Galaxy UD-251LA Printer (Epson DX5 problem)

[vance]

I have a urgent problem with the epson dx5 printhead for eco-solvent ink, the printer is a Galaxy UD-251LA Printer.

I have attached some images of the issue. The printhead seems to get clogged after 10cm of print. I have changed the dampers, checked for air in the tubes, changed the printhead cap and checked that the cap pump is working. I have no idea where to look.....

To explain a little more.

1. I start by performing a print test to see the status of each color, which is perfect.

2. Then I start printing the image (solid black or yellow background), after 10cm the color get lighter and lighter.... When I perform another printhead status, the color that is being printed is clogged..

Please help.

thanks

 

[vance]

anybody????

 

[bilge]

why did you buy chinese printer?
I guess pressure loss somewhere in the ink supply tubes. Did you fill up printhead with ink before connect the damper?

 

[artbot]

i had a chinese dx5 in my studio for a bit. it was a pretty cool little printer (actually it was big).

first is the ink dropping out in all colors on one one color at at time?

few questions.

1. have you moved the printer recently? if so is the printer level. too low of a cartridge side (unlevel) will starve the head.
2. are all colors dropping out or just yellow and black?
3. when you changed the cap, did you adjust the height. there's also usually an "approach" and "park" position setting to adjust in the menu.
3. are you sure you are getting good suction at the cap?
4. does air appear in the lines overnight? if you pull off a damper will air bleed into the lines after being off the manifold for several minutes?
5. when the pumps are running to you see all four colors coming down the pump lines?
6. if you pull a vacuum with a syringe at the waste line, do you hear a hissing air leak sound?
7. are you sure that you have no clogs in the pump and drain lines?

 

[vance]

Thanks for replying Bilge and Artbot

why did you buy chinese printer?

Mainly because of cost, the downside among other things is that I have no technical support..... I have several chinese machines that work fine. But when I have a problem, It gets very complicated...

The other galaxy machine UD-161LB for printing on polyester with sublimation ink works perfect (waterbased ink)... there is however some air in the yellow ink tube, but it doesnt seem to affect the printing. Could this be a problem in the long run?

This model: UD-251la is sold in the US and south america with diferent branding.

http://www.sidsigns.com/2009/sp/equipos/sidtriton/sidtriton.php

I guess pressure loss somewhere in the ink supply tubes. Did you fill up printhead with ink before connect the damper?

What do you mean fill up printhead before connecting dampers?
first is the ink dropping out in all colors on one one color at at time?

The dropouts happen on all colors.

have you moved the printer recently? if so is the printer level. too low of a cartridge side (unlevel) will starve the head.

The printer is only a few months old, I havent looked into this, would I just test with a regular level?

are all colors dropping out or just yellow and black?

all colors

when you changed the cap, did you adjust the height. there's also usually an "approach" and "park" position setting to adjust in the menu.

I am not aware of this setting, I dont think it has it. When the printer is on standby, the printer head moves to an unprotected status away from the cap, when one is finished printing... by closing the printer software the head moves to the protected status on top of the cap.

here is a video if interested, I have the 1 print head version. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noBC_jyXrDg

are you sure you are getting good suction at the cap?

I have checked this several times, when I use the fill ink option in the menu, all colors bleed into the cap.....how could I be 100% sure... any possible test to perform?

does air appear in the lines overnight? if you pull off a damper will air bleed into the lines after being off the manifold for several minutes?

Yes, when I take off the dampers, air bleeds back in seconds. Also overnight, the liquid that I put into the cap to not dry out the print head, bleeds back into the dampers... How can this be corrected? is this normal? could it be a electrical grounding issue?

when the pumps are running to you see all four colors coming down the pump lines?

Yes it seems that all colors are running, but when I start printing, some air comes back into some of the lines...

if you pull a vacuum with a syringe at the waste line, do you hear a hissing air leak sound?

I think so, I will try this again... just to make sure.. should the printhead be under the cap, to pull ink?

Are you sure that you have no clogs in the pump and drain lines?

The printing problem happens very quickly... after 10cm.. The pump only actives when you perform a cleaning... It looks fine, I can see the drain line filling the drain bottle.

Thanks Artbot for you time, very appreciated.!!

(if interested) here is the printer working...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QTqyeA8fF4

 

[vance]

Artbot

Regarding the printer being level. As you can see from the photo the position is different from the sublimation printer in the back.. that is printing fine.

could this be the key..would this affect the print after 20cm..?

