Print problem with Encad 1000i = no K

[GAC05]

Hi, I know a few here have posted that they run, or have run in the past, the aqueous 1000i or 1200.
I have the 60" model and the black channel has stopped working.
The tech has been in 3 times and has covered just about all the bases.
He has changed out these things and not a drop of black ink:
2 or 3 new black carts.
The board on the carriage
Short data cable going from the carriage to the cart
Septum for the cart
Main board

We are awaiting the arrival of the long data cable that runs from the main board to the carriage and it is pretty much the last straw as far as swapping out parts (I think).

The feed line is full with no bubbles or air gaps (I made sure with a few system primes)
The utilities menu shows an error on the black head but is able to read the amount of ink that has passed through the head when I swap a used one for a brand new one.
When I run a prime on the black channel it runs without throwing up any errors but no ink is set down
If I run a head clean it will throw up the APC error and go ahead with cleaning after clearing the "want to abort?" message. Seems like it is pulling some ink though into the waste bottle with each cleaning. The carts are not dry - I can wick some black ink off the print plate with a paper towel.
The other 5 channels are working and print their prime patterns without errors.
I did the power on - reset to factory defaults, but it didn't do anything other than wipe out my saved media calibrations.

The printer is under a maintenance contract and normally I would not worry to much with what needs to be done to bring it back on line. Nearing deadlines are the problem. The tech is doing the best he can but they don't stock many replacement parts (don't have a demo they could loan me either) and the 3 or 4 day lag time between each new order is eating up the little production time I have left.

So..... has anyone run into this before and had any luck with something we have missed?

thanks

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Urban Image]

I actually work for the largest Encad/Kodak supplier in the nation. I've been tossing this over in my head and messing with the unit we have in-house but I can't figure anything. Everything I think of has already been tried. I'll get with some of the other techs and see what they think.

 

[GAC05]

Thanks for taking a look at this.
I've got until noon tomorrow to get it going or tell my customer I'm out for this round.
This will be the first hard deadline I have missed for them so it is not going to be pretty.

thanks again

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Salo]

So I'm not alone... me to I have a Kodak 1200i 60" with A LOT of print heads problems : I believe I changed minimum 10 heads in half year with the same "electrical defective" error or APC unavailable. The difference is that I can print with a new print head a couple of meters but after that the print head crash. I'm doing everything I must do regarding maintenance but without success...

 

[RobGF]

So I'm not alone... me to I have a Kodak 1200i 60" with A LOT of print heads problems : I believe I changed minimum 10 heads in half year with the same "electrical defective" error or APC unavailable. The difference is that I can print with a new print head a couple of meters but after that the print head crash. I'm doing everything I must do regarding maintenance but without success...

Salo:

I've been having a similar problem with my 1000i as of late. Lots of problems with Cyan in particular max temp and APC errors (APC errors on virgin cartridges). Without fail I have been able to print about 20 sq ft before Cyan dies. I've been swapping out Cyan for months and it seems that I haven't been able to get any real jobs out of the 1000i unless they were very small.

I have been in touch with tech support and they have suggested that there is some small chance that one of the other cartridges are defective and this somehow confuses the system to believe that Cyan is problematic. To that end, they have sent me two sets of cartridges (CcMmYk) for a complete swap-out. I will let you know if this has any success.

Sorry for the deviation of topic to the original poster.

Rob

 

[GAC05]

"Sorry for the deviation of topic to the original poster.

Rob"

No problem here, my deadline has come and gone and the printer is still deadlined.

I had the same rapid failure problem with the Light Cyan channel a while back. Swapping out the carriage board seemed to make it go away.

Hoping the tech will be in today with some good news.

wayne k
guam usa