Problems with the Cyan head...

[WrapperX]

Hey all

Did my morning routine this morning cleaning, nozzle wash, test draw and I got some shotty results.

1 Half of the cyan head is acting up. I have run "strong" cleaning, I have run Ink Fill Ups and I have done a "hard suction" from the back where the pump is.

After I run the hard suction, it seems like the first test draw comes out fine. A few missing nozzles. So I ran another cleaning on strong, and then I run another test draw and it gets worse from there.

The Image is after I have done hard suctions and strong cleanings. Then test draws.They are test draw one after another to see how bad it gets. And its the same thing. Hard suction, test draw comes out fine. Another test draw and it gets worse. (except in this picture I don't have one of the good ones on there.)

Any thoughts?

 

[WrapperX]

Oh and I checked the dampers and they seem to be full so I'm at a loss of what it might be.

 

[WrapperX]

Ok - so I just ran another Hard Suction (from the back tubes by the pump) and then printed a test draw. Looked descent. Ran another one, still good. Ran yet a third one - still descent. Ran a NORMAL cleaning and then ran the test draw again - GARBAGE!!

Please any help would be great!

 

[artbot]

half a head is suspect. i'd pull some ink from each damper and see if there is a difference in resistance first (take note if the dampers relax after vacuum or stay concave. concave means you have too much negative pressure in the line. the lines have slight positive pressure).

after that, maybe rotate some captops. it's possible that your captop is not getting decent seal along that side.

lastly, maybe the screen in that head adapter nipple is clogged?

 

[Case]

What kind of inks are you using??? Just to be sure, check to make sure that the ink isn't saying it has ink on the chips still and you actually ran out.........Double check that one cyan ink and feel if the cartridge feels bone dry even if it doesn't say it is empty.....

Triangle ink carts and Grimco's 20/20 ink is notorious for this........

Case

 

[WrapperX]

So I should try and pull ink directly from the dampers themselves? Or pull one and pull from the back like a hard suction?

 

[WrapperX]

What kind of inks are you using??? Just to be sure, check to make sure that the ink isn't saying it has ink on the chips still and you actually ran out.........Double check that one cyan ink and feel if the cartridge feels bone dry even if it doesn't say it is empty.....

Triangle ink carts and Grimco's 20/20 ink is notorious for this........

Case

We use Lyson/Nazdar inks - not my choice - we had no problems until we switched. The cartridges are new. I changed out the one at 10% just to be sure it had ink in it. The other one has plenty of ink.

 

[Case]

I would do another ink fill with the new cart in...... Otherwise, I would say the dampers may be clogged and may need to be replaced...

Just throwing stuff out there....

Case

 

[WrapperX]

I have done multiple ink fills and multiple cleanings, multiple suctions. I even changed out damper on the side that wasn't working out. its now staying consistantly bad - which in consideration of the previous problem is better then we were, but never the less - still isn't good enough. I'm at a loss here.

 

[WrapperX]

Bot - you mentioned something about too much negative pressure. How do you relieve the pressure to a postive level if thats the issue?

 

[artbot]

yeah. pull directly from the bottom of the damper. if it stays caved in over a minute, that is a bad sign. also, as far as suspect carts, i'd swap cyan carts and see if the issue switches to the other cyan line. or for that matter swap cyan damper positions and see if the issue jumps to the other side of the head.

it's most likely,

to isolate:

bad cart (swap cart positions)
leaning cap (swap or straighten cap tops)
bad damper (swap cyan damper positions)
clogged line (pull ink directly from line w/out damper installed, feel for resistance)
clogged piercing nipple (to the cart. the only way to clear this is a backwards flush)

 

[artbot]

the negative pressure is usually because of clogged line or bad cart (collapsed end seal or something). get a refillable cart, fill it with acetone or cleaning solution. pull and push the solvent back and forth between the syringe (damper off) and cart. you'll hear bubbles each time you evacuate the solvent back into the cart. upon the syringe pull that you seem to suddenly get a lot of flow, that is a sign that the line is clear. i once had a chip of a cart seal lodged in my piercing nipple and it was stuck lobster trap style. the only way i got it out was reversing the flow back into the cart. i wasted yards and yards of media (pet film) and changed everything on that stupid printer to only find out that it was some tiny little clog.

 

[WrapperX]

Thanks all for the advice. I think we have isolated the problem to be the Print head Manifold/adapter that acts as a secondary filter to the damper. The part has been ordered and hopefully we get it by tomorrow.

Thanks Artbot for all the help/advice/assistance in getting to the root of the problem!!
:U Rock:

 

[thewood]

Right on Wrapper X. I hope you get everything straightened out. You can salvage the manifold adapter from an old head as well. Next time you replace a head, keep the manifold to use in a pinch.

 

[Robert M]

Wiper

Dumb question, but did you change the wiper. I have seen aftermarket inks distort the wiper so that if gunks up the head when it does a cleaning

 

[tbaker]

WrapperX update on this situation?

I've heard that Lyson inks have been having some issues, but the batches coming out since November had the previous problems resolved ( colors involved with problems seem to be cyan and magenta)

have you changed out ink carts?
Swapped dampers channel 1 and 2 to see if the problem moves with it?
cleaned the rubber seal on your cap station?

 

[WrapperX]

The latest update is that the Print Head Manifold replacement did not change the situation. Got a hold of our personal Tech (thank god) After telling him the issue with Nazdar/Lyson. He gave me a couple of things to try and he also suggested we talk to Nazdar and ask them what to do. After talking to them, they have agreed with us that the "bad inks" that they had go out and that we got have cause damage to our print. They have sent out a replacement head at their expense.

Yes we changed cartridges, we changed dampers, swapped dampers, just recently replaced capping station. All in all, it looks like Nazdar is taking this one. Thank goodness!

 

[tbaker]

I was afraid of that, there'd been a rash of it for a while, The good news is that they seem to have corrected the issue, and all batches of ink after end of October beginning of November seem to be fine.

If you are feeling squirrely, you can try to manually clean the affected channel in your printhead. If you have some 2mm tubing you can replace the ink line with 2mm tubing and run cleaning solution through the affected channel to try to recover it. If you aren't up for that, then it's just a matter of waiting for the new head.

You are going to want to change cartridges again to a new lot ( one manufactured after the affected period) and do an ink fill on that color to remove the old ink from the line.

 

[Beatnik1065]

Similar issue

I had a similar issue about a year and half ago. Did you check the pump station to make sure you were getting a good seal? The tube from the pump to the head unit was loose and it was giving me issues like you are having.

 

[rjp739]

simple solution

hi
this picture look 4 head
each head for one color.
your cyan head have 2 nozle(right left)
left nozel work <== captop is good working
right nozle ink not keep through because your damper not good.
so replace right side damper or took out and clean.
dyebae ink, solvent ink printer all same. I mean epson head sucks....
but dont have choice...
ink ==> line==>damper==>head==>captop==>pump. stupid processing......