Arizona 350GT White Ink Problem

[DBT]

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some help. Everytime I try to print a white layer I get banding until about 1/4 of the way down the print and then both heads slowly fade out as the print continues. I have flushed the white ink through and have had an engineer out several times who cannot seem to find the problem.

The white ink is constantly dripping after purging heads and cleaning and when I do a full purge on the white, one of the heads blows out air constantly that it bubbles up the ink coming out. So there is a foam left on the head after the purge. I am convinced there has to be a leak somewhere on the white line but the engineer says the vaccum level is not dropping during testing. If anybody has any ideas I would appreciate it. It is driving me insane. I can get 1 good print a day and then I spend the rest of the day cleaning the heads and trying again.

 

[Roger Allen]

Check the micron filters on the top of the print carriage. My white clogs often and has to be replaced. When there is a clog, it creates a vacuum leak or lack of vacuum that makes the ink drip and not get pulled through the system while printing. Try replacing it. I keep them in stock and switch the white every 2 months ish.

 

[DBT]

Check the micron filters on the top of the print carriage. My white clogs often and has to be replaced. When there is a clog, it creates a vacuum leak or lack of vacuum that makes the ink drip and not get pulled through the system while printing. Try replacing it. I keep them in stock and switch the white every 2 months ish.

I have replaced those several times and it does not seem to effect it at all. The strange thing is that the air only seems to blow bubbles out the print head on one of the white heads. Not the other.

 

[YouWantItWhen?!!]

Have you tried bleeding the white ink filter at the side of the ink bags to see if there is any air in them.

When we had a 360 the white used to fade out like you say at about 30% of a 70cm circle we used to print, we got round it by pausing the print at 25% waiting until you can hear the pumps kicking in and then unpausing, repeating every 25% until the print finished. It wasn’t an air problem but more likely the reservoir wasn’t filling quickly enough.

Not an ideal solution but worth a try.

 

[AlsEU]

Look around the white ink pumps - if you notice black "powder" around, it means that one of them (or both, if this powder is around them) should be replaced. Remember that white ink is the heaviest of all colours (due to the heavy pigment) and white ink pumps will become broken first usually, especially when a lot of prints are made with white.

And a fundamental question - when did you replace the main ink filters in white channels for the last time? The pigment will sediment inside and it's only a matter of time when the ink flow will be limited, which creates an excessive load on ink pumps.
Remember that the new main ink filters contain air, which has to be removed after the filter installation (you'll find the description in the user manual).

 

[Albert C Saranguero]

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some help. Everytime I try to print a white layer I get banding until about 1/4 of the way down the print and then both heads slowly fade out as the print continues. I have flushed the white ink through and have had an engineer out several times who cannot seem to find the problem.

The white ink is constantly dripping after purging heads and cleaning and when I do a full purge on the white, one of the heads blows out air constantly that it bubbles up the ink coming out. So there is a foam left on the head after the purge. I am convinced there has to be a leak somewhere on the white line but the engineer says the vaccum level is not dropping during testing. If anybody has any ideas I would appreciate it. It is driving me insane. I can get 1 good print a day and then I spend the rest of the day cleaning the heads and trying again.

Try to fill the white ink tank manually using a syringe on top of the ink reservoir if the ink stop dripping and no bubbles then the problem is your (1. ink pump 2. ink filter)

 

[Deymos1981]

