UJF 3042mkii - constant flushing and circulation

[JohnTom]

Hi everyone,

Could use some help. Had issues last year with a failed slider board, replaced it and after cleaning the heads everything seemed to be back to normal - at least for a while. For the last couple of months I have been having an issue with the machine constantly running after being turned off to either run a PLEASE WAIT "flushing" or "circulation" cycle. This will run regardless of what I set the auto maintenance times to, even runs if they are turned off. Seems to run roughly every 15 minutes. I'm also concerned their is a bit higher ink usage being reported than is actually occuring.

Hoping someone here may be able to point me in a direction to look. I am worried a power surge has possibly damaged a board, even though I have a surge protector on the printer. These machines appear very sensitive to their voltage. I did a full reset and even reflashed my bios to 4.3. Not sure if their is a newer version I should try. Compared data from an older log file to a newer one and didn't see anything too different except for some values under "Ink1". Values of ScanC.L and Fir2A.L / Fir2B.L / Fir3A.L / Fir3B.L / Fir4A.L / Fir4B.L are all showing much different values from the older file - the new values range from around -10000 (negative) to almost -30000. The older values were also ranging from 10000 to 30000 but in positive values, not negative. There is also a difference in values for the same "Fir##" values except for an H (Fir##.H) instead of L. The older values all showed as 1 while the newer values range from 300 to 700. Really not sure the significance of these values but they are making me wonder if it's an issue or symptom of what's going on.

I have an older slider board that I wouldn't mind sending off to get repaired if someone has a recommendation. That way I could replace it and see if that's possibly part of the problem, although I suspect what is happening now could be related to the main board since it is bringing the unit out of sleep?

Everything else appears to be working, but I'm definitely wanting to fix this issue. Thanks for any help of advice.

Sincerely,
JohnTom

 

[hand851]

Reload last back up of parameters.

 

[JohnTom]

Reload last back up of parameters.

I did a full factory default reset and also redid the 4.3 firmware update. No change after either.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I did a full factory default reset and also redid the 4.3 firmware update. No change after either.

He means the actual original factory parameters. If you email Mimaki and give them the machine model, serial number, and ask for the original factory parameters, they'll send them over to you. The factory default set is not the same as original factory parameters. Each machine gets calibrated from the factory defaults so your original parameters file will be unique to your machine.

 

[JohnTom]

Got in touch with Mimaki and got the original parameters file. "Downloaded" the file onto the machine and went through the setup process. Didn't realize loading the parameters does a full reset of the machine. Once it was finished going through everything I made sure the auto maintenance was set correctly and then powered off. No change at all, except for the fact I have now supposedly used up a bunch of ink - which is not true. I took a picture a few days before that shows where the machine thought the ink levels were. I even weighed the ink to check and can see everything is fairly full. Hoping I can get new chips to finish using the ink I have.

New FULL Yellow (Including Ink "Cap" for putting in machine) = 380g
Primer = 253g
White = 281g
Black = 338g
Magenta - 303g
Cyan = 341g


Anyone have any more ideas?

 

[JohnTom]

Update:

Finished going through a bunch of firmware updates in an attempt to see if it would fix the issue.
Downgraded back to version 3.9, then worked my way back up from 3.9 -> 4.0 -> 4.3 -> 5.0 and finally 5.1.
No change in the machine and still stuck in the same loop.

So in short, after turning the machine off using the End/Power button, this is the cycle it will get stuck in:
2 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
etc...

I am being requested to pull the log files off the machine, but it will not communicate to upload the log files. It will timeout and say "Cannot receive the data. Check the status of the printer." I can update the firmware, I can download and upload parameters, but I can't get the log files. I've tried after each firmware change and no luck. I am manually able to access the log file data through the control panel fine, but it will just not talk to the software no matter what I try. Just looked again and realized that the machine now only has 4 log files showing for head height warnings when I was setting up items today. Even the hours for the machine have been reset - unsure how that happened? A little worrying to know that I can clear the hours from a machine... Guess this is due to one of the firmware updates? I know when I went to 5.0 from 4.3 it stopped and shutdown even though it was only showing 49% on the computer screen completed - started up fine and the panel on the machine said it updated fine, but I had to end task on the windows update tool as it was locked up. The update from 5.0 to 5.1 went to 100% with no weirdness.

Ok... just had it wait for 15 minutes after shutdown before starting up and saying "PLEASE WAIT Flushing" and then shutting down - that's different from the pattern it's been doing. I am going to watch and see how it runs over the next couple hours.

Finally - Does anyone know if the inks will sit at 10% until the expiry date, or will it eventually run to 0% and not allow the machine to print?

Thanks again for any help,
JohnTom

 

[JohnTom]

Update:

Finally got the log files off the machine. Made a separate post detailing how.

Machine is still stuck in the same cycle - waiting to hopefully hear something back tomorrow now that the log file has been obtained.

