Mimaki JV3 Tips & Tricks

Mimaki JV3 Tips & Tricks

WF 

Printer Set-up

Platen Temperatu Temperature re

• Whentheprin Whentheprinter teris isgoi goingtobeinst ngtobeinstall alledatthe edatthe enduser’ssite,ithastobe enduser’ ssite,ithastobeset-upproperly set-upproperly.. • Pl Plac acem emen ent t sh shou ould ld be fa fat t an and d le leve vel l to pr prev even ent t torsio tor sion; n; thi this s is mor more e imp importa ortant nt whe when n ins instal tallin ling g widerprinters(over1600mm). • St Stab able le en envi viro ronm nmen enta tal l co cond ndit itio ions ns:: te temp mper erat atur ure e and an d re rela lati tive ve hu humi midi dity ty (R (RH) H).. Mos Most t im impo porta rtant ntly ly,, nodustintheroomandnotinthesameroom withanytooling(dusting)machine.*seelabelor specichandlinginormation. • Eno nou ugh room al all l ar arou ound nd th the e pr prin inte ter r to al allo low w comortablespacetop comortablespa cetoplacemedia lacemediarolls,stor rolls,storeink, eink, removeprintedjobs,anddo remove printedjobs,anddodailymaintenance dailymaintenance..

• Wesuggest Wesuggestusing usinga atemperature temperaturesettingbetween settingbetween 35°Cand45°C(max). • Pr Pre-h e-hea eati ting ng se sett ttin ing g sh shou ould ld be hi high gher er tha than n the platensetting(printheat). • Th Thepri eprint nt he heat at sh shou ould ld no notbeuse tbeusedtohea dtoheatthe tthe media, med ia, be becau cause se the med media ia sho should uld alr alread eady y be warm. • Whe hen n th the e ink is bl blee eedi ding ng,, ad adjjus ust t to a hi hig ghe her r temperatureinincrementso2°Catatimeand makeatestprintagainorloweryourinklimiting. • Med Mediam iamust ustbed bedryto rytothe thetou touchw chwhen henitr itreac eaches hes adistanceo30cmromtheprintheads. • A te temp mper erat atur ure e ab abov ove e 45 45°C °C ca can n ca caus use e th the e pr prin int t headstodryout,resultinginclogging.

Daily Maintenance “Taking care of your kid”  Gooddailymaintenanceisthemostimportant responsibilityotheendusers. Aprinterthatisproperlymaintainedwillrarely haveproblems.  Thereisnotastandardchecklisttogothrough, althou alt hough gh man many y en envir vironm onment ental al ac actor tors s a aect ect yo your ur prin pr inte ter r li like ke du dust st,, ai airr, ro room om he heat atin ing g sy syst stem ems, s, et etc. c.  The  T hese se a act ctor ors s wi will ll de dete term rmin ine e ho how w o ote ten, n, an and d to what wh at ex exte tent nt,, th the e en end d us user er wi will ll ne need ed to pe per ror orm m maintenance. A good check list includes the ollowing: • ca capp ppin ing gst stat atio ion n • unnels • no nozz zzle lep pla late te • wipers

Wipers “Wiping, not plastering”  Beore Be ore,, dur during ing and at ater er cle cleani aning ng cyc cycles les,, pri print nt headsarewipedobyarubbe headsarewipe dobyarubberblade. rblade.

Usingourspecialmaterialblades,whicharenot aectedbyourinks,increasesperormance. Wipers must have a st strraight edge to work correctlywhichrequirescleaningthreetimesaday (minimum).Wiperscollecttheexcessinkromthe nozzleplate. Cleananygelledinkromthewiperhousing. Endusersmustpayattentionandkeepthewiper andthehousingcleanandreeogelledinkordried pigm pi gmen ent t bu buil ildd-up up,, du dust st an and d de debr bris is.. We su sugg gges est t changi cha ngingthe ngthe wip wiperoten eroten.. (Ne (New w wip wiper= er= 8€($12 8€($12), ), Newprinthead=600€($900) The wiper is an essential part o the cleaning process and its efectiveness efectiveness..

Technical Ser vices

Ver.. 1.1 - 03/01/10 Ver

Mimaki JV3 Tips & Tricks

Print Head Height • The distance between the print head and the media may aect print quality.

  g   n    i    t    t   e   s

  g   n    i    t    t   e   s

   h   g    i    h

  w   o    l    d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

   d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

 wrinckled media (vinyl)

• A smaller distance between the print head(s) and the media creates a higher print quality.   g   n    i    t    t   e   s

  g   n    i    t    t   e   s   w   o    l

   h   g    i    h    d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

   d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

thin media (vinyl)

A greater distance between the print head(s) and the media creates a lower print quality.   g   n    i    t    t   e   s   w   o    l

too close!

  g   n    i    t    t   e   s

   h   g    i    h    d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

   d   a   e    h    t   n    i   r   p

• Printing with wrinkled media will always cause issues, such as uneven or fat colors due to dierences in head distance, blurred images, etc.Mediafatnessistherstnecessarystepto properlysetuptheheadheight.Iyoumustprint onwrinkledmedia,ndacompromisebetween distanceandmediaconditions.

