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screen printing => Equipment => Topic started by: Sbrem on April 02, 2013, 11:31:19 AM
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OK, 4800 has been running fine, but suddenly, it was streaking, did Power Cleaning, now nothing at all. Am I forgetting something here? Zoo? Pierre?
Steve
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can you put black in another head?
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did you try to clean the pads where the heads sit? ours will puddle up and catch the heads sometimes. usually soak a paper towel in windex and dab it up. then take a dropper and drop a windex/warm water solution onto those pads. that usually resolves it.
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I guess I should have asked what "streaking" is.
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Streaking is long horizontal lines (the direction of the print head). Usually when a cart has run out this happens. The cart has plenty of ink in it. If I do a nozzle check, I get absolutely nothing from any head. I'm running Black in the normal (#1) slot, and cleaning solution in the other 7, doing the nozzle check on film. There is nothing, and I mean nothing coming out of any head. Homer sent me a PM to check the vacuum; any other ideas? And thanks everyone, what a great place...
Steve
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Seems really odd that even the cleaning solution won't flow. I really doubt that stuff would clog.
The voltages involved to fire the nozzles are pretty low and precise. Any static electricity lately?
Oh, and just in case is there an "ink off" knob? (Picked up a 9000 that way, they had moved it,
someone turned the ink off correctly, but forgot to turn it back on)
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If there is an "ink off" knob or button, I can't find it. It really is that nothing is coming out of any nozzle at all, zero, nada, zip
Steve
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If there is an "ink off" knob or button, I can't find it. It really is that nothing is coming out of any nozzle at all, zero, nada, zip
Steve
What about that free utility someone made for certain epson printers? What's it called scc utility maybe? I know it can do a lot more than what epson utilities do.
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I'm starting lose my mind; I've done a lot of different things, and nothing works. Every other function is fine, it feeds, it cuts; it just won't pass ink... I really don't think it's a clog, how could cleaning fluid clog? It seems like something is telling it to not print. I'll have to keep searching, but thanks everyone.
Steve
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The streaking is happening each time you try to print something or only once and now you are not getting anything?
I would as well try cleaning the wiper blade.
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I was getting nothing, but I've started to get a little something out of it. I have the head parked on a cloth with Simple Green and will let it sit overnight with the cover closed. We'll see... good thing I still have a couple of 1400's around... I'll update in the morning. Have a great night everyone, and go home for crying out loud.
Steve
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Not quite five out west here Steve.
If they use the same pump system for the parking station check that the pump is operating. You
can disconnect the lines, inject some cleaning solution, re-connect, put some water on the pads
and manually turn the pump gear, watching for the water to get sucked down.
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Damn, just saw this. Feel free to call my cell anytime.
I'd gamble on air in the lines. The 48xx series heads don't clog anywhere near as bad as older models and spotty nozzle check our banding is typically air, but the nozzle check showing nothing is weird...
run like 5 had cleanings from the internal dialogue not from the printer itself do it till you get a nozzle check that's clean but no more than four or five. don't exit the novel cleaning program why you're doing this they progressively clean harder as you go. This might purge out the air.
cleaning solution typically does not show up on a nozzle check shoot to get whatever head you have running black printing
You'll get this, banding is usually only one of two things provided the file is kosher.
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Our 4900 stopped printing yesterday. We did all types of triage and trouble shooting, and finally called Epson.
Instead of doing a 'all heads clean', we were told to scroll to the 'paired cleanings', which takes ten minutes to complete, two colors at a time. (although we run all black) We did it twice, and we were back up and running. Do you have the option
for 'paired powerful cleaning'? As a back up measure, I went ahead and had a 1430 shipped out and ordered all black carts to go with it. Good luck with your machine. Hope it works out for you.
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the only thing I can think of is to check the little green tab on the head and make sure it is pulled out (it says "UNLOCK" on it). I doubt it's the issue, but worth taking a look. . .
pierre
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Update: let it sit all night on a Simple Green soaked pad, came in this morning, and there was plenty of black ink in it. Did a nozzle check, spotty at best, but better than nothing at all, did a head clean, then basically nothing. Pierre, the green tab is out all the way to the left, like the arrow shows, thanks. John, I don't seem to have the paired cleanings option, but I'll go through the menus again. Then I guess it's into checking out the lines... man this sucks, but I'm not going to complain too much; there are folks with real problems out there...
Steve
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did you get my PM with the 4 power cleaning modes? Im doing a KK1 at the moment, clean them babies out. also, was it you guys using the hybrid inks? I was using those and man, they just plug up way too fast. i'm going to straight dye. after two days of sitting, my heads were plugged.
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We got a lot out of our 4800 but when the head started giving us issues like you're seeing, no amount of head cleaning, power cleaning, creative soaking, crazy strong chemicals and taking the machine apart 10 times or more could bring that print head back to life. It is still sitting under a table waiting on the day we can put a new print head in it. I hope there is still hope with yours but I also wouldn't be surprised if the print head was just done and needed replaced. I could not believe with all the work we did on our print head that it didn't clear it up at all. And finding a 4800 head isn't as easy at used to be. They're out there still but not as readily available as they used to be.
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I did, Homer, and have done a SSCL (Super sonic cleaning) which came from the Conde site. Still getting nowhere. This morning, I noticed an "Auto" button in the printer utility, which would do a nozzle check, then clean if necessary. It did a couple of cycles like that, then gave me a "nozzle still clogged" message on the printer's display.
Steve
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I had a similar issue with my pigment CIS that I needed to blow out the lines.
I think Homer's on to something there--the hybrid ink has pigment too, doesn't it? Maybe there's pigment clogging the lines.
I almost hate to ask, but If the nozzles aren't getting ink, isn't cleaning over and over going to burn them out?
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That has occurred to me in the back of my mind, I've stopped for now. Homer sent me some links to the service manuals; now I just need time to do that as I actually have real work to do too...
Steve
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You are using a "hybrid" ink? I've only ever use dye ink from filmdirect so I might not be any help on that.
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I use dye based ink only. I just read something pretty cool though, especially for the other owners of the 4800; the print head is a DX5, and they are going for well over a thousand dollars, but, the same head is in a R1900, which can be had for much much less... buy one and pull out the head, yes?
Steve
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Good to know. Changing out a head is a little tedious but not bad for anyone with some patience and a light touch. Good time to swap out dampers too.
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i'd buy a new printer for 500.00....these 48 /4900 are all over ebay...if my issues don't resolve soon, that's my route.
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that may be it, I just missed one for 650 in the town next door, gone from craigslist, damn...
Steve