i-image heads

[ffokazak]

so valves halfway allow the cleaning fluid to be run through the system? What does that mean "Allows Cleanse" ( In the video)

[Dottonedan]

Mike that's an excellent vid!   Very good info.   There is more but this is good for the frequent maintenance.

If I were going to wet cap, I don't know if I would use the pink solution. It's a cleaner. (Degrading agent). It is designed to break down ink and then you wash/flush it away. Any long term contact with soft plastic "rubber" could degrade that area. May wear out the rubber seals on the cap station sooner than is expected. You may not know it for a long time and one day you find out your head plate is not getting cleaned by the rubber blades well, or, your ink starts to puddle and fill cap stations over a long period of time. Like after (1-4 months of using pink in cap station).  It's just not designed to sit on soft plastic/rubber.  There are other options. Distilled water (cap full) but that evaporates. Maybe try Glycerin gel. Wipes off easily and nothing harmful to rubber.

The D, D2, and D2A, should not be switched around by your own choice. You need someone to do that for you (when you let them know that you want to switch).  People switch for different reasons. They keep the original D because some people don't want to change things up and are running fine as is. Thus the need for M&R to keep all.  The difference between them is simply the ability to work better in one environment than anither. Believe me, there are extreme differences.

The ink should not be ordered (by mistake) and loaded in on your own. You should not use something that is different than what you are set up for.  Yes, they require different settings to be in that "sweet spot".

Can you ruin heads by using the wrong ink?  I would imagine yes. Never had it happen to me, but I have come across some shops that were mistaken using I-Screen ink in an I-Image. That's to be a no no also, but I was able to get that to run good again. They didn't even know they were using it. The distributor shipped it to them by mistake. I've seen that several times so always confirm with them what you need and what you actually get.

[Dottonedan]

so valves halfway allow the cleaning fluid to be run through the system? What does that mean "Allows Cleanse" ( In the video)

The valves at top are three way valves.   TOP = CLOSED.  MIDDLE (facing out towards you) = opening the pink cleaning solution flow.  This does not flow out on it's own. Some people have the idea that it's in there so it must send it through on it's own every so often. To use it, you must go into Printer Control and into the Manual Clean and ....well, it's a process that you don't want to get wrong, so call M&R and have them send you the PDF to do this part.


I myself, suggest you use the pink cleaning solution only to flush the heads once every three months as part of your general maintenance. It's not in the maintenance manual to do so, for good reason? Most people get the process wrong, so M&R wants you to call them when you have a tough block that won't come out with multiple auto cleans.  Pink is to do a good flush, or a better job then just flushing black ink out of the lines. Flushing black ink out is good and fast for just kicking air out that has built up over time. The pink, breaks up any collecting aging debri. Once done, you then flush that out with black in..and then keep the blank ink in.

One other thing. Yes, indeed, you will get air in the lines. While it's all closed off and running all of the time, you will still eventually get an air bubble built up no matter who well you do maintenance. You may be printing great today with that air bubble in the line, but that air bubble that you see just above your print head, will eventually work it's way down into your head and cause some empty spots in your print soon. That's (hoping that it actually gets pushed out of the heads). If it just sits in the head in a corner, what does air eventually do with wet ink? It dries..and eventually blocks. So always, always kick out air bubbles. Always do nozzle checks. It's not 100% sealed off all the time. You open the cap, you shake ink around in the container, you push and pull on lines to the receiving tank, etc. So yes, when you see it, you need to purge/flush that out. Call M&R and get the PDF for flushing and purging.

LuckyFlyinROUSH,  I did your install and if you remember, I did a 2 part audio and video at your location for your machine. The first on on nozzle checks, the 2nd on purging/flushing. Then gave you a copy to keep. You may still have that around somewhere. I then gave a copy to my boss as a training tool to pass out to other techs to give to customers, but it was suggest that it's not a good idea to pass that around as competitors may find it useful. Rich doesn't like enabling the competition, but like you see above, the customers will eventually come out with their own useful vids/How too's. It's inevitable but I guess M&R didn't want to help the competition along none the less.

[Dottonedan]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7EbRvu0WJQ

I like how you also pull up the pusher frame and clean under the pusher frame.  Junk can build up in some areas (more so for shops who change out often for different size frames). Junk gets under there and can raise the pusher frame out of level...causing a heavier halftone in that area cuz it's pushed up closer to the print head by a smidgen.  Same thing for presses that have uneven platens.

