print head diagnosis

[printmares]

Hi,

Attached are a few pics of a test print and a nozzle check.

We finally have a Mutoh Falcon Outdoor semi-functional. The heads are not aligned yet. We can see that a number of nozzles are out. Rather than printing pure back, streaks of different colors are embedded which leads me to believe that the head is shot. Also there are bare spots within the lettering.

One thought is to pay for a service to get them cleaned. Does anyone have an opinion whether it these heads might be salvageable? They were already placed through a number of syringe/solvent cleanings.

Thank you.

 

[Finishline Signs]

Your black test print looks good so I thinks the spots in the black text are someting else. It only looks like one head is missing nozzles. I would try soaking the head to see if you can get some of the nozzles back.

 

[printmares]

Thank you for the advice.

I will replace the dampers and o-rings for good measure and will do a soak again.

We did soak and syringe the heads which brought them back to life, but every 4 or 5 days they needs to print -else it will clog. That seems to be a normal requirement.

Do you think that the missing nozzles in nozzle check image do not relate to the back text with the round splotches/wholes of missing color? The tops and bottom lines do not seem to print at all. Maybe a print head cleaning service ($150+) might help.

Other test prints have colors that are printed where they should not (almost as if it is printing from a lower layer and not the top layer). It does not seem to be a profile or calibration issue through the onyx software, but I'm still learning about that process.

I primed the lines from the waste tube end to rivive the printer. If not printing it seems to clog every at the pump area every 8 days or so. The ink is new. The inks in the prints look chunky so I wondering if that the reason behind the uneven flow restrictions in the lines or a pump issue.

 

[Finishline Signs]

If the was sitting for a while before you brought it back I would definitely replace the dampers. You may also want to change the cap station. I use a file that I created using 1" blocks the width of my vinyl with the color set at 100% for that color. I use one block for each color, 6 in your case. I will print this every two days if I am not using my printer to make sure it doesn't dry out. It has really helped since I started doing this. In my opinion looking at the test print of the black and the text print don't make since. Try setting up some color blocks as I described and print them and see what happens. I can't help with settings in Onyx as I have never used it.

added: I have never heard of anyone having good results with sending off a head for cleaning.

 

[printmares]

I will print a file with the 6 - 1" 'pure' color blocks as you suggest. I'm suspecting to see the same issue that appeared on the black lettering.

Printing every 2 or 3 days makes sense.

Printhead 911 said that they'll guarantee a 100% recovery. They have a special test print station that ejects a fluid and will also let the end user return it if its not performing properly. (those details were not from the website, but from a telephone conversation with an employee). Like you say, it may not work, but its worth a try since the DX2s are so expensive.

The capping station should also be replaced. I took it apart and found the sponge like material and the screen were the only bad parts. The tubes cleaned up ok. Unfortunately, the Mutoh Falcon Outdoor does not sell the individual caps (cups) separately.

Thanks again!

 

[thmooch]

soak heads. fyi, pulling dasmpers will elieviate dampers sucking up from maintenance station. soak away, then replace dampers. strong cleaning, test print. repeat as necessary.

 

[printmares]

Are you saying to pull off the dampers while the heads are off so that the muck from the maintenance station does not back up into the lines?

Also,
I was also told that isopropyl alcohol created problems with some ink (creates some precipitates and gums up the head). I'm not sure if the solvent cleaner has isopropyl alcohol is a component of the Mutoh Eco-Ultra 'cleaner'.

I believe it was the cleaning cycle that took 4 minutes (Mutoh Falcon Outdoor) which could not be stopped. It wasted almost 10% of the ink.


Thanks for the advice/help.

 

[thmooch]

Im a big fan of the head soak. It works. after having my dampers full of muck, I decided to pull the dampers from the head during head soak. still leave attached to lines to keep ink vacuum. Also have taken new dampers and filled with cleaning solution and attached to head to run cleanin fluid thru head to loosen clogged nozzles. good luck!

 

[printmares]

Thank you for the help!