Question Ricoh GEN5

[Vasilis]

Hello, i am working in a UV printer with Ricoh GEN5 PH and i have some issues with some nozzles at the magenta and the cyan that give me hard times with my boss because of the result in some jobs.
So my question is how often can i flush the PH and does it really help? Is any danger that i have to be aware for this process? Or any ideas how to clean the nozzles for better results with other way because is the only machine in the shop and it is a problem if will stop the production at that time.

 

[Zoogee World]

What model are you using and can you post a Nozzle test print. Might be that the print head is starting to die or could be maintenance issues, hard to say without more information.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Yeah, nozzle check is everything, can't do anything without sanity checking your work.

If a head is giving you a hard time, I guess maybe you're referring to nozzles dropping out, or maybe clogging? Maybe catching fire?

Depending on your solvent compatibility with the head, you can flush it all you like if it is stable. Heck, you can just load it up and print good flush all day long if you wanted to for some reason. If it's a much harsher cleaning solvent, you might want to not leave it in more than a few minutes. Sounds like a question for the people that manufacture the flush for compatibility.

As for results, it really depends on what the problem is. If you have a crashed head with a banged up nozzle plate, no amount of flushing will help you. If it's just a clog, well, that depends on whether or not the flush is capable of breaking up the clog.

If it's a situation where you've been dumping cleaning solution into the head and problems keep occurring, a head replacement might be in order. Additionally, make sure there isn't an ink supply issue starving the head during printing.

Also, post details, pictures, describe the problem.

"Have printer problem, how fix?"

 

[Vasilis]

So the machine is the Handtop UV flatbed i have no idea about the model exactly i am working in this machine about 5 months now and they bought it 2019, the one magenta-yellow is 1 week old(M1) the other one(M2) is about 3 months and the black-blue(K1-K2) is the first from 2019. So everything was fine until last week Monday we had some power issue at the building but no problem occur, them the next morning that we start and all the PH was a mess exept the W1-W2. So we spent a full day cleaning then we change the M1 with a new and the K-C is the best i did without flushing. I think about the power because they said to me that the UPS was to expensive to buy

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

I recognize that nozzle check pattern, never heard of the printer brand, however. Control electronics are definitely HosonSoft or a copy of that. Check your capping station and make sure everything looks good. Probably not going to be an electrical fault in the head itself but might be air in the head. Gen5 heads have 2 ports per channel, are they connecting both ports to the same supply line, or is one port blocked/capped off? To purge a head, sometimes they have a port you can put a syringe in to pull ink through the head to prime it.

Gen5s tend to be pretty robust, check your filters as well if there are any. Also, try a head soak and wipe down the nozzle plate thoroughly. Make note of the nozzle checks throughout the day and see if the blocked nozzles are moving, or staying the same. If the missing nozzles move, things like ink starvation and air in the lines are more likely. If it's static, might have chunks of ink lodged in the head.

 

[Zoogee World]

There is certainly some issues with the K1 & K2 l, both C and Magenta M1 & M2 L Heads, probably what is causing the issues. Although I don't have a UV printer, I would imagine these would have a capping station like our Eco-Solvent Printers, what is the condition of it / them and how old?

 

[signheremd]

Sounds like air in the head. You should have a bleed line for each head with which you can uncap the line, aim it down into the waste ink, and hit your Ink Priming button. I would do them all. Alternatively or after bleeding the line, you could lower the vacuum pressure and let the heads drip for 15-20 minutes.

 

[Vasilis]

Thank a lot for all your answers!!! The machine don't have capping station it is just the waste tray and on top is the PH, the way that they told me to close the machine at the end of the day is that i clean the nozzle plates with the cleaning solution and the clean wipes then i do the daily test to check the results and i purge so it will have drops of ink at the nozzles to hang and thats all.

The K1-K2 is not much of a problem because the jobs that we do doesn't require very good quality especially wehn we print on a packing paper that from its nature is not smooth.

I will try your ideas and i will be back with good news i hope

 

[TEN]

You might try reaching out to Fluid Color / Team EPS they work with HandTop printers.

Commercial Flatbed Printers | Fluid Color

Fluid Color offers flatbed printers for custom applications. Printers that print on both rigid and flexible materials.

fluidcolor.com

Corrugated Inkjet Solutions | TeamEPS

TeamEPS offers high-speed, eco-friendly corrugated packaging solutions with top-quality six-color scanning head output for your print operation.

www.teameps.com

 

[Superior_Adam]

Not familiar with that printer specifically but I would try and purge the ink it could have an air bubble in it. Does the nozzle check stay the same or do the missing nozzles move around. If they move around it is an air bubble. If they are the same it is clogged. You can flush the heads as I do that at times and all my UV printers are using the Ricoh Gen 5 heads.

 

[Vasilis]

The missing nozzles stay at the same spot so as everyone suggest they are clogged. But now the problem is that they don't let me do the flush because they scared for the worse and we accept it as they say for now.

So thank you everyone for all the nice information i hope i will get the approval one day to do it or i think it will get worse with the time!