[AAMike]

Thanks for the props Dan. Tim Foreman was in the shop earlier this week and he asked for a link of the video. This was a first attempt of my DTS guy showing his film making style. A more thorough script is being written. I have asked for it to be in a 50's style documentary and music. This maintenance is so important I want to motivate the team to carry out these tasks.

[screenprintguy]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7EbRvu0WJQ

I like how you also pull up the pusher frame and clean under the pusher frame.  Junk can build up in some areas (more so for shops who change out often for different size frames). Junk gets under there and can raise the pusher frame out of level...causing a heavier halftone in that area cuz it's pushed up closer to the print head by a smidgen.  Same thing for presses that have uneven platens.

some good things in that video, thanks for sharing!!!!!!

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

You cannot order inks by mistake or mix them up by mistake. M&R Forced you to change from D to D2 to D2A. They did not tell you when they switched you what to change.

They only sell D2A and K ink now.

[GraphicDisorder]

I think we are still on K, knock on wood not a single hiccup from our i-image.

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

Pink stuff in the capping station? 

I like that idea.

Lucky, have you encountered any issues with that?  Just do a clean in the morning and you are off and running?

No issues at all. Just run an auto clean or two and the blades wipe any excess off. If you preform your maint and replace the wiper blades and the rubber on the capping station whenever you notice any issues or every six months? Whatever it says in the manual you should be golden. Cheap insurance on 5k worth of heads + headache.

If you feel pink stuff may be too strong mix it 50/50 with distilled water. (Definitely cheaper) I just felt it was safer to go with a product designed for the machine.

One other note, and this has only happened on our machine twice, but it became so damn slow and bogged down we could barely start it. We realized it was creating temp files and filled the entire 500gb hard drive. Mind you...this machine doesn't have any other programs on it other than what came on it, and no files except the machine setup files are stored on this computer. I even deleted the internet, so no employee could be watching their porn during the day.

Watch your drive storage, then go through and delete temp files if you see its full.


- If you ever switch from K to D2A you'll need to call tech support to figure out all the processes needed to get it completely flushed/all new settings etc.

[Dottonedan]

You cannot order inks by mistake or mix them up by mistake. M&R Forced you to change from D to D2 to D2A. They did not tell you when they switched you what to change.

They only sell D2A and K ink now.

I know you mean no harm in the statement and may believe that 100% but it's not 100% correct in all cases. Mistakes can and have happened in all areas. Customer orders, Distributors, and even from M&R.

Also, M&R can stop selling or making a product like an ink type, but they should have made the needed changes on the settings or walked you thru that before the switch. I do think there is one of the ink types that ran very similar if not identical to the K. They know to do this.

[LuckyFlyinROUSH]

I think I'm just expressing to everyone to beware that you will have to put 5k into this machine every 2 years when your heads decide to go. Make sure it's well known. I would of much preferred to spend 5k to go to long beach every year instead.

[GraphicDisorder]

I think I'm just expressing to everyone to beware that you will have to put 5k into this machine every 2 years when your heads decide to go. Make sure it's well known. I would of much preferred to spend 5k to go to long beach every year instead.

That isn't everyone's experience though.

[DannyGruninger]

I think I'm just expressing to everyone to beware that you will have to put 5k into this machine every 2 years when your heads decide to go. Make sure it's well known. I would of much preferred to spend 5k to go to long beach every year instead.

That isn't everyone's experience though.

Same here, we ran our I Image for 3+ years with zero issues.... As far as I know its still jamming every day with the same heads

[Dottonedan]

I think I'm just expressing to everyone to beware that you will have to put 5k into this machine every 2 years when your heads decide to go. Make sure it's well known. I would of much preferred to spend 5k to go to long beach every year instead.

No matter the why's., I'm sure it still stings to shell that out. I wouldn't want to.

[mikezincali]

I think I'm just expressing to everyone to beware that you will have to put 5k into this machine every 2 years when your heads decide to go. Make sure it's well known. I would of much preferred to spend 5k to go to long beach every year instead.

That isn't everyone's experience though.

Same here, we ran our I Image for 3+ years with zero issues.... As far as I know its still jamming every day with the same heads

About to hit 40,000 prints on mine. Luckily, I've never had a bad nozzle test. I cap the heads religiously though, prior to using an STE I was running and repairing Kornit Avalanche 1000's. I've replaced scores of heads on the Kornit's, and honestly expected issues with the STE. Not the case for me, at least... *knocks on wood*

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread.

-Mike