Ink Contamination Issue

[jason91]

I was wondering if you guys could help me with an ink contamination issue?? I have a versacamm sp 300v I've done a search on it, but I'd like a fresh take on it?
Problem is...usually every morning when when i get to the office and start to do some printing for the day I have ink contamination where the yellow is orange or worse (where magenta is bleeding back up the print head line) or my cyan is black and the actually line is also black....I either have to suck out the line through the cap tops (which pulls black and cyan....or yellow and magenta) or print alot of yellow and cyan to get the ink back to normal. I've replaced the cap tops about 4-5 months ago...it slowed it down a litlle, but not much...The machine is a 2006 model and the factory pump has been replaced....Only thing I can think of is the dampers...which are the original dampers that came on it????? Could that be it??
Oh...also if this helps sometimes even if I have printed all day sometimes when the last print has finished...and i begin to start a new one directly after the last one....the first 5 or six inches of the new print the ink is contaminated???? Is the print heads not in line with the cap tops after cleaning from the previous print...causing the 2 inks to mix??? Because 2 colors share the same print head and cap top??? What you guys thinK??? Thanks

 

[signage]

Have you looked at the dampers and are they showing the contaminated ink?

 

[strypguy]

Sorry I can't help but I have the same problem. I usually do an extra cleaning cycle(button on the front panel) and do a test print to make sure the colors are all clean.
Seems to get worse as the ink in the cartridge gets lower. I've tried everything too like replacing dampers, cap tops etc. Usually the extra cleaning gets me up to printing again.
Really sucks if the printer sets idle for a few days so I try not to let that happen.

John

 

[ddarlak]

install wire mesh from mcmaster-carr.

no more contamination

 

[jason91]

Have you looked at the dampers and are they showing the contaminated ink?

Yeah....just started about 2 hours ago and the yellow damper was half magenta on the top and half yellow on the bottom....the cyan appears to be fine this morning?

 

[sfr table hockey]

What I have found to cause ink to get sucked back up into the heads is:

The cap top filter is raising up and touching the head and causing a siphon. Most times I have found that a cart that is low in ink will have a bit more draw and that seems to be the color that gets the ink sucked into it. (Thus Ddarlak's reason for the screen over the captop)

Also if your drain lines are plugged and not letting the pump suck the cap tops dry then the poolong of ink in the captop will also draw into a head.
For this just flush cleaning fluid through the drain line with a syringe and attach to the line that runs to each cap top and do for as many drain lines as you have.

 

[jason91]

What I have found to cause ink to get sucked back up into the heads is:

The cap top filter is raising up and touching the head and causing a siphon. Most times I have found that a cart that is low in ink will have a bit more draw and that seems to be the color that gets the ink sucked into it. (Thus Ddarlak's reason for the screen over the captop)

Also if your drain lines are plugged and not letting the pump suck the cap tops dry then the poolong of ink in the captop will also draw into a head.
For this just flush cleaning fluid through the drain line with a syringe and attach to the line that runs to each cap top and do for as many drain lines as you have.

Isn't the cap top suppose to touch the print head when its not printing??? If it didn't the print head will dry up....as far as the drain lines...ive already tried sucking them out the as all fine ...no clogs...thanks

How does the screen on the cap tops help from ink contamination? Looks like to me all that would do is scratch the print heads???

 

[P Wagner]

The dampers have a one-way valve in them to prevent this type of cross-contamination from happening. 4 year old dampers (in use since 2006) almost certainly are the prime cause for this problem. Replace them for all colors that share that cap top (Y/M).

For that matter, assuming that they are all 4 years old, you really should replace them all (CMYK).

 

[sfr table hockey]

Yes the cap top will sit tight under the print heads but the filter that is inside the captop swells up some times. This filter then raises above the height of the rubber seal in the captop and thus touches the heads. This is what you don't want. The screen that was talked about will hold the filter down so it does not swell up. But you have to know what you are doing with the screen as if you don't seat it propper it could touch the heads and cause issues.

When you look at the filter inside the cap tops, is it sitting flat or does it look domed and raising up in the middle?

Also if you check your ink carts for how full they are, what lever would you say each one is?

