Printheads to replace or an heavy cleaning will do?

[boggiom72]

I have been performing powerful cleaning on my new (used) FJ740...
I finished so many ink cartridges I could almost have bought a new head... Here some pics of the status, being the last one slightly better...

Shall I assume my black head has to be changed? And maybe maybe the cyan as well?
Or there is something else I can do? Anybody very patient with a rookie can guide me to a full flush? i don't even know how to detach the head!
I'm afraid i saw a scratch exactly where the head is not firing thought...
Any good advice?
Thx.

 

[Sticky Signs]

Black heads are usually the first to go although I don't have any experience with that particular printer.

 

[sfr table hockey]

I would think that when you see a section missing across all the colors in the same spot like your test print, it would be from a head strike and may be damage that can't be fixed.

Also when you do a powerfull clean all you are doing is flushing all the ink out of the lines and replacing with fresh ink. If a head is slightly blocked this may unblock it but so would just regular cleanings and not waste the ink. The only time you should do a powerfull clean is at a last resort or where you need to rid all the lines of ink and fill with fresh ink like in a case where you switch ink brands and want to start fresh. If you just need to refresh one color just use a syringe and not waste all the other colors ink. It is also hard on the heads to do powerfull cleanings so you are advised to not do this often.

If you plan to replace the heads anyway you could try to take a clean swab and use cleaning fluid on it and press it up under the heads in the area you think is blocked. Do not rub the head, but just force the cleaning fluid from the swab into the head. Do this a few times and then do a regular cleaning cycle and then a test print. If there is progress then try again. If the heads are scratched then nothing will work.

 

[boggiom72]

Thanks again Table Hockey...
I did that yesterday and I'll try again today... But I'm afraid the former user did a strike against a clamp...
When you talk about a syringe, you mean from the front?

Thx, I hope to proceed with my sepiax conversion asap!

 

[Vital Designs]

The problem areas are on the edge of the head which could be due to misaligned caps. Make sure your caps line up with your heads.

The syringe needs to be on the under side of the cap. With the head parked use the syringe to draw ink through the head. There is a good chance this could bring them back.

 

[Vital Designs]

Move the head and inspect. If it has a mark on the heads that will not be good news.

 

[Robert M]

Print heads

I have those heads if you need them
www.solventinkjet.com
I would be interested to see how those new inks work in a Roland

 

[artbot]

get a flash light and look at the bottom of your heads. i predict that you can see some visible damage to the heads.

 

[boggiom72]

I think I see a little scratch on the 1 head... not so visible though...
So i guess I can trash it or there is something else I can try?

 

[artbot]

what did it crash into? paper or metal or vinyl? if paper there have been reports of the fibers being jammed into the print head.

 

[boggiom72]

I wasn't there... I'm afraid a clamp though... When I did inspection the printer one clamp was missing and the other at the extreme left...