Question Nozzle Check Issue from a Newbie

[ubeny]

Hi All…

My name is Uriyah (ubeny) and I live in Fayetteville, GA. I have a good bit of knowledge with aqueous printing as I do a fair amount of fine art stuff when I can but I have virtually no experience with eco solvent printing nor what it takes to maintain the printers. I happened up on this wonderful site a few weeks ago while doing some research for possible fixes for a Mutoh VJ 1204 I purchased from someone who was upgrading. Again, I had absolutely no knowledge when I found this site but I can now say that, with the super knowledge so many of you graciously give here, I’m in a much better place understanding what I have and what I have to do… so Thank You!!!

Fast forward a bit… so while I still have not gotten the VJ 1204 to print properly, (largely due to not having much time… I currently have a day job as an IT manager) 2 weeks ago I got a pretty good deal on a VJ 1324 that the owner said he was told had a “printhead issue”. It actually prints very well… except for the black. The nozzle check is puzzling to me (please remember very limited knowledge here). The magenta, cyan and yellow consistently produces perfect nozzle checks, but with the black, who knows what will show up. Often, I can perform a check with poor results, do a long cleaning and the results are even worse! Other times I can perform a check after it has sat a bit and get a much better result without even cleaning. Meanwhile, the other 3 colors are still perfect.


Any ideas please?


Again, Thanks so much! I’m really enjoying this new experience and think I might look at this as a real business venture!

-ubeny

 

[unclebun]

I'd try a head soak and cleaning. if no better, change damper.

 

[ubeny]

I'd try a head soak and cleaning. if no better, change damper.

Thank you for your reply unclebun! So what's the best way to effectively soak a head in the VJ 1324? Does it have to be pulled from the printer to do that... or can it be done in the maintenance area to the left of the unit?

Again, much appreciated!

 

[ubeny]

Thank you for your reply unclebun! So what's the best way to effectively soak a head in the VJ 1324? Does it have to be pulled from the printer to do that... or can it be done in the maintenance area to the left of the unit?

Again, much appreciated!

Also, can anyone point me to an area where I can get a service manual for the 1324?

 

[unclebun]

I've never used that model. Typically a head soak is done while running a cleaning. You stop the printer while the heads are off the capping station, fill the capping station with cleaning fluid, let it park the heads and shit it off for some period of time--an hour, few hours, overnight, etc. The specific method varies with the printer. I've never used that model printer, so you'd need to find the procedure for that printer.

 

[unclebun]

https://signs101.com/threads/mutoh-1324-clogged-head.129469/

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1022982/Mutoh-Valuevet-Vj-1324.html?page=226

Google can be your friend. If you're not Donald Trump running in 2020.

 

[ubeny]

https://signs101.com/threads/mutoh-1324-clogged-head.129469/

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1022982/Mutoh-Valuevet-Vj-1324.html?page=226

Google can be your friend. If you're not Donald Trump running in 2020.

LOL! Thanks so much!

 

[RG]

It might also be helpful to print a large block of black only. By large block I mean 3 or 4 square feet. And, use a banner profile, 540X720.

 

[ubeny]

It might also be helpful to print a large block of black only. By large block I mean 3 or 4 square feet. And, use a banner profile, 540X720.

Thanks RG... I'll do that shortly!

Okay, sorry guys... here comes another couple of newbie questions...
1. What are we trying to accomplish by printing such a large block?... perhaps attempting to force out clogged areas on the head?
2. What are the differences in the eco solvent icc profiles... ie banner 1-4, quality 1-4, graphics 1-4, etc? I've looked but can't seem to get it through me head what they are?

By the way, if this is the wrong place for this question, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

[RG]

"Perhaps attempting to force out clogged areas on the head"-----Exactly! You hit the nail on the head. 540X720 = larger droplets. I'm not sure about the difference between quality & graphics. I'm stuck with one profile in order to print a really good red on my 1204. Also, you need to make sure that cleaning fluid will flow freely through both tubes of the pump and the tubes under the cap top. Do you see any air in the black ink lines anywhere? If you replace the black dampers, be sure to install new o-rings. If there is an air-tube under the cap top, make sure that air will flow through it freely, too.