Morning Start-ups “A good start means a good job...”  When the end user starts upthe printer in the morning, they should go through the checklist that includes important verications. Check the cleanlinessoall parts involvedin tothe cleaning sub-systemtobesurethattheyarerunningproperly. I the end user did a good job in shutting the printer down and cleaningit the day beore, then start-up will only take minutes. Check the status otheink and EasyFill PRO: checkinklevels, room temperature and humidity. During winter time (colderthan20°C),makesuretoexposetheprinter to temperatures o 25°C or higher or more than anhourbeorestartingtoprinttoallowtheinkto adjusttoproperrunningconditions.

thick media (banner)

• Headstrikescanoccurwhenmediahaswavesor wrinkles caused byuneven tension, heating,or evenithemediaisolder.

Ver. 1.1 - 0 3/01/10

Mimaki JV3 Tips & Tricks

WF 

Capping Station

Nozzle Plate

Solvent inks are designed to be ast drying. During non-printing times the pigments can dry uparoundtheedgeothecappingstation.Thiscan causethecappingtocloseimproperlyontheprint headduringnon-operationaltimessuchasstandby,cleaningandwhentheprinteriso.

“Face must be clean to be nice!”  Fromtimetotimeusersmustcheckthestatuso theirprintheadnozzleplates.

 Theinkgetstotheborderviatheheaditsel,by a misrednozzle, etc.; and it begins todry there. Whentheheadcomesbacktothecappingstation orstand-by,orexample,thecapisraisedtoclose andsealthenozzleplate,topreventinkromdrying around the nozzles. When an improper sealing occursduetopigmentbuild-up,nozzlesarelikely tobe clogged when restarting atero time.This is usually caused by air leaking into the capping systemanddryingthepigments.Pigmentbuild-up alsopreventseectiveprinting.Forexample,when pumpsaretryingtosuckinkromthehead,ithere isbuild-up,thepumpsendupsuckingair(totallyor partially).Wesuggestusingour Capping Cleaning Kit tokeepyourcapsclean.ByinjectingwithJVS Flush,thepumpwillbecleanedaswell.

Ver. 1.1 - 03/01/10

Mostimportantly,veriythatnodriedorgelled inkhasbuiltuparoundtheplateedges,asthiscan causethecappingtoworkimproperly(notseal).

• Whendirtynozzleplatesareencountered,clean withswabsthathavebeenplungedintofush. • Cleanalltheedgesandtheplate,rinsingseveral times and using as many swabs as needed to preventdirtyonesromspreadinggelledordried ink all around. I nozzle plates are really dirty, youcanmovethecarriageallthewayletand removetheprintercovertogentlycleanplates withFlush-soakedwipes.Becareulandchange wipesoten.

Technical Services

WF 

Mimaki JV3 Tips & Tricks

Pumps

Changing Print Heads

“It will if capping is properly closed!”  Printer manuacturers are typically licensing headtechnologyromaewmanuacturers,Epson™ amongothers.Mimaki™,Mutoh™andRoland™are allusingthesameEpsonprintheadtechnologyas wellasthepump.Thesepumpsareperistaltic(two cylinders move, squashing a fexible tube, which then creates suction). Like every other part that issomewayincontactwithinkandthenwithair, pumpscansuerromgelledinkorpigmentbuildups in the hoses. End users need to keep these hosesclean.

SeeMimakiMaintenanceManualorreerence

Aligning Replaced Print Heads SeeMimakiMaintenanceManualorreerence

Flushing Print Heads “Just do it!”  Piezoprintheadsusuallylastoralongtime,but Mimaki™hasoverexploitedEpson’sheadwiththeir JV3™. Althoughprintheadswereoriginallydesignedto rundyeinksina22”printer,theyareactuallyrunning 100”printersusingsolventbasedpigmentedinks. Flushingtheprintheadsissometimesnecessary due to many unexplained actors. This is not a regularmaintenanceprocess. Becauseprintheadsandtheirinternalpartsare small,fushingcanbeverytricky.Itisimportantto beextremelycareulaspressureisapplied.  Theelasticpartsotheheadscouldbedamaged itoomuchpressureisapplied. Donotpushsolventthroughheadsdirectlyby handwithasyringe.  Tocleanprintheads,usetheprinteritselorthe Connectadummydamperandrunsomeinkllups withashorthoseplungedintoaFlushbottlenear thecarriage:thisissaeroryourhead. Iyounoticeaproblem,actimmediatelysoany urtherdamageisavoided.

Technical Services

Ver. 1.1 - 03/01/10