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Is it time for a new head (or two)?

kmajid

New Member
Hey, how's everyone doing? Hope everyone is well. I was curious if you guys think it's time for a new print head judging by this test print. I noticed that the blue seems to be a little off too, do you think i need two new print heads?

Also, i'm getting a little bit of overspray and the edges aren't as crisp as they once were on prints, would this be related to needing a new print head?

Thanks so much in advance for your responses.
 

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JRSdecals

New Member
Looks like you definitely need to replace that head. Lot of deflection in the black. From the looks of the test print i'd say this is an SP series. Since that's the case, youre in luck (kinda) because the black/cyan share a head on this machine.

Jeremy
 

kmajid

New Member
Jeremy, thanks for the response and good news haha Yes it is an SP and i was curious what your thoughts are on the overspray and non crisp edges, related to the print head you think? Attached are some prints from today and they look terrible as you can see but i don't understand why there is as much streaking as there is. Any ideas? I calibrated the printer before printing again. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Robert, the print head is the original from when i purchased the printer, so about 2 years old. Not sure what the shot count is. From my understanding it's quite difficult to install a print head. How much are you selling each for?
 

kmajid

New Member
Prints

Attached are the prints I was referring to.

Thanks for the feedback.
 

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Robert M

New Member
Shot count

In the service mode you can see how many times the head has fired. These Epson heads are rated at a little over 6 billion shots. PM me and I will send you the tech manual. Changing a head is not a big deal, one hour the first time if you follow the manual (if)! Not too hard to adjust a two head printer.
Heads are $825.00
www.solventinkjet.com
Are you running OEM inks?
 

FrankieTeardrop

New Member
Hi Robert, may I get a tech manual too? I've got the same problem with my sp-300 & keep putting off getting a new head for fear of the service fee to install it but I've done all the work on this thing so far so I'll make sure to RTFM:Big Laugh

Thanks,
Chris
 

Sublimefly

New Member
I know you should replace a head when it gets that bad. But our black head was that bad very early into my time here at my current shop. At the time we didn't really have the money to spend to replace it so what I did was remove the head and I carefully soaked it in solvent. I made sure not to get any of the solvent on the board as it would probably fry once reinstalled. So I let it soak over night and reinstalled it after a couple of hours of dry time. Once it was reinstalled I got out our syringe kit and hooked it up to the black cap-top drain line. After using the syringe to draw ink through the head and a couple of normal cleans, I managed to get at least 75% of our deflection cleared up. I know its not the recommended option, but it worked well for us. I've also heard from our support guy that hes had good luck just pinching off the drain line and filling the cap-top with solvent and letting it soak over night as an alternative to what I did. One of our sister shops actually managed to fry a number of printer parts trying what I did. So know the risks if you go that route and be very very careful.
 

mwgraphics

New Member
Hello everyone. I'm in the same boat. My test print looks almost identical to kmajid's. I've had my black/cyan head out and tried soaking it and it didn't change much. I'll be looking to change the head as soon as the funds come in. My biggest concern is after the new head is in. The manual doesn't say much about it at that point. Do I need to flush out the new head before ink goes through, or can I just put in my ink cartridges and fill it? I've read conflicting info on that point.

Mike
 

Robert M

New Member
Heads

It will not hurt to flush, and you should flush if you are not using OEM inks. My heads do not need to be flushed if you are using OEM inks
 
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