Also - anyone know about the ink question? Will then continue to run until they are almost out despite the machine saying it has 10% ink remaining?

Sincerely,
JohnTom

 

[Tipgypsy]

Hi John, have you tried just leaving the machine on all the time ? Are you doing a hard pwr down ( turning off the rear pwr switch or unplugging the pwr) That would trigger the autocycle each time you pwr up again. My old 6042's do that if you turn off the rear power switch after you shut them down I can even get back to back cycles when I fire it up again.

 

[JohnTom]

Update: Tech confirmed log files show nothing wrong - machine is running properly. I swear I remember it running less often, but they say its the norm.

Mimaki was pretty good once contacted and gave a good amount of help and support as well as helped me out with the ink.

 

[pisola]

Update:

Finished going through a bunch of firmware updates in an attempt to see if it would fix the issue.
Downgraded back to version 3.9, then worked my way back up from 3.9 -> 4.0 -> 4.3 -> 5.0 and finally 5.1.
No change in the machine and still stuck in the same loop.

So in short, after turning the machine off using the End/Power button, this is the cycle it will get stuck in:
2 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Flushing -> off
15 Min turns on -> Circulation -> off
etc...

I am being requested to pull the log files off the machine, but it will not communicate to upload the log files. It will timeout and say "Cannot receive the data. Check the status of the printer." I can update the firmware, I can download and upload parameters, but I can't get the log files. I've tried after each firmware change and no luck. I am manually able to access the log file data through the control panel fine, but it will just not talk to the software no matter what I try. Just looked again and realized that the machine now only has 4 log files showing for head height warnings when I was setting up items today. Even the hours for the machine have been reset - unsure how that happened? A little worrying to know that I can clear the hours from a machine... Guess this is due to one of the firmware updates? I know when I went to 5.0 from 4.3 it stopped and shutdown even though it was only showing 49% on the computer screen completed - started up fine and the panel on the machine said it updated fine, but I had to end task on the windows update tool as it was locked up. The update from 5.0 to 5.1 went to 100% with no weirdness.

Ok... just had it wait for 15 minutes after shutdown before starting up and saying "PLEASE WAIT Flushing" and then shutting down - that's different from the pattern it's been doing. I am going to watch and see how it runs over the next couple hours.

Finally - Does anyone know if the inks will sit at 10% until the expiry date, or will it eventually run to 0% and not allow the machine to print?

Thanks again for any help,
JohnTom

hi, after the official mimaki technician came to update some of factory settings about 3 years ago, i have the same problem as you do. i've noticed that all of the ink are increasingly wasted in power off. even tho i've rarely used the printer (about once a week of printing session), in less than 3 month the full 1lt bottle are already below 50%.

i've also changed the automatic maintence interval for both refresh and cleaning to 2 hours, but when it's powered off it's still 15 minutes interval of refresh / cleaning / flushing / circulation....

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Most maintenance cycles discharge under a milliliter or two of ink overall under ideal circumstances. The circulation shouldn't really discharge any ink at all. However, the caps can be at fault as they work both ways. When sitting, the cap lines are closed off and the ink shouldn't be going anywhere. If air is getting in, the heads can slowly drain over time and quickly waste ink. Check those caps and make sure they are sealing right.

Also, digging up 1 dead thread is understandable, but reviving this and another thread from 2018 seems a bit unnecessary. Let the dead threads rest in peace. We're not you're 24/7 tech support line, even if we are happy to help where we can. I'm not an admin or anything, and I do ask for help often myself. If you are really hard up for tech support out of your service period, pull out the credit card and contact your local distributor. Some even offer by the hour phone support during business hours.

 

[pisola]

Most maintenance cycles discharge under a milliliter or two of ink overall under ideal circumstances. The circulation shouldn't really discharge any ink at all. However, the caps can be at fault as they work both ways. When sitting, the cap lines are closed off and the ink shouldn't be going anywhere. If air is getting in, the heads can slowly drain over time and quickly waste ink. Check those caps and make sure they are sealing right.

Also, digging up 1 dead thread is understandable, but reviving this and another thread from 2018 seems a bit unnecessary. Let the dead threads rest in peace. We're not you're 24/7 tech support line, even if we are happy to help where we can. I'm not an admin or anything, and I do ask for help often myself. If you are really hard up for tech support out of your service period, pull out the credit card and contact your local distributor. Some even offer by the hour phone support during business hours.

i'm replying in here because our local distributor here is not helping at all, they just suggested to buy the whole capping station and printheads

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Have you changed the caps themselves? They can work fine for cleaning cycles when there's active suction on them, but they still leak when sitting idle. Also, make sure to wipe down the caps at least every few days, UV ink loves building up on them.

 

[lubo1972]

Same problem to us! It is going to make big troubles, because after weekend we found 90% of white nozzles missing!!

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Yeah, my white loves dropping out, going to try and grab new caps soon to help.