TECHNICAL INFORMATION BULLETINRelease date: 16 May 2008Bulletin N: 2008 / 295

FROM: MUTOH service & support departementFOR: AUTHORIZED MUTOH RESELLERS ONLY

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:

Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 ExtremeEmergency capping during failureTIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping during failure Page 1/3

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.

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!Page 2/3 TIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping dur-

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.

Step4: When the carriage is above the capping-station, turn back the head-height slide-gear. Make sure TIB295: Spitfire Extreme and Rockhopper 3 Extreme - Emergency capping during failure Page 3/3

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!