VJ 1204 Ink issue (I am a newbie)

[Sante230]

Hello, I just picked up a Mutoh VJ 1204. Before I picked up the printer we did some test prints as well as a nozzle check. It was 100% perfect. He ran some cleaning fluid through the lines and set it up for me to take it home. It was sitting in the box for about a week without anything but cleaning solution in the lines.
Fast forward to today-
I put in new Genuine Mutoh 220ml ink and turned it on for the first time at my place. It did an ink fill first thing. After the first ink fill the lines where only half way full and not even close to the print head yet. I did 4 "little Charge" and ink filled in all the lines accept one black line It filled great all the way to where the single line splits into two, After it splits into two the ink only traveled 2-3 inches and stopped.

I did a nozzle check at this point and they where almost all firing great accept for of course the whole block for that line that wasn't feeding ink.

I did a few more cleanings and the ink didn't come any farther down the line.
I decided I was going to pull the line off of the damper and used a syringe to suck the ink down the line. Once I had ink all the way down the line I reattached it.
I ran another cleaning and then did a nozzle check. CMY where 100% Black was was missing all but 2 nozzles on the one that was previously good and still had nothing on the other other one that didn't print any nozzles the first time.
I did some more cleaning cycles and did another test and got the same results
I did a few more cleaning cycles and this time I got about half of the blacks on the one that use to be good and still none of the other black block.
More cleans and more checks and nothing was changing but I did get 1 nozzle to fire on the one that didn't fire before.

I decided to take the to pull out the dampers and see if I can find the issue there, The black with no nozzles firing looked empty, The black that was firing half was about half as full as the other colors. I also pulled out the Cyan to compare it to the black ink.
This time I used a syringe on the other size of the damper and filled both blacks to the same amount as the Cyan. Put everything back together ran a clean and then did a test. This time I lost most of the cyan that I messed with still didn't have most of the blacks but the black that I never really had anything from had 6 nozzles show up.

I am super new and I don't want to keep messing with this without some insight as to what I should do next. I also used 49% of my brand new ink so far trying to get this to work correctly (frustrating to say the least).

Any advise would be great.

 

[spmracing]

Manually pull it through the line. Some times there can be alot of air and the pump wont suck the ink. I had to do that with mine.

 

[Sante230]

I did pull the ink through the line. All the way into the damper and it didn't fix the issue. Is there more to it then that? What else should I do?

 

[Solventinkjet]

If the machine had a hard time filling up it is most likely the maintenance station that is failing. You could change the cap top first to see if that is just the issue.

Also, your dampers should be about half full give or take. Check the ink line for air bubbles. Even one tiny bubble will stop ink from flowing properly. Also check the damper where the ink comes in from the line. It is the thin channel that flows ink from the line to the bigger part of the damper. It should be a solid color with no air bubble and if you rotate the damper upside down it should still keep the ink in it. If these items are not working properly, you might just need new o-rings.

 

[Sante230]

If the machine had a hard time filling up it is most likely the maintenance station that is failing. You could change the cap top first to see if that is just the issue.

Also, your dampers should be about half full give or take. Check the ink line for air bubbles. Even one tiny bubble will stop ink from flowing properly. Also check the damper where the ink comes in from the line. It is the thin channel that flows ink from the line to the bigger part of the damper. It should be a solid color with no air bubble and if you rotate the damper upside down it should still keep the ink in it. If these items are not working properly, you might just need new o-rings.

Thank you so much for the response. It seems odd that the maintenance station is failing to be because how smooth it was running a week ago but it is possible for sure.

The dampers are all half full (I had to us a syringe to get the black one to fill). I pulled a lot of ink through the line and made sure there where no air. When I flipped the damper upside down the ink drains from the small line within the damper. I pulled some of the ones that worked correctly and they did the same thing (drained the ink from the small line within the damper). I am wondering what I should try from here. I am worried about the ink drying in the head, Thats something I don't wan't to replace right now.

Now the cyan and yellow I pulled to look at the small line in the damper lost a bunch of nozzles.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I would start with the cap top. We have them for $65 on our site, Solventinkjet.com. Cap tops can be very sensitive. Since the machine was already inked up when you saw it, the cap top could have been working just well enough to keep the ink flowing but now that you had to ink it up again the flaws in the cap top are showing more. I have seen one hair break the seal on the cap top and cause drop out. You may want to think about changing the o-rings in the dampers as well because it sounds like they may be getting air in the line.

Also, just keep your machine plugged in and the head on the cap top. This will prevent the head from drying out for the time being.

 

[RG]

It certainly sounds like something is plugged up. I suggest that you remove the right side cover from your printer. This isn't as easy as you would think, but it's doable. Move the carriage to the left away from the maintenance station. Next, remove the cap top. There are just 2 phillips head screws that hold it in place. You will also have to disconnect the 2 tubes that connect the cap top to the pump. Now use your syringe and push cleaning fluid through both tubes that go into the pump. If the fluid goes through, then the pump is not clogged. Now, for the cap top itself, use your syringe to push cleaning fluid through both tubes and out through the top of the cap. Lastly, disconnect each end of the longer tube that's under the cap top and push air through it. Use a cleaning swab to thoroughly clean and moisten the rubber seal that's around the cap top. While the end cover is off, you might need to thoroughly clean the wiper. It's probably crusted over with dried ink. And, do all of this as quickly as you can. If you don't already have a maintenance manual, I'm sure that a member will share one with you. Setting up for a week could easily cause ink to dry enough to keep the maintenance station from working properly. Hope you get it up and running. Let us know what works for you so that others can learn from your adventure.

 

[GAC05]

I can send you the 1204 service manual if you need it.
Just pm me an email address to send to.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[Sante230]

Fixed the issue. It is silly now that I know what it was. The print head wasn't sitting flush with the bottom. I readjusted it and now the cap is sealing and it is print great. Did a few head soaks and I got all my nozzles back. Thank you to everyone that helped me explore options for fixing the issue.