 

[ddarlak]

the print head is not supposed to touch the sponge, the sponge is there to keep the ink stable. if you removed the sponges, the ink would slosh all over the cap during a cleaning cycle.

contamination is caused by one thing only, heads touching the sponge.

the metal retainer keeps the sponge from swelling up.

click the mcmaster carr link, order mesh, cut to size, fit it in there. then be amazed that you never have to deal with contamination again.

or even better, when the ink doesn't contaminate, but runs down through the pump, over filling the waste bottle and empties the carts onto the floor. been there many times, the metal retainer has solved this problem.

 

[signage]

The outer rubber seal of the cap top is to seal against the non-printing surface of the head, nothing but ink should come in contact of the heads printing surface other than the wiper when it wipes the head momentarily.

 

[jason91]

the print head is not supposed to touch the sponge, the sponge is there to keep the ink stable. if you removed the sponges, the ink would slosh all over the cap during a cleaning cycle.

contamination is caused by one thing only, heads touching the sponge.

the metal retainer keeps the sponge from swelling up.

click the mcmaster carr link, order mesh, cut to size, fit it in there. then be amazed that you never have to deal with contamination again.

or even better, when the ink doesn't contaminate, but runs down through the pump, over filling the waste bottle and empties the carts onto the floor. been there many times, the metal retainer has solved this problem.

What holds the mesh in the cap top....?? So the the sponge shouldn't touch the print head??? How does the print head stay wet then...and not dry up??? I moved my printer a while back and I manually moved the cap station up and down upon arriving at my new location...Maybe I got the capping sation to high then??? What does the head touch?? Just the rubber seals? How do you know when the capping staion is too high??

Thank You for your advice

 

[jason91]

Yes the cap top will sit tight under the print heads but the filter that is inside the captop swells up some times. This filter then raises above the height of the rubber seal in the captop and thus touches the heads. This is what you don't want. The screen that was talked about will hold the filter down so it does not swell up. But you have to know what you are doing with the screen as if you don't seat it propper it could touch the heads and cause issues.

When you look at the filter inside the cap tops, is it sitting flat or does it look domed and raising up in the middle?

Also if you check your ink carts for how full they are, what lever would you say each one is?

Ink carts are all full?? sponge doesn't look raised...maybe a little on the outside edges ...that metal horsehoe deal is holding it in the middle

 

[signage]

The seal created by the outer rubber seals the head and the sponge holds some of the ink to keep this environment damp (humidified) this is one of the reasons that you can not let these sit too long without printing or running a cleaning cycle.

 

[jason91]

The seal created by the outer rubber seals the head and the sponge holds some of the ink to keep this environment damp (humidified) this is one of the reasons that you can not let these sit too long without printing or running a cleaning cycle.

Thanks....I probably need to replace both cap tops and the dampers...then move my cap station down a little? What do you guys think???think that will fix it?? How far do i need to move the cpa staion down ....have a formula for that?
Thank You guys for all your help!

 

[ddarlak]

your dampers are fine. your caps should press against the head just enough to create a seal

if the sponges are raised, then you need to keep them down.

 

[jason91]

k...i'll try and move the cap station down a little and see how that goes???

 

[sfr table hockey]

To set the capping station captops to the right height on my older CJ you go into the service menu and go to capping position adjustment. You move the cap up so the one edge just touches the base of the heads and hit enter.

You may need a service menu to do yours as well.

 

[Robert M]

Cap top

Try this, fill the cap top with cleaning fluid and then do a clean. If the fluid is not getting pulled down you may have a clog in the line to the pump. If ink is pooling up in the cap it will cross contaminate. The SP300 caps have wire running down the center to prevent them from swelling up. Roll the lines from the cap to the pump between your fingers, you will be able to feel if there is dried ink in the lines.

 

[ddarlak]

Roll the lines from the cap to the pump between your fingers, you will be able to feel if there is dried ink in the lines.

this is where 99% of the ink clogs. i use a seperate piece of tube for this area, pull it off and replace when it gets clogged. much faster and easier. i connect the tubes with a 1/2' piece of plastic tube i cut from the end of a ball point pen ink tube. pull the pen apart and there is usually 1/2" or so of plastic that doesn't have any ink in it, cut this and use for a joiner.