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DIY Print head recovery system - Epson DX4 / DX5 heads, etc.

MikePro

MikePro

New Member
damper levels don't really matter, they'll usually just rise on their own as the screen becomes clogged and fresh ink climbs over it.

what was this thread about again?
its gonna be a shame that when someone searches for the same issue, that they will most likely miss-out on these helpful tidbits :( ~$0.02
 
B

b6hs

Sign
Vinylman said:
Something else, The lines missing in the second part of the magenta, and the few missing in the other colors will make it VERY DIFFICULT for you to print colors that will look their best.

The Mimaki you have is a VERY high quality unit. It has capability of really fantastic work. You are SOOOO close to recovering the print head, I will encourage you to keep working at getting the head recovered fully.

Go slowly, and perhaps you could do one more "hard" clean cycle them go through a normal head soak process, EXCEPT, after filling the docking station with cleaner and docking the head, SHUT DOWN the printer with the docking station full of flushing solution. Leave the printer over night like that, and the following day do a standard start up. The overnight soak MAY help to loosen any stubborn ink.

Let us know how this turns out Please.

P.S. You mentioned in another post that you "forced cleaner solution "down through" the nipples on the print head. I would caution AGAINST doing that except as a last ditch effort before replacing your print head.

The pressure you create inside the print head doing what you suggest can VERY EASILY destroy a perfectly good print head.
Anything more than 4PSI pressure inside the head can "blow out" internal seals. SO ONLY DO THIS AS A LAST DITCH EFFORT!!
Click to expand...

overnight soak and hard cleaning return to no results…
I Keep trying to get it 100% Firing.. But i must go one working (with less quality in fact) but…..
 
Vinylman

Vinylman

New Member
Well that is NOT sounding good. Sorry to hear that.

As soon as you get a chance post up a photo to the original thread showing what your CURRENT test print looks like.

I have not experienced what you are currently dealing with.

several things do come to my mind. These may, OR may Not be of help, but you might check these out.

1: have you pulled out /or changed the two connector cables that connect the print head to the main board, or the "slider" board? If you have, I would CAREFULLY verify that they are properly attached and seated into the slots on either end of the cable.

2: I would also make several test patterns that are several inches deep, by the Max. width your printer is capability of printing. Create them to print JUST MAGENTA, [or which ever color is clogged] then set up the printer to print at the MAXIMUM print quality [example] pick a ICC file that would allow you to print 16- 24 PASS. It doesn't matter which material you are printing on for this test. The idea is to get the printer to push as much ink as possible through the head as possible. SOMETIMES, this will cause the print head to clear the stick nozzles.

As a last thought, you mentioned last week that you pushed cleaning solution through the top of the print head with a syringe. There is a possibility you damaged the print head. Look closely to see if there is any ink leaking from the print head in areas that are not suppose to.
 
B

b6hs

Sign
test pattern

Today test pattern hhttp://www.signs101.com/forums/images/attach/jpg.gif

and if i press a little on the side of the left magenta damper http://www.signs101.com/forums/images/attach/jpg.gif

Cables are ok, I'm printing on 1440*1440 magenta pattern ….



Vinylman said:
Well that is NOT sounding good. Sorry to hear that.

As soon as you get a chance post up a photo to the original thread showing what your CURRENT test print looks like.




I have not experienced what you are currently dealing with.

several things do come to my mind. These may, OR may Not be of help, but you might check these out.

1: have you pulled out /or changed the two connector cables that connect the print head to the main board, or the "slider" board? If you have, I would CAREFULLY verify that they are properly attached and seated into the slots on either end of the cable.

2: I would also make several test patterns that are several inches deep, by the Max. width your printer is capability of printing. Create them to print JUST MAGENTA, [or which ever color is clogged] then set up the printer to print at the MAXIMUM print quality [example] pick a ICC file that would allow you to print 16- 24 PASS. It doesn't matter which material you are printing on for this test. The idea is to get the printer to push as much ink as possible through the head as possible. SOMETIMES, this will cause the print head to clear the stick nozzles.

As a last thought, you mentioned last week that you pushed cleaning solution through the top of the print head with a syringe. There is a possibility you damaged the print head. Look closely to see if there is any ink leaking from the print head in areas that are not suppose to.
Click to expand...
 

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Vinylman

Vinylman

New Member
With your most recent photos and explanation, I leads me to consider that the manifold on the top of the print head MAY have a crack in it [ most likely at the Magenta damper] allowing air to leak in and prevent a positive vacuum to be created and maintained during printing. You can remove the manifold, and replace it without having to buy a whole new head. One of the Merchant Members on here sells them, OR if you have one from a similar print head you could swap it out your self.:popcorn:
 
B

b6hs

Sign
Vinylman said:
With your most recent photos and explanation, I leads me to consider that the manifold on the top of the print head MAY have a crack in it [ most likely at the Magenta damper] allowing air to leak in and prevent a positive vacuum to be created and maintained during printing. You can remove the manifold, and replace it without having to buy a whole new head. One of the Merchant Members on here sells them, OR if you have one from a similar print head you could swap it out your self.:popcorn:
Click to expand...

