Moving UV printer on a budget

What model printer is it? Most of these printers have transport procedures for this type of thing. I definitely would not leave the carriage “parked.” There is a good chance of damage if you don’t lock it down. See if you can get a copy of the service manual.

 

I would for sure flush the lines to get all the ink out. Its a simple process at least on our 2 EFi printers (16h/24F). You simply put flush bottles in instead of ink and hit the purge button until all the ink is out. Once done take the flush bottles out wrap the floats in a ziploc bag with some safe clean rags used to wipe the heads in there also. the carriage will then be hand turned down (once power is off) onto a substrate with the same rags folded or laid out with cleaning solution to where the heads are resting. There should be a piece that screws to the carriage and beam to lock the carriage into place.

 

I would definitely flush. If you don't best case scenario you waste some ink. Worst case scenario the ink pressure gets messed up during shipping and has a massive leak causing damage to electrical boards etc.

It's like when automatic car drivers only shift the car into park instead of using the parking break. Sure it works but it's much safer to use the parking break. It's another one of those better safe than sorry things. If the head does break loose from the lock, can cause major damage.

As far as I know when the ink gets too cold it may separate which could cause clogs when you turn it back on. I would just flush it and sleep well.

 

Flush and transport securely and properly. Last time I checked, the heads on those are close to $4k a piece. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

When moving a machine, I would flush the lines and remove the print head. I would then zip tie the carriage.