1. Bubbles in the head should not be !!!. If air gets into the system, it will stop in the small air filter and will not reach the head. If the bubbles do not go away after 2- 3 purge, or appear again, this is not the correct operation of the ink level sensor. It is either broken or does not work properly due to adhering ink. It must be unscrewed and washed well in alcohol, and checked with a tester for performance.
2. Check for ink leaks. If ink is leaking, you will hear a ink smell. If smell is common, carry out a visual inspection. Believe me, if there is a leak, and you did not notice it, then by the next day about a liter of ink will pour out.
3. So. At this point, you should have done the following: bleed air from all the ink filters. Replace all small air filters, even if ok, if you have one. Deal with the ink level sensor. Run the purging procedure 3-4 times. And look at the white heads. If white ink does not drip, start printing. If the problem is not resolved, proceed to the next step.
You will need cleaning sticks and rubbing alcohol (96 - 99%). Moisten the stick with alcohol and gently run it over your head. When the liquid ink is cleared from the head, you will see small sticky bits of ink. They are the ones that prevent you from typing normally. Liquid ink condenses on them and floods the entire head. Wipe your head gently with alcohol until these pieces disappear. Run the purge procedure 3-4 times and clean your head well. Most likely, you will not see the result right away, since there is still alcohol in your head, and now it is he who will not allow white ink to work normally. Run multiple print files, preferably with different white modes. I give a 99% guarantee that after that you will work normally.
P.S. NEVER use ink flush, NEVER. Only alcohol. Isopropyl is possible, but ethanol is better.

 

[YouWantItWhen?!!]

We’ve used flush for years without any noticeable detrimental effect, interested to know your reasons for saying never to use it.

 

[Select Bulgaria Service]

We’ve used flush for years without any noticeable detrimental effect, interested to know your reasons for saying never to use it.

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some help. Everytime I try to print a white layer I get banding until about 1/4 of the way down the print and then both heads slowly fade out as the print continues. I have flushed the white ink through and have had an engineer out several times who cannot seem to find the problem.

The white ink is constantly dripping after purging heads and cleaning and when I do a full purge on the white, one of the heads blows out air constantly that it bubbles up the ink coming out. So there is a foam left on the head after the purge. I am convinced there has to be a leak somewhere on the white line but the engineer says the vaccum level is not dropping during testing. If anybody has any ideas I would appreciate it. It is driving me insane. I can get 1 good print a day and then I spend the rest of the day cleaning the heads and trying again.

Each head has a filter and a hose between the filter and the inlet of the head. Check their condition. Check the condition of the hoses between the head filter and the sub tank.
Is this tubes are original? Similar things happen when non-genuine ink is used. The problem is in the bag fitting. No ink will leak from there, but air may enter. The molecule of air is much smaller than that of liquids.
In any case, from your explanations, I have the impression that the heads are hungry for ink. If there is no more ink in the head, of course, bubbles will form after a long purge.
If there are degas modules in the machine. Bypass the white at least. Eliminate it.
So ...
5 microns big black PALL filter, Ink Pump, 3-way valve, Ink tube to the carriage, Degas module, Level sensor, O-rings in sub tanks caps, Big black tube to the heads, ink filter in heads,
tube between ink filter and print head inlet and Ink vacuum adjustment. That's all. Just because you see on the screen that the meniscus vacuum is a stable digit means almost nothing.
Just because it says 12, doesn't mean it's not 10.5. When you open the maintenance door, the level of the meniscus vacuum drops. And etc ...
It is time to replace the machine with a new or newer model.

For Flush and alcohol ...
Never use alcohol to clean the head with syringe. Do not pass alcohol over your head. This will clog it for a few seconds. Flushing such a head with a syringe will not lead to anything good. You can bathe the nozzles with plenty of alcohol, but do not pass it through them. Alcohol is stronger than flush. Try a flush first, and if you're not successful, pour plenty of alcohol over the nozzles. Wait five minutes and purge. Nozzle test and alcohol again, but only from below.

If only one head is hungry for ink, there is almost always a problem with the head filter or the hose in it and the black tube between head and sub tank.

 

[smholm22]

I recently had similar symptoms to this, and, in our case, it was a leak in our white ink line. It took a while to detect, but our leak was near the gantry. The leak was undetectable until we were advised to flush the line completely with a flush kit. Upon putting in a new bag of ink toward the end of the process, the leak became VERY apparent, with ink spilling all along the IGUS track. We ultimately needed to replace the entire IGUS and every ink line since the ink is so corrosive and it had soaked all of those parts. This was back in September, and we're still seeing some white ink issues. From reading around on here, it sounds like our new issue pertains to the 3 way valve / recirculation valve. Anyway, adding this to the conversation mostly for posterity and future investigators. Good luck.