Ok so i'll try this but here is the answer of local mimaki distributor

"Hello,

being Mimaki distributor, we sell only original parts and Mimaki certified.

asked for this, it is an integral part of the PRINT HEAD, and no detail is available (for obvious reasons of guarantee operation).

attached the specifications for a compleat head."

then he suggest a complete head at 3 156,75$….

If you have a link for the manifold … thx
 
Kaiser

Kaiser

New Member
Nice info here Atari. I might give this a shot. Im building a Lab workshop to repair/ TRY recover most of our printer components so this would be a nice summer project next year to integrate for our UV printers.
 
B

b6hs

Sign
Vinylman said:
With your most recent photos and explanation, I leads me to consider that the manifold on the top of the print head MAY have a crack in it [ most likely at the Magenta damper] allowing air to leak in and prevent a positive vacuum to be created and maintained during printing. You can remove the manifold, and replace it without having to buy a whole new head. One of the Merchant Members on here sells them, OR if you have one from a similar print head you could swap it out your self.:popcorn:
Click to expand...

I have purchased One and I'm now waiting for it ..
Is it easy to swap?
 
B

b6hs

Sign
Is it easy to replace ??
Im also facing a printhead lock when changing from print mode to cut mode. If Anyone know this problem ..
 

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Vinylman

Vinylman

New Member
I will try to upload the instructions here in a few moments.

CAUTION!!

This will require you removing the print head from its' in machine location.

If you are NOT FAMILIAR with ALL the details regarding this operation, you will be smart to call in a Mimaki tech.

The changing of the manifold itself is not that difficult, [ it just takes very careful handling ] you must go slowly and carefully.

Reinstallation will require you to run through the print head alignment procedures after changing the manifold.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND being VERY CAUTIOUS as you remove the print head from the gasket under the old manifold.
 

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4MAC

4MAC

New Member
Vinylman said:
Perhaps for the same reason that I don't still provide basic instructions to my grown children how to find food.

At some point we all need to work for the rewards of being in business. The rewards of hard work are better enjoyed after a reasonable attempt at SELF instruction. The greatest instruction comes from SELF reliance on ones own ability to RESEARCH and follow the appropriate found instruction.
Click to expand...
Not sure why people like you are on here vinyl boy. If you want want to help or participate then just keep quiet.
 
4MAC

4MAC

New Member
Atari said:
I've seen a few print head recovery systems out there priced from $1000 to several thousand dollars. After studying photos of them, they seem to be of pretty basic construction using readily available components like ultrasonic cleaners, solvent pumps, pressure regulators, etc. So I thought I would start a thread here for like-minded "makers" who might want to adventure down the path of creating a more economical version of one of these.

So I'll jump in to the components & thoughts I have so far:




  • Solvent Ink Pump for pushing cleaning fluid through the head:
    • HY-30 Inkpump (~$20 each) -- or perhaps the HY-10 or HY-20 if HY-30 is too much power? Depending on your hose hookup, you could either forward or reverse flush?


  • Pressure regulator to control cleaning fluid pressure (I've read > 5psi is bad for DX5 heads)
    • *haven't found a good candidate for this yet (maybe something like this?) but I'm not sure if a gasoline pressure regulator would be "solvent friendly", there is probably a better option for this component out there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
    • A cheap electronically adjustable regulator would be awesome if possible. Coupling this with the logic controller, would allow to create automatic cleaning routines
    • Something adjustable closer to the range we would want (maybe 0-30psi?) would be better than 0-140psi found on these automotive fuel pumps anyway.


  • Air / Ink filters to prevent gunk that's unclogged from recirculating back into the cleaning solution


  • Programming / Logic controller
    • e.g. if you wanted to push fluid for .5 seconds, pull fluid for .5 seconds, repeat, etc.
    • I suppose you could use some sort of timer chip (?) plus some switches to control power to 2 of the HY-* inkpumps?
    • Or even an arduino board, rasberry pi or similar if you wanted to get fancy -- but probably way overkill. I could see using rasberry pi for the ease of programming (e.g. if you didn't know your way around purpose specific electronic components.
    • Something that would be REALLY cool would be a way to measure the fluid flow rate (and monitor changes towards it)... that would give you feedback towards % improved.


  • Solvent friendly tubing & connectors to make all the needed connections


  • Adapter plate to secure print head over cleaning solution bath
    • should be height adjustable
    • 3d printing? Anyone have a 3d printer?... I think if we had a 3d printed prototype (for each unique head type) it would be fairly cheap to have a small qty cut in metal.
    • Or maybe something cheap (e.g. some harborfrieght tool/s) could be repurposed for this task?

Any thoughts?

I'm guessing the parts list above would be around $200-$250 for what would be a pretty "professional" head cleaning system.
Click to expand...
Great idea. I've been playing around with it too. Ultrasound helps some. It can also cause the glue to seperate on the screen.
 
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