Discussion, tips, pictures, reviews and peer to peer support for current and future owners of Belquette manufactured machines, including the MOD-1 DTG machine and the Flexi-Jet set series of printers.
Today I got one Epson Tech working with my Flexi, and he was shocked by this APES fan, which channels a strong (?) stream of air directly over the spit and capping station.
He said that that looked to him very dangerous, because that stream of air only will help to dry the ink in the printhead and eventually deteriorate the plastic of the spit and capping station, etc.
Summarizing: he said he couldn't come up with any potential advantage at all of having such a strong stream of air there, and could think about several potential dangers.
He even recommended to either print with the roof open (so there is no stream) or directly shut down that fan.
What do you owner of Flexis think? Do you know the real advantages of such a fan?
Wow, I have not heard that name in a while. From what I remember, several of the Flexi owners that I am aware of have killed the power to the fans. I think the concept was to create an air flow to prevent dust and link from floating inside the printer and getting on the encoder.
Why because they did not know how to adjust the speed of the fans as instructed:::::::::::::
With the printer at the back of the machine
1) Press pause to get printer to the “ready” state.
2) Press menu once to get to the “printer setup”.
3) Press down arrow key three times to get to “custom paper”.
4) Press menu key to get to “paper number – standard”.
5) Press down key to get to “No 1”.
6) Press menu (enter) so that an asterisk is shown in front of No 1 (*No 1).
7) Press left arrow key once until “paper number” is shown.
8) Press down arrow key seven times until “suction” is shown.
9) Press menu key once.
10) Press down key until it reads “minus four” (-4).
11) Press menu (enter) to select.
12) Press left arrow key three times until “ready” is shown.
"APES" = "Air Partical Evacuation System" I have seen 4 different versions and have never turned the system off but only followed the above instructions to lower the speed of the fans. BelQuette also had a system called: "KISS" = "Keep Ink Suspended System" So we had "Kissing Apes" Dan "HAPPY PRINTING"
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In our case we disconnected the fans in our Flexi because even with the fan turned down, it blew ink all over the encoder strip requiring us to clean it multiple times daily. After cutting them off- no more ink on the encoder strip. Also , even with the fan turned down, the print was fuzzy on the edges of fine text. After cutting them off- no more fuzziness on fine text. Not saying what everyone should do- just what we did.
Why because they did not know how to adjust the speed of the fans as instructed::::::::::::
haha That's funny. Actually, most Flexi users opted to cut power to the APES system, for the exact same reason that Mistewoods stated; we got tired of cleaning our encoder strip all the time.
Now, I am not ruling out that Belquette has modified the system; after all, its been an awful long time since I owned my machine.
Justin
The first APES systems that we had (And I think that Steve had) we could not even get access to the print head if you can remember , the last version of the APES has only one fan and improved flow for those areas that were the problem areas. As I stated there were 4 different improvements (that I know of) the last one having only one fan (with the speed turned down) and specific groves to certain areas of the printer. First chance I had I upgraded Dan "HAPPY PRINTING"
__________________ www.DTGInks.com "Where help is always there, just for the asking"
Ours was mounted to the printer, blocking access to the head. We took it apart and attached it to the lid to see if that would help ( one of the updates on new Flexis at the time). It did help with access to the print head but not in function of the fans. After a while, when the printer was replaced by DDM and BelQuette due to a defect- the newer one had only one fan- but it arrived with the fan disconnected. We never saw the need to reconnect it.
I always wondered if that had something to do with the very minimal clogging issues we had- even in our dry climate. When we switched to DTGInks from R & H , we continued to have no clogging issues despite the low humidity in our area.
There were two mods to the one fan option APES and the direction of the air was the key change after their smoke testing. They had a video of the way the smoke moved under the lid but that video was lost along with the Flexi Forum.
Dan "HAPPY PRINTING"
__________________ www.DTGInks.com "Where help is always there, just for the asking"
So many modifications to keep track of, over the years! Moving forward from the Flexi days, I look forward to seeing the Mod-1 in action, eventually; hopefully with far fewer "in the field" modifications.
I agree, the APES does not really serve its intended purpose. Upon service issues we encountered such as, boards shorting out, ink overspray, and the risk of drying out the print head and the capping station, I had requested BelQuette to remove the APES all together. Their response was that they had too many in stock and the fans were great tool for marketing. My sincere recommendation to any Flexi user is to disconnect the power if they not already done so.
I have run my APES system since May of 2006 and without the problems like you list, I just followed the instructions on turning down the fan speed! Dan "HAPPY PRINTING"
__________________ www.DTGInks.com "Where help is always there, just for the asking"
Dan
Down turn speed = not necessary at all. This is why NeoFlex does not have this. We have other trade secret to create crispy image. Irresponsible creation from mfg. Good luck with MOD. Whoever tech visit Albert's shop will have confront from management but he is honest guy. See the picture I post on Flexijet vs NeoFlex. It will give you an idea.
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Let's go back to basic common sense. If fan will help it will be same on paper print. Do you really think Epson will not add one simple fan if that will be a help?
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Dan
What is going on with your new machine? I remember you said coming soon. still soon? You even made a logo and named but cannot find on your web site anymore. I thought you will come out Flexi killer one point. Wasn't it year ago? or more? If still on will you have a fan?
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Last edited by allamerican; September 23rd, 2009 at 09:16 AM.
What's the APES system for? 
, the last version of the APES has only one fan and improved flow for those areas that were the problem areas. As I stated there were 4 different improvements (that I know of) the last one having only one fan (with the speed turned down) and specific groves to certain areas of the printer.
