VJ 1604 SubTankLo Error sticking calves

[heyskull]

I have came acroos this before and have managed to disconnect below the valve and pull some more ink through and this clears it.
It normally happens on the black and understanbly blocks more often as the black is the densest colour.
I am cycling the valves in the secret menu.
But it says valve 1, valve 2, valve 3 and valve 4.
Which of the colours CMYK are these valves?

Thanks
SC

 

[timson_ads]

I have came acroos this before and have managed to disconnect below the valve and pull some more ink through and this clears it.
It normally happens on the black and understanbly blocks more often as the black is the densest colour.
I am cycling the valves in the secret menu.
But it says valve 1, valve 2, valve 3 and valve 4.
Which of the colours CMYK are these valves?

Thanks
SC

you can easily hear which valve open up when you look closely on it

 

[heyskull]

In round the back of my printer their is limited space so I can't get in without moving loads of stuff and the printer!
So listening for which valve it is isn't an option.

SC

 

[Graphics2u]

I can't help you with which valve is what #, But I am curious. I have had this problem in the past and was wondering if you put you printer into sleep mode at night or is it left on 24\7? The reason i ask is mine will only give this error when in sleep mode. Mine is a 1614 but Probably the same or similar boards. If I leave the printer on without going into Sleep it has Never given this error. But If I put it into Sleep mode at night within 2 weeks I'll come in in the morning with the thing beeping at me! A restart always takes care of it, but it's annoying that it won't work properly in Sleep mode. I think it must have something to do with coming out of sleep to run a cleaning cycle that sets the code.

 

[heyskull]

We have this error whilst it is sitting idle with the power button on.
I gathered it was in sleep mode when the power button was in the off position is this correct?

I'm still struggling to figure out which valve 1234 equal CMYK!

My yellow ink indicator is still going down!
SC

 

[Stealth Ryder]

This is way too simple... Standing behind the machine looking at the Ink Carts the order KCMY. If you remove the plastic cover over the Cart Slots you will plainly see the Sub-Tanks and the valves below. The Ink Lines at the top are clear, therefore you can see the color of the ink... Again, the order is KCMY...

 

[Graphics2u]

We have this error whilst it is sitting idle with the power button on.
I gathered it was in sleep mode when the power button was in the off position is this correct?

I'm still struggling to figure out which valve 1234 equal CMYK!

My yellow ink indicator is still going down!
SC

No the power light is still on in sleep mode. mine is a 1614 but I'm guessing they are the same. It's menu#8 the you can enter sleep mode which basically shuts it down except for cleaning cycles.

 

[heyskull]

Well I knock mine off on the button.
I thought this put it in sleep mode and kept the cleaning cycles running!
This now concerns me because if this is correct, over the last 4 years my machine has been switched off completely and didn't get any cleaning cycles!
Is this maybe why the print head is lasting so long.

SC

 

[Graphics2u]

I think you're just turning it off doing that. Sleep mode has to accessed from the Menu. Which is kinda strange to me anyway.

 

[chrisphilipps]

Valve 1 = K, Valve 2 = C, Valve 3 = M, Valve 4 = Y. If you are continually having them stick and you are not putting the printer into sleep mode you might have to replace them. It is fairly simple to do but can cause a big mess if you don't know what you are doing. One thing that you should check is make sure that you hear the valves make a clicking noise as you activate them, if you don't hear this noise then they will need to be replaced.

Sleep Mode was originally created in the earlier firmware because of an issue with either the fans or the heaters not turning off, I don't remember which at this point. The original release of firmware with Sleep Mode did have problems with Sub Tank Low messages and also issues with corrupting chips on the cartridges. These issues have been fixed in the latest firmware for all models. The latest for the 1604 is 2.00/1.18 and the 1614 is also at 2.00/1.18. You might want to update your firmware to see if this will help.

 

[heyskull]

I didn't want to change the firmware because I am a firm believer in "if it ain't broke don't fix it."
I think our VJ 1604 is still on firmware 1.09 and it has functioned perfectly as that.

SC

 

[Graphics2u]

The original release of firmware with Sleep Mode did have problems with Sub Tank Low messages and also issues with corrupting chips on the cartridges. These issues have been fixed in the latest firmware for all models. The latest for the 1604 is 2.00/1.18 and the 1614 is also at 2.00/1.18. You might want to update your firmware to see if this will help.

I'm glad to know there was an issue with the firmware/ Sleep/ Subtank Lo errors. I thought it was strange it only happened in Sleep mode! Time to upgrade firmware!