Smart-chip issues can have many possible reasons. In order to properly diagnose it and determine possible root-causes, this article contains some very important information which parts must be checked first, before contacting Mutoh.
Initial diagnosis
When the printer triggers an S/C (Smart-Chip) error, the first important step is to verify which color-slots are affected. The best and easiest way to determine is to connect the printer with the MSA-tool inside the Technician mode.
Once entered inside technician mode, there is an option where you can diagnose the ink-system and smart-chip monitoring. Verify the following 3 elements of each cartridge-slot:
1 Smart chip positioning
When inserting the cassette into the cassette slot, the smart chip reader leaves 3 small lines on the chip. In the picture below the perfect situation is shown.
In case the lines are not positioned as shown in the picture above, there are three situations.
Situation 1: The lines are situated on the black lines
This is the situation when the printer will display the message "Not original ink", "S/C error" or something similar. The sensors do not detect the smart chip because the sensors do not touch the copper.
Solution: Move the smart-chip a few millimeters upwards, so that the bottom sensor line is positioned in the middle of the circle area as in situation 1.
Situation 2: The lines are situated just under the black line
The sensor will sometimes give contact with the smart chip, but not always. So it is possible that the printer, even during printing, loses contact with the smart chip.
Solution: Move the smart-chip a few millimeters upwards, so that the bottom sensor lies in the middle of the circle area as in situation 1.
Situation 3: The lines are situated just above the black line or on the curl
The sensor will sometimes give contact with the smart chip, but not always. So it is possible that the printer, even during printing, loses contact with the smart chip.
Solution: Move the smart chip a few millimeters down, so that the bottom sensor line lies in the middle of the circle area as in situation 1.
2 Cartridge sensor
The cartridge sensor switch may be stuck (the white button remains inside).
The principal cause of a cartridge sensor being stuck, is because small amounts of inks have been spilled on top and inside the sensor switch. To diagnose, push each "cartridge" sensor individually. The corresponding slot should respond with the ink system diagnostic screen below:
- Red status = sensor deactivated = cartridge removed
- Green status = sensor activated = cartridge inserted
To avoid this issue from reoccurring, please refer to the important note below, mentioned in this article.
3 Ink near end sensor
The ink near end sensor may be broken. If the sensor is broken, the internal spring will permanently activate the switch and the "ink near end" indication will be in red status. To diagnose, gently push each of the following "ink near end" sensor individually inside.
The corresponding slot should respond with the ink system diagnostic screen below:
- Red status = sensor activated = "ink near end" sensor is activated (= cartridge almost empty = smartchip will have a low volume value )
- Green status = sensor deactivated = "ink near end" sensor is deactivated
4 Smart-chip reader
Each smart-chip can be verified individually in detail in the technician mode of the MSA tool (version 4.1.7.0 or higher)
Yellow & red status = NOT OK
Verify the complete reader-assy per cartridge-slot:
- The complete smart-chip reader assy is mounted and tensioned with 2 spring-blades. Ensure that the spring-blades is properly pushing the complete smartchip-reader assy back / forward so that the reader can make good contact with the cartridge's smart-chip. Spilled ink stains may possibly affect this movement of the complete assy. If the cartridge is removed, the spring-blades should push the complete assy completely back into its original position:
NOT OK OK - Thoroughly verify all 6 contact-pins of the smartchip-readers of all the cartridge-bays. If there is the slightest suspicion of a pin which is bent, replace the complete smartchip reader-assembly!
NOT OK
100% OK !
Practical recommendations
If all 3 steps described above have been verified and have been determined as being 100% ok, before contacting Mutoh, please also try and verify the following steps:
- Try with a complete (new) set of cartridges/chips. 1 broken smart-chip can cause interference and affect all other smart-chips in the system, because they are interconnected
- If you determine a "red" status somewhere in the diagnostics, resolve this issue first.
- On older models (NOT listed in TIB818 - Smart Chip Recovery) the only possibility is to retrieve the MPI file in order for Mutoh to apply a temporary chip-disable to gain time to ship spare parts, etc. the MPI/ULK procedure was required in order to temporary chip-disable the unit.
- For newer models, the printer can be recovered without the necessity of disabling all chips. See following related article for more information: TIB818 - Smart Chip Recovery. In case the printer is listed in this bulletin, the above mentioned procedure is no longer applicable.
Technical bulletin TIB818 - Smart Chip Recovery describes a new procedure for the end-user how to proceed in case a chip is malfunctioning without the necessity to manually temporary disable all chips any longer. The article lists all the models & firmware versions which supports this feature. - When requesting an ULK file, please clearly indicate that you have followed all the instructions mentioned above in this document
- Furthermore while reporting chip-related issues and requesting an ULK, it's mandatory to provide the Mutoh service-department the following information, which can both be extracted from the printer
1) Retrieve the latest PRM file with the MSA tool (containing logs)
2) Retrieve the latest RDI file with the MSM tool (containing logs)Note
The RDI file can now also be downloaded with the latest MSA version when logged-in in the MSA "Technician mode" (with login/password protected).
In order to properly download the RDI file, the printer itself must always be in normal "user mode".
The RDI file cannot properly be retrieved when the printer is set in "board manager mode"!
Both files contain very valuable information for our service-people, in order to properly diagnose the printer and report Japan on these issues.
If you need any replacement chips, please contact us via our helpdesk with the necessary information in order to send replacement chips, if necessary.
| Note: When removing ink-cartridges, the bungs may possibly not always seal properly. This may cause some small amounts of ink dripping out of the cartridge. In order to avoid inks being spilled on the cartridge sensor and the chip-reader, pay attention to insert / remove ink-cartridges while being in horizontal position. If you insert / remove cartridges in vertical position, you may risk:
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Article changes
Rev. 1.0: Initial version
Rev. 2.0: Added smart-chip diagnostics, MSA monitoring & cartridge-insertion/removal recommendations
Rev. 3.0: Added smartchip positioning (22/01/2019)
Rev. 4.0: Linking article TIB818 Smart Chip Recovery
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