Using a full cartidge of washing liquid every 2-3 weeks on the Mimaki JV33-160? HELP!

[Allens Signs]

I have a Mimaki JV33-160.
We print almost everyday, but weekends.
I am currently having issues with the 'Mild Solvent' Washing Liquid, I seem to be going though a full cartridge every 2-3 weeks.
This is unusual as we used to print much more and the cartridge would last longer.
I checked the history of cleans. In one day while in sleep mode the Mimaki had x12 'refresh' and x6 'tube' washes. Does this sound normal to anyone?
I have no idea why this is happening. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[ddarlak]

how long have you owned the machine

do you do your own maintenence

 

[Allens Signs]

Machine is 3yrs old.
We have changed the head 3 times using a Mimaki Service Tech.
But try to be digilent with normal maintenance.
As we are rural, nearest service Tech is a 4hr flight from us.

 

[artbot]

i usually catch crap for bringing this up. but there is a increasing amount of people that are just making their own cleaning fluid. comes to about $25 a gallon.

 

[Allens Signs]

These are genuine Mimaki products from Mimaki Distributors.
I pay over $100AU per cartridge.

 

[artbot]

well they have genuine readily available chemicals in them.

refillable cartridge + permanent chip (if JV33 cleaning carts are chipped???) + $6US worth of butyl cellosolve, butyl carbitol, and acetone = CLEANING CARTRIDGE

 

[Rooster]

There must be some kind of leak in the line or somebody has cranked up the wash cycles. I've never checked the frequency of my wash cycles since it was installed, but only because it's never been an issue and I just replaced my first cleaning cart in over 2 years of use.

If you're not doing 6 times a day nozzle washes there's no way you should be going through that much.

The kicker is it would probably be cheaper to pay for the cleaning carts (or brew your own as artbot suggests) than paying a mimaki tech to fix it.

Don't you just love technology sometimes?

 

[MikePro]

been using home-made cleaning solvents for a couple months now... no issues. highly recommended you give it a shot, as that $100 cartridge would have cost you $15 at most.

 

[MikePro]

if you've replaced 3 printheads in the past 3 years... i'd say your mimaki guy upped your cleaning cycles while he was there, most likely the cause of using so much solution.

took me 5years to replace my first printhead.

 

[signsny]

Mike what is the regular setting of sleep mode regular cleaning mode. I own a JV-33 160 I have 5 nozzles clogged and don't know what to do. Also my waste bottle gets filled in 30 days. My printing is not even 4 hours a week. My machine takes lots of inks.

Please advise.
Thanks
Tahir

 

[Allens Signs]

Any sites I can do a bit more research on making my own cleaning liquid?
How accessable are the ingredients?

Am I able to check for a leak myself?

Any recommendations on how often in sleep mode the Mimaki should be cleaning itself?

 

[Cesar Yu]

on my experience in sleep mode.
i use every 4 hrs. and i no
automatic cleaning on printing.

 

[artbot]

i get my butyl carbitol and butyl cellosolve from sherwin williams (call ahead, the locations that stock commercial supplies are more likely to have it)

 

[Esmae]

Is this mix suitable also as a flushing fluid? I'll be shutting the printer down from christmas till mid Jan and would have to buy 8 flushing carts for the mimaki but i'd prefer to have my own refillable carts instead with my own fluid (or a similar readily available bulk solution) I contacted a local supplier about using his bulk flushing fluid (bordeux made for mimaki JV5 etc.) but he said that i would wreck the head by using it because it is a different base. Maybe i should just fork out the extra $$$ for genuine Mimaki.

 

[artbot]

that would be odd. the bordeux ink seems to use butyl cellosolve at a 70-90 (mono butyl). like any other solvent blend, get the base chemicals. have your oem solution. mix to your closest most similar reaction.

www.itnh.com/pdfs/Bordeaux msds-Mild Solvent.pdf

but as for a different "base" not so.

testing: get a piece of aluminum foil. pour some oem in a small puddle pour some of your blend. drop some ink into both puddles. see if the ink coagulates or disperses equally in both puddles. the only thing that can "wreck" heads is when condensation builds at the head by too rapid of evaporation. thus "adding" water to the blend by way of atmosphere.

also get a sample of dried ink. test the cutting power of both. i may be wrong, but flushing solution is weaker(?) than cleaning solution. i mix a bit more acetone to the mix for cleaning wiper, caps, etc. and a milder version with doing custody wash.

lastly, get a small jar of both solutions, drop some ink into them. mix, come back an hour later. see if both inks have settled the same. adjust accordingly.

but generally, we all have to agree that we will be using these machinese/inks for a long time to come. a better understanding of the chemistry, a cleaner machine, etc. will be beneficial to the machine and our expenses.

(((if ever to be on the "safe" side (i say "safe" because we are talking about milder solvents that dry slower than the very ink inside the machine), you can always use a bit more carbitol. it is considerably more expensive than cellosolve. and i'd assume that any ink company might choose to use a little as possible.)))

 

[bmw_ante]

Change your "sleep" settings on the machine and the problem goes away !

i always use (ss21 ink) Pump tube wash-24h

If you dont run your head into the vinyl then you should NOT have to change head every year... It sounds like your tech/reseller wants to make money on you...

On every new Mimaki CJV30 i have sold i use the default sleep values för SS21 ink, Pump tube wash 24hours, No cleaning, And i change the capping every year !

If you dont knowe your default settings for your ink, www.mimaki.co.jp download your user manual and look up "Sleep clean"

 

[bmw_ante]

Mike what is the regular setting of sleep mode regular cleaning mode. I own a JV-33 160 I have 5 nozzles clogged and don't know what to do. Also my waste bottle gets filled in 30 days. My printing is not even 4 hours a week. My machine takes lots of inks.

Please advise.
Thanks
Tahir

If I were you i would look up how the humidity is in the room? You should have 30-60%

You have to tell us what ink you are using, Default values for ss21 is that sleep clean is not nessesary if you have a capping station in good condition ( CLEAN around the head and the capping every day)
If the rubber have dried on the capping then change the capping , This is an easy and fairly cheap operation if you look at the wasted ink in your case