. This sounds unlikely with full dampers.

You say that cleaning solution is being pumped, but is any ink being pumped?

Take a piece of copy paper and print to it and see if it is getting wet.

There are 2 drain lines under the capping station.
Either tee a syringe to both of these or connect a syringe to one and tie the other one off and see if you can pull ink from there.

If ink flows, but doesnt print, then I would take another careful look at cables and make sure they are in the right place, right orientation and evenly inserted.

 

[Arstron]

Does it print any of the internal images/test prints?

none print

If you are not getting any 'wicking' from your soaking, it does not sound as if ink is through the head. This sounds unlikely with full dampers.

You say that cleaning solution is being pumped, but is any ink being pumped?

No ink is being pumped, I can see the cleaning solution pumped threw when I pour a small amount on the capping station when the head is off of it.

Take a piece of copy paper and print to it and see if it is getting wet.

There are 2 drain lines under the capping station.
Either tee a syringe to both of these or connect a syringe to one and tie the other one off and see if you can pull ink from there.

If ink flows, but doesnt print, then I would take another careful look at cables and make sure they are in the right place, right orientation and evenly inserted.

I will try those suggestions and see if it works tomorrow. Thank you.

 

[Arstron]

What could it be if no ink can be pulled from the lines? Again in the middle of testing I poured a small amount of cleaning solution onto the capping station (I hope im calling that right), which was easily pulled thru, however no ink has came threw yet.

 

[MacDaddy]

I have seen this before on at least 2 ocaasions... I don't mean to question you but did you by accident cross the 2 flat cables when changing heads? If this happened the current head is bad, it will pop the head every time... Again I am not insinuating anything, just trying to help... I work on these printers every day and have on one occasion crossed these cables and paid the price for another head... It is very easy to do if you do not mark the top cable prior to removing the cables from the head... It is a common occurance but will always produce exactly the results you have described... JMO

 

[Arstron]

I am 100% sure that the cables where put in correct. Before I started working here, I was a electronics technician repairing 2-way radios, so trust me I know how easy it can be, but also knew to mark them before removing them.

I did talk to a tech from where I bought it from yesterday, Apparently there was supposed to be a sticker attached to the front of the head with 3 sets of numbers that need to be programed to the machine. This sticker wasn't on the front and also inst on the front of the old head. Shouldn't I still be able to suck ink from the maintenance tray even if those numbers are not programed into the printer or will the head not allow any ink to pass threw until the code has been put into the printer and unlocks the head? I am not sure how it works and just trying to understand this more.

 

[MacDaddy]

That's just the head rank, has nothing to do with moving ink thru the sytem... Out of all the VJ heads I have replaced I have seen 2 that were bad straight from Mutoh... It happens sometimes when dealing with electronics... Just trying to help you... if you will PM me I will tell you how to check the elecronics on the head to determine if it is good or bad...

 

[Neil]

What could it be if no ink can be pulled from the lines? Again in the middle of testing I poured a small amount of cleaning solution onto the capping station (I hope im calling that right), which was easily pulled thru, however no ink has came threw yet.

Okay, so ink is in the dampers and fluid can drain from the caps when you pour it in.

If you can't pull ink through with a syringe then it's got to be the seal around the caps.
You changed the capping station - is it lining up correctly under the head?

You changed the head - is it seated properly?

I know with my Roland it is easy to put the head in without realising that it's not seated 100% in place.

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

I am in the exact same boat only we have not changed our heads.We get flow everywhere but thru the head and capping station. I know I'll never buy another printer without a massive warranty. Tech support from Mutoh is useless. CalGraph wants to charge you an arm and a leg to come service the damn thing. At this point I'm about to junk it and buy a new machine. I now have a 12,000 dollars boat anchor sitting in our office. Any offers? Going cheap! Oh by the way. It's a Mutoh Outdoor Jr, 38".

 

[Arstron]

MacDaddy, I appreciate all the help I can get, I didnt mean to sound harsh, just wanted to give some background information about my abilities. I will send you a pm in just a few minutes.

Neil, so far I have replaced the maintenance station (capping station, pump, lines, etc), head, dampers, all 8 lines going from the dampers to where it T's off from the 4 main lines. The orings have also been changed out on all of the lines. The head is seated properly, I have installed and removed my old head 20 or so times and learned during that period how a non seated head looks. As for the capping station lining up, I didn't see any way to adjust it so I am only assuming that it is. I tried looking at it real close yesterday to see if it was, but I honestly couldn't tell for sure.

Sign-Man, I know what you mean, I have had a rocky road with my valuejet also, however everything started happening to me a month after the warranty went out. The company I bought it from refused to sell me parts to fix it or service it so I had to find another company to get the parts from. Atleast with your printer you can get everything you need from cmykparts.com, which is convinent. What all have you replaced on yours?

edit, I just tried (with my old print head) to push water threw the head from one of the plastic nipples that the dampers attach to. Sure enough, the water did go threw the head and came out where the ink would normally. That means there shouldn't be anything in the head keeping me from pulling ink threw. How can I test or realign the capping station as this seems like the best solution at this time.

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

I've replaced everything but the heads. How did you push water through your old head?

 

[Arstron]

I hooked a rubber hose onto one of the nipples the dampers sit on, then put a syringe on the other end of the hose filled with water. I wouldn't recommend doing this on a good head though, I dont have a clue if it would damage it (although i couldn't see why).

Have you tried the cleaning solution on a lint free cloth in the cap station with the head sitting over it yet?

 

[Sign-Man Signs]

Yea. Tried that. I'm starting to wonder if the clearence between the capping station and the head is correct. I have about an 1/8 when it's sitting on the station. Does head have to have contact with the capping station sponges I wonder?

 

[ahollow]

If you look at the capping station, you'll see a rubber gasket that goes aroound the outside of the sponge, and sits higher than the sponge. This is what seals against the head to keep the inks from drying out, and to help the pump create a vacuum to pull the ink. If the rubber seal is not touching the bottom of the head in the parked position, you'll never get ink through the heads with the pump.

The sponge should not touch the head. If it does, it can create a vacuum and pull all the ink from the cartridge through the head and into the waste bottle and then onto your floor. Ask how I know.

 

[Neil]

You have to verify if the cap is making a good seal or not.
Unplug the tube from the bottom of the cap and slowly syringe directly from there. It has to pull ink through.

If still you're not getting any ink, see if you can get someone to press the cap up manually (gently with a screwdriver) to make better contact while you syringe.

If this works then the problem is with the cap station not pressing up as it should. Maybe try the old one again.

If you did manage to pull ink through on the first attempt then the cap seal is good so the problem must be below the cap.

 

[Arstron]

The problem is the capping station isnt pressing up enough against the head, so now how do I adjust this? Could it be as simple as adding washers under the entire maintence tray?

 

[ahollow]

There is an adjustment in the firmware for this you need to run everytime you change the capping station. If you enter Self-Diag mode from the keyboard, you'll see it.

In the manual, it's Chapter 5.

I would double-check your installation; it sounds like a hose is hanging up on the head carriage and not allowing the capping station to rise up to the heads.