What REALLY causes heads to go out?

[TheSnowman]

I have a 6+ year old Mimaki JV3 here, and I have had multiple service people tell me that they're amazed that my heads have lasted this long. I also remember when the installer came to install the printer when it was new, he said "head strikes are what ruin your heads". I can probably only think of five or so times that I know head strikes occurred.

So I guess my question is, am I just crazy lucky, do I have a way low amount of head strikes, or is it just a gamble? I clean it pretty regularly...but not like twice a day or anything. I just wanted to know if I was doing something right, or if I just got lucky for once in life to have them last this long.

 

[Banners Signs Etc.]

I'd Like to know too...do you run many cleaning cycles? or do you swab alot?
Someone once said.........to many powerful cleaning cycles will damage the heads

 

[Jack Knight1979]

Damage to the piezo kills the head. Wear from use. The crystal actually vibrates to jet ink. It will eventually wear out.

Head strikes are the main killer. A hefty strike will fracture the crystal. then as it prints (vibrates) the crack turns into a fracture and it's over.

 

[TheSnowman]

I probably average three cleanings a week. I know people say to do them everyday, but I don't fire up my machine every day. Sometimes it prints all day, sometimes it prints two times a week, just depends which season I'm in. I'm thinking when they go out it'll be time to just upgrade to a new machine...but I wanted to know the best way to keep prolonging their life.

One tech told me two years is all you SHOULD for sure get out of them...which I'm assuming is for someone printing around the clock.

 

[Techman]

I don't use this machine. But I do run another ink jet printer.
Head strikes are not good in any event.

But I believe the alcohol solvents corrode the tiny valves in the heads after a period of time. No matter if they are used or not. The solvents simply ate the valves.

I never had a Pre primed cartridge lasted a full lifespan. In fact I did not purchase a new head for a very long time because of warranty exchanges.

I also had a series of dead cartridges in my printer that were failed right out of the box as well. They were always the pre primed heads.

I purchased cartridges that were dry or without ink. They worked every time out of the box. And they continue to work long into their life span. No matter how long they sat on a shelf they always worked.

However, If I let a set of carts sit on a shelf for an extended period after being used they would eventually fail to restart of would fail soon after being put back into use.

I believe the solvents eat those tiny chrystals and valves and cause a failure.

 

[signswi]

We lasted about 4 years on our original JV3 heads and then they all failed one by one. You're crazy lucky to have so few head strikes they're pretty common on that machine. Easy for banner material to walk a bit and get caught. We never had a strike kill a head but they're not uncommon.

 

[TheSnowman]

Yea, if I remember right, it's always w/ the banner material that I had them. I think two of them were severe though. I remember coming into the room and it was all shoved under the head and I had to basically pry it out. That was years ago though...

 

[Banners Signs Etc.]

How often do you guys swab, and is that mostly just to keep the goop off of the prints or does it help with the life of the heads etc?

 

[AnotherSignManiac]

I think my JV3 is about 3-4 years old, it's been in my care for about 2 years now, I have had about 4-5 head strikes (banner material). I do regular cleaning every night and I try to remember to clean every day. We run the printer usually around 3-4 hours a day. I have issues with my black head but nothing to where I need to replace it just yet. I think the longevity of the heads depend on maintenance.