Print Head End-of-Life Symptoms _Head Issue 6 _ ARTJET 2026

During printing, the colors were not represented correctly.

• In the nozzle pattern, CMYK + Lc + Lm appeared to be printed, and it seemed like no nozzles were missing.
• However, when printing the actual image file, the colors looked abnormal.
• When we inspected the nozzle pattern closely, the small Lc nozzles were visible,
• but unlike the adjacent Lm and Yellow patterns, the thick bar lines did not appear.

Note: Yellow looked slightly mixed with black. During printing, residual black ink under the head naturally clears out, and Yellow returns to a pure Yellow tone.

To diagnose the issue accurately,

• we printed only the Lc channel (where the thick lines were missing).
• In the software, we turned OFF CMYK and Lm, and turned ON only the Lc channel.
• With this setting, only Lc prints during the job.

Then, for comparison, we turned Lc OFF and turned only Lm ON, and printed again.

The photo below shows the result.

• With Lc, the engraved (negative) letters were not expressed correctly.
• The negative text area should be empty (like the Lm print), but it was not.
• You can clearly see the surface difference between the Lc and Lm prints.

First, we unplugged and reconnected the print head DATA cable on top of the board. The issue remained.

We also visually checked the DATA cable connection area under the print head. It was clean and showed no ink contamination.

In the end, the root cause was the print head itself — it had been used for over a year and reached end-of-life.

Only one channel out of six (Lm) had degraded, so replacing the entire head with a new one felt too expensive.

We solved the issue by swapping the rarely-used Varnish head with the Color head.

Remove the Old Ink Inside the Head

• Even after swapping, the previous ink remains inside both the Color head and Varnish head.
• After connecting the dampers, you must pump to remove the remaining ink inside the head.
• Once ink flows into the waste ink tank, wait about 10–15 seconds — then the ink inside the head is effectively replaced.
• Then run cleaning.

Check Color / Varnish Head Alignment & Offset

• The head mounting area is block-based, so alignment is usually close.
• Still, click the [Align] button to confirm the head is vertical.
• Then adjust offset using the section below.
• Offset Fine Tuning

Set the Correct Channel Order

• After a head swap, some users confuse the damper positions.
• Always take a photo of the damper order before replacement.
• If the damper order is wrong, the entire color output shifts.
• For example, if Yellow data is sent to channel 4 but the Light Cyan damper is connected to channel 4, Yellow data will print as Light Cyan.
• Also, for the Color head moved to the Varnish position, lock (turn OFF) only the problem channel (Lc) in the software and continue operating.
• Refer to the image below for the channel switching and locking functions.

Our printer uses three XP600 (FA1080-a1) heads.

Each head has 6 channels, and each channel can be connected to different ink colors.

• Head #1 (Color): C, M, Y, K, Lc, Lm
• Head #2 (White): W W W W W W (all channels are White)
• Head #3 (Varnish): V V V V V V (all channels are Varnish)

We swapped the Color head to the Varnish position and moved the Varnish head to the Color position because:

• Even one bad channel on the Color head affects color reproduction and print quality.
• White and Varnish typically use all 6 channels and have enough density, so you can lock one channel and run with the remaining 5 channels without major issues.
• If the Color head develops a problem, swapping it with White or Varnish can extend usage time and reduce head replacement cost.

Reference videos for head replacement:

• DATA cable connection: XP600 print head data cable connection
• Head installation: XP600 (FA1080-a1) print head installation
• Board replacement (power-off procedure is critical): ARTJET electron board replace

How to replace the head-side cable without removing board cables: