TECHNICAL INFORMATION BULLETIN

Release date: 16 May 2008

Bulletin N:
2008 / 295
FROM: MUTOH service & support departement
FOR:
AUTHORIZED MUTOH RESELLERS ONLY

Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme

Emergency capping during failure
Dear Customer,
The procedure described below, is strongly recommended for solvent-based printers (Eco-Solvent Ultra
and Spitfire Mild-solvent machines) to avoid print-heads drying out during a printer failure.
Always instruct the customer what to do, in case of an emergency!
In some cases, it may happen that the printer gets blocked during the printing process because of:

Blocking of machine due to a media crash

Failure of electricity grid

A machine failure

In most cases:

The carriage will still be away from the capping station, above the printing platform

The capping-station will be in the 'down' position.

It is important that the customer immediately take action and reboot the machine. The machine will then
automatically re-initialize and put the carriage back on the capping-station to protect the print heads.
In some situations, a support or a technical intervention is required to solve the problem e.g. when it is not
possible to boot the machine anymore. In these cases it's very important, to inform the customer how the
heads can be protected during the down-time of the machine!
If this is not done, the print-heads might completely dry-out and will result in broken heads which will then
also need to be replaced.

TIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping during failure

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To avoid that kind of situation, there is a simple procedure for the customer.
Step1:

Never leave the printer in this situation during a down-time for a longer period (= a few hours
upto a few days). Print heads might completely dry out and can be damaged!

Step2:

Remove the complete wiper plate assy with the 4 thumb-screws.

Step3:

Move the carriage close to the capping station. Warning: if you feel obstruction, turn-up the
head-height slide-gear up. The carriage is probably obstructed by the pressure rollers.

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TIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping dur-

Step4:

When the carriage is above the capping-station, turn back the head-height slide-gear. Make sure
the arrow is in the DOWN-position.

Step5:

Move the carriage to to the utter most right position. Make sure the slide gear is not blocking.

Step6:

To protect the print heads, turn the small brass gear counterclockward. The capping station will
suddenly move upwards. Just continue to turn until you cannot go further.

Step7:

Verify if the carriage is properly capped. Try to move the carriage. If it is properly capped, it
should not be possible. Now your machine is temporarily protected until the technical issue is
resolved!

TIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping during failure

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