no yellow ink

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

It first started as my yellow was green we put in a new maintenance assembly and my yellow was still green. We tryed sucking out the line
we got nothing, ran cleaner heads through all the lines got yellow for a few lines and now have no yellow. All other colors work.

 

[Mosh]

What type of printer?
BTW I am down here in Nebraska City, not too far. I listen to your Jerry Deets on the radio once in a while even.

 

[artbot]

yeah, what kind of printer and ink set installed per cap.

first check to see that the damper is fitted completely onto the adapter. if you can easily pull yellow ink down the line via the bottom of the damper, and it's fitted tightly to the print head adapter, you might have a pump tube that has come off the bottom of the cap...

those are the most likely scenarios for complete loss of yellow.

 

[artbot]

this thread is possibly a good one for you.

http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66681&highlight=yellow

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

I think I talked to you before about this printer I replaced the maint station and now I have no yellow at all sometimes my black is purple. And Jerry is really hot with the storms tonight he has alot of info

 

[artbot]

what is the ink configuration and printer model?

i'd take off the back panel to the pumps and run a basic cleaning cycle and observe if the ink is equally flowing down all the tubes during. it's most likely clogged cap, kinked hose, hoses disconnected, clogged pump.

first see if the yellow ink line/damper will print from a different print head to eliminate ink supply as an issue.

 

[Compilla]

possibly a kink or hole on the Y ink line, bad seal on the damper or clogged head.

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

This is a MUTOH Falcon Outdoor Jr

 

[jiarby]

any chance you are using the new mutoh ink??

 

[Stealth Ryder]

I was told they just changed the cartridge, not the ink?

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

So far I have replaced maintenance station/caps, replaced all the inks and still no yellow. The damper window used to be green but now is yellow but it doesn't want to print the yellow. The initial problem was that the yellow became contaminated and was printing green. I was told that I could pull ink through the lines with a syringe on the bottom side of the caps but I had no luck. Even using an ink fill command it didn't seem to flush much ink if any. Other than replacing a plugged ink head what else could be causing this problem?

 

[artbot]

you need to start an isolation protocol. in order to fix it do each thing methodically and you will end up with a short list of possibilities.

we need to know the model/machine and the inkset you are using. it will tell us the capping station color order. such as KKMMCCYY, or KMCYlmlc, or whatever. it is crucial to know in order to diagnose.

to start. see if you can get yellow to gently pull down the ink line via the damper. if it pulls nicely, then do a damper swap.

if you've been observing your pump tubes from the back. put the yellow damper/ink line on a pinthead/nipple that you know pulls ink during pump cycles. swap the spare line to the yellow head. it has to be a completely different print head. then do a cleaning cycle. do you see yellow flowing down the "new" ink line. if so, you are fine above the print head and you have a vacuum issue.

after this please report you results.

note: it's a little more difficult but since you already have the back panel off (i think) you can do a pump line swap. separate the ink at the union and place a pump line that you know is pulling on the yellow cap/pump line. and do a cleaning cycle observing the behavior of the yellow line (and the behavior of the line that now has the yellow pump line attached to it).

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

The machine in question is a outdoor falcon by mutoh it has 4 ink cartriges on the back from left to right they are YMCB and the colors are in one cap and the black sets in the other cap i will be swapping the dampers shortly.

 

[artbot]

i'd wait just a minute. that machine is a bit different than most.

in that machine you've got some limitations for damper swapping. doesn't it have the metal damper tubes? in that you've got just two caps. and from the one cap you are getting M and C but no Y... it seems that the cap is operating fine as far as vacuum. the only way you'd able to diagnose is to move the yellow to one of the black head adapter nipples. moving the yellow to cyan or magenta will only tell you one thing, if your adapter filter is very clogged or not because they share the same cap/vacuum. which is unlikely but possible. the fact that you are manually pulling a vacuum from beneath the head from the pump tubes and still not getting yellow it troubling. put the yellow on the cyan or magenta position and see if you can then pull yellow from the pump tube.

also, when you just pulled ink down the yellow line from the end of the damper, did it seem easy under a decent vacuum. ...the same amount of vacuum that he M and C required. or did take more work?

also, also, is the white pump tube on the front of the printer that connects to the capping station attached firmly? instead of first swapping dampers (since the metal tubes will be difficult to work with), you could just as easily swap those two white pump tubes to test that you are getting proper vacuum and not contaminate your print heads. also, if that cap isn't resting firmly and level to the head. it can pull a stronger vacuum on one side than the other. i've seen this. make sure that it is seating firmly against the bottom of the head. in the service menu, there should also be an capping position adjustment to make sure it parks at it's uppermost position.

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

i just finished replacing all 4 dampers and was able to pull ink from the ink lines with ease. however when i did an ink fill nothing happened. so i pulled ink to the top of the damper and re-attached the ink line. do i need to fill the dampers some how before it will prime and print. i was able to push solvent through the print head using a syringe where the damper attaches when i had them all removed not real sure where to go from here the only thing left is the print head but i really don't think that is the problem none of the dampers have filled they all have a couple of drops in them since i pulled ink to them

 

[artbot]

yes, you need to pull ink into the damper so that it fills at least passed the screen. here is a video i found that will illustrate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cySWf9E6V4

and ink fill cycle made from the printers panel should be able to pull ink all the way from the cartridges to the print head. but the usual way is to insert a rigid fitting into the bottom of the damper.

also i attached a pic of two types of syringes used in printer maintenance.
the one with the valve is so you can shut off ink flow whenever you get the right amount of ink. it is not a necessity.

 

[Sign Ninja]

I'd probably seek help elsewhere, like.. from who sold it to you, ... not here.

 

[C.R. GRAPHICS]

Dude Totally got it working never was a problem!! the new maintenance station (when in home position) has a stop that prevents the suction between the two caps was missing. Therefore never allowing an airlock to prime the dampers or allowing me to pull ink with a syringe. Working good now thanks to everyone who posted suggestions, it may not have been the solution but it kept me going in the general direction of success. Thanks again!!