 

[artbot]

ink running from the caps back into the dampers (or are you sure that it's not just falling down into the waste lines) is a sign of negative pressure inside the lines. this can be caused by the printer being too low on the ink supply (cartridge) side.

all the colors dropping is a sign that it is not due to an air leak at a damper or manifold. all colors dropping is either the leveling issue or equally bad ink cartridges that are not collapsing properly.

it may be that you aren't getting a full positive pressure prime at the heads due to an air leak at the capping station seal. to check this, turn off all noise making things in the room (including the PC). pull a vacuum at the vacuum line going tot the base of the capping station with a syringe. now listen for a very quiet hissing sound at the seal. also you can paint the top of the capping station seal with black ink. ...park the head manually. ... now pull the head carriage to the left and look at the bottom of the head with a flashlight. the capping station seal will leave a "print" of the seal on the bottom of the head. make sure that it is complete (no breaks) and that it properly targets centered around your print head nozzles.

...the air should bleed back into the carts if you remove the damper. i was wondering if this happens when removing the damper from the manifold (leaving the damper/line to hang attached).

also, have you changed ink brands lately, or is it suddenly winter where you are? a drastic change in viscosity can also be to blame. to me your most likely reason is the printer isn't level.

 

[vance]

I disconnected the dampers from the printhead and it seems that the ink isnt bleeding back.. Need to check tomorrow to make sure.

I will test tomorrow to see if there is an air leak at the capping station.. would this cause the printhead to print incorrectly? even after a perfect print head test?

About the leveling, how can this be checked? I have attached a few photos with a level, but doesnt seem to be the correct way...

at the moment its summer, in the print room the temp is around 25º, humidity 50%.. would this affect eco-solvent ink?

What about the printhead voltage setting for the dx5, there is an option in the software that allows me to set the voltage..?

 

[artbot]

the most important thing about leveling is that you are level from left to right. it looks like you are level that way. your printer does look to be unlevel front to back. these printers are gravity feed with the ink being pulled by it's own weight down to the head. the ink chain's length (creating weight) contributes to the balance. similar to a chain hanging off of a roof. at a certain point a single extra chain link hanging off will pull the entire chain off the roof. so it's a delicate balance. if the printer isn't level it changes the energy stored up in the ink chain. i'm not sure if a front to back unlevel-ness will effect ink supply but it could if drastic enough. i would definitely level that printer completely to rule out leveling as an issue.

the temperature is fine.

just because you get a perfect test pattern doesn't mean that there is sufficient weight stored up in the ink supply to keep printing under high demand. if the ink is traveling to slowly down the line it will eventually cause ink starvation.

a good prime will pull ink down into the head and create a good amount of positive weight toward the head. if it has leaks some nozzles may not be fully weighted with ink.

changing voltage is not as direct an option as it is in more industrial heads.

 

[bilge]

1.The printhead holds a liitle amount of ink inside.
When ink runs out it emptied.
You can fill it with ink to the damper connector in the head using a syringe. Connect syringe and damper connector with about 20 cm cut tube (same diameter as ink line).
Gently pour about 10 ml ink into the printhead until ink drops out of the printhead. (too much pressure might break printhead)
2. Remove the cartridge filler cap. Disconnect damper and soak ink with syringe until no any air bubble (up to 50ml). Fill the damper 2/3 volume. Reconnect everything and do powerclean. Try to print a photo (not solid color) in highest setting (slowest).
If it doesn’t work I would change ink. Sometimes ink viscosity is changed over a time (become thick).

 

[John Thomson]

I run a Chinese import DX7 head printer along with a Mimaki JV3.

Lack of support is an issue but I knew this would be the case.

I have found that the capping station adjustment on mine is critical......if it is not perfect a little ink bleeds back into the dampers overnight.......more so if you do a head soak.....the cleaning fluid goes into the dampers.
Adjustment on mine is simply a case of loosening the four screws, moving it and tightening......a slow frustrating process. Also the cap tops don't seem to last long on mine.

I would also check the breathers on the ink carts.........I filled one cart too much and the solvent ink softened the plastic breather to the point that no air could in as the ink flowed to the head. ......worth checking.

When my head voltage was not set correctly over spray was present but not ink starvation.

Hope this helps.

John

 

[vance]

I did some little adjustments, changed the tubes from the manifold to the dampers with a wider tubing, leveled the printer from back to front, set the voltage to -5 (this was set on the other sublimation printer I had with a dx5, was just to test...), adjusted the printhead cart a little as I was seeing a strange spray on straight lines...

suddenly I was able to print fine, I was getting a perfect solid color. Printed around 50cm...

Then without warning I was getting the error again... here are some photos.

Thanks Bilge, I will try this. what do you mean "Remove the cartridge filler cap"..