 

[ubeny]

"Perhaps attempting to force out clogged areas on the head"-----Exactly! You hit the nail on the head. 540X720 = larger droplets. I'm not sure about the difference between quality & graphics. I'm stuck with one profile in order to print a really good red on my 1204. Also, you need to make sure that cleaning fluid will flow freely through both tubes of the pump and the tubes under the cap top. Do you see any air in the black ink lines anywhere? If you replace the black dampers, be sure to install new o-rings. If there is an air-tube under the cap top, make sure that air will flow through it freely, too.

Thanks... hopefully this weekend I can get my hands on a service manual and take some time to do those things.

So, this is the result of the 36x36 block I printed... looks horrible! Thing is, the color test I printer this morning before I left for work and it looked great.

 

[Plottermike]

Renew dampers, check tubes going downwards from maintenance station if they are free ore clogged..

 

[ubeny]

Renew dampers, check tubes going downwards from maintenance station if they are free ore clogged..

Thank you Plottermike! My dampers were supposed to show up today but did not. Hopefully tomorrow I can do these things!

How difficult would you say it is to change out the dampers on the 1324? Do you have to remove the printhead to change them? Still haven't gotten my hands on a service manual but it looks simple enough. Famous last words, right?! LOL!

Oh yea, I did get a chance to look at the lines and one of the black lines doesn't have ink making it to the damper. The other black line looks okay. The ink stops like maybe 2 inches before it hits the damper.

 

[heyskull]

Remove plastic cover on the head and remove the bar with two screws that the dampers are held in with.
The dampers simply lever out (be careful not to damge the input nipples on the head.
Simply unscrew the line by hand and refit with new seals.
Pull ink through with a syringe to half fill damper then clip back in.
Fit the bar and screws and put the cover back on.
Personally I would do a couple of strong cleans and then a few nozzle tests to check everything is working again.

On a further note: The longer the head is left without ink in it, the more fun you will have trying to restore all the channels.
Also fitting a new maintenance station is also good practice and makes sure that the ink is properly getting pulled through.


SC

 

[ubeny]

Remove plastic cover on the head and remove the bar with two screws that the dampers are held in with.
The dampers simply lever out (be careful not to damge the input nipples on the head.
Simply unscrew the line by hand and refit with new seals.
Pull ink through with a syringe to half fill damper then clip back in.
Fit the bar and screws and put the cover back on.
Personally I would do a couple of strong cleans and then a few nozzle tests to check everything is working again.

On a further note: The longer the head is left without ink in it, the more fun you will have trying to restore all the channels.
Also fitting a new maintenance station is also good practice and makes sure that the ink is properly getting pulled through.


SC

Thanks for your reply heyskull! So I FINALLY got my dampers in after all this time!

Question: Can you take the plastic cover off while the head is still in the machine or does it need to be taken out? I tried to "unclip" both side of the plastic cover while sitting in the machine and it didn't appear to want to come out so I backed down. I don't yet know what I'm doing so I didn't want to break anything.

Again, Many Thanks to ALL for the help!!!

 

[ubeny]

Thanks for your reply heyskull! So I FINALLY got my dampers in after all this time!

Question: Can you take the plastic cover off while the head is still in the machine or does it need to be taken out? I tried to "unclip" both side of the plastic cover while sitting in the machine and it didn't appear to want to come out so I backed down. I don't yet know what I'm doing so I didn't want to break anything.

Again, Many Thanks to ALL for the help!!!

Why is it so hard to find a service manual for the 1324???? Does it just not exist? Seems I can find everything BUT that one? Or could it be that I'm not looking in the right places?

Thanks!