OPTIMIZING YOUR VALUEJET PRINTS

1. Insure good Nozzle Check!  The Nozzle Check procedure is in the manual, and available on the Mutoh website procedure here:
http://www.mutoh.com/products/ValueJet/User%20Manual%201204/data/00000019.htm#VJ1204A_0304020000

A good Nozzle Check will show ALL nozzles printing and printing in the correct location.
If nozzles are missing, then cleaning or maintenance is necessary.

You should perform a Nozzle Check before printing if your machine has been sitting idle for some time to insure that all nozzles are firing correctly before starting to print.

You should perform a Nozzle Check after printing if you are seeing color changes while printing. Nozzle dropout during printing can be an indication of problems, including damper issues.

2. Insure good uni and bi directional adjustment!  This procedure is in the manual and available on the Mutoh website here:
http://www.mutoh.com/products/ValueJet/User%20Manual%201204/data/00000020.htm#VJ1204A_0307000000
This procedure assumes that your machines has been properly calibrated in Maintenance Mode.

Bi-directional and slant misalignments can be caused by head strikes, these should be addressed by a trained technician.

Poor directional adjustments can show up as vertical banding or image ghosting.

3.  Calibrate “Page Feed”
The procedure is here:
http://www.mutoh.com/products/ValueJet/User%20Manual%201204/data/00000028.htm#VJ1204A_0801010102
You will need a fairly accurate millimeter measurement device for optimal PF adjust, a suitable steel rule is available from: McMaster-Carr, http://www.mcmaster.com/, the part number is 6823A62.

This is simply a media feed calibration and is CRITICAL for best performance.
There are 30 user settings allowing for PF settings for 30 different media.
Each media, depending on thickness and and backing material, may need a PF adjustment setting to insure correct calibration of media feed.

This is a relatively simple procedure:

Init.Adj.Print - pick the length that you will use to measure. The longer the length the smaller your error of measurement will be. 500mm will give you a good balance and eliminate the need for micro adjustments.

4. Media, a high quality media is preferred for best results. Typical heater settings are 40 Preheat, 42 Platen and 50 Dry for vinyls and 35 Preheat, 38 Platen and 50 dry for banners.

5. Profile - choose a profile suitable for your media.
Ideally, you will still want a profile created for your specific media.