How can I rule out a bad positive weight?

Thanks John, I seem to think it could be a leveling on the printhead carriage... do a simply try to level this with the printer with a regular level?

What do you mean the breathers on the ink cart? I have attached a photo of the carts I have , there is a black plastic button that I take off to allow air to go inside the ink cart.. is this correct?

with the photos I have attached, does it seem ink starvation or over spray... (I did set the voltage to -5) i have attached a photo of this.

thanks to all.

 

[John Thomson]

on the top of your ink cart ( not the ink bottle) there should be a small breather to allow air in as the ink flows to the head stopping a vacuum being created.........just check that they allow air to flow.

John

 

[artbot]

there's definitely a lot of data issues in the photos that you just sent. is this what it has been doing all along? or since messing with the voltage? ink starvation will not distort the actual print.

 

[vance]

here is a photo to show how it was printing when i did those changes (with the voltage change) printed around 50cm, then it printed a lighter box suddenly! see photo.. and after it started to print distorted...

I did notice that there was air in the blue line.. could this cause distortion?

John, I wil check the ink cartridige as you advised.

What would be the best way to get a correct prime? maybe forcing air in the ink cartridge side with a syringe..

 

[Vinylman]

I did some little adjustments,[making more than one change at a time will make your diagnosis VERY DIFFICULT] changed the tubes from the manifold to the dampers with a wider tubing, [ I do not think enlarging the tubing is a good idea, as it will DEFINITELY change the specific gravity of the ink flow designed into the printer by the manufacturer].leveled the printer from back to front, set the voltage to -5 (this was set on the other sublimation printer I had with a dx5, was just to test...), adjusted the printhead cart a little as I was seeing a strange spray on straight lines...

suddenly I was able to print fine, I was getting a perfect solid color. Printed around 50cm...

Then without warning I was getting the error again... here are some photos.

Thanks Bilge, I will try this. what do you mean "Remove the cartridge filler cap"..

How can I rule out a bad positive weight? My thinking is that this IS where your problems is. As Artbot pointed out earlier, "just because you get a perfect test pattern doesn't mean that there is sufficient weight stored up in the ink supply to keep printing under high demand. if the ink is traveling to slowly down the line it will eventually cause ink starvation."
I think that somehow the balance of proper ink flow has been compromised. I would look very carefully at ALL the connectors from the back of the ink carts, to the connections all the way down to the nipples on the top of the printhead. It seems that ther is a loss of vacuum in the ink system allowing the ink to fail to maintain complete system pressure [vacuum], thus the loss of color as displayed in you photos.

I hope this provides some help.

 

[Vinylman]

here is a photo to show how it was printing when i did those changes (with the voltage change) printed around 50cm, then it printed a lighter box suddenly! see photo.. and after it started to print distorted...

I did notice that there was air in the blue line.. could this cause distortion?

John, I wil check the ink cartridige as you advised.

What would be the best way to get a correct prime? maybe forcing air in the ink cartridge side with a syringe..

Looking at your current photo, I would say that lighter colored box in the cyan is caused by data error. You need to make sure that your data connections are clean, and that you do not have any problems with electrical interference.

 

[artbot]

+1 those little rectangles represent when a head suddenly cuts out. a solid/darker one is when all the jets fire regardless of what the rip has requested. so there's some data connection issues, maybe it's just a loose ribbon cable, or worse, ...ink inside your data port. and yes, do one change at a time and go back to the printer and record the results. working on any machine, the process of elimination only works when you isolate and get a "better" "worse" or "no change" result.

 

[bilge]

Filler cap is the black rubber cap on top of the main cartridge. John said already. Maybe the correct name is breather. Don’t force in ink cartridge side.

I agree with the masters here, it is more like data error. I would change the white stripe cables in carriage area (connected to printhead) then change the printhead itself. I always keep one new printhead and some clogged printheads. If you install brand new printhead it maybe broken when the board has problem (i.e short circuit). After changing the cables and printhead, still the problem persists, proceed further.

I asked Why did you buy chinese printer? Look no one pinpoint the problem within several days.
Chinese printers are very painstaking, no manual, no support. Of course thousands of happy buyers around the world, but no guarantee that you will be one of them. In the future you should get all pumps, motor, board, cables of your printer handy. These are very cheap in China, otherwise later sometime day, they say no more stock. I just share my personal experience. Even for me it was difficult as I live in place just 2 hours flight to Beijing and no time difference. Now I have only one chinese equipment-laminator.

 

[roshan688688]

Have you solved this problem?

what about captop condition in your machine?