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Solventinkjet.com review - Bad print head.

401Graphics

401Graphics

New Member
I purchased a DX5 print head from Robert solventinkjet.com 2 years ago for my mutoh 1204. The print head suddenly lost the top half of both magenta channels about 2 months ago. I also noticed cross contamination of the colors while printing. I contacted robert at solventinkjet about it. He said I should change my capping station and dampers. I did all that, however there was no change. Now yesterday, I lost the top half of both the yellow channels, and there is a significant amount of magenta in the yellow channel. This indicates there is mostly a failure in the print head, either the head itself is delaminating, or the internal gasket between the head and manifold failed. I asked robert at solventinkjet how long a print head should last, he told me at least 3 years. It's only been used 2 years, and I only print a few hours a week. The print head should be far from failing at this point. Robert would not back the product he sold me even though it should not have failed yet. His only offer was 5% off a new head. My orginal print head lasted me 13 years before it failed.

I'm very disappointed about this whole situation, and feel like I've been ripped off $1,500
 
401Graphics

401Graphics

New Member
victor bogdanov said:
What kind of inks are you running. I would say 2 years is reasonable, lots of factors could affect head life. Is this head in a 15+ year old printer?
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Using budget-inks.com. been using that ink brand for many many years with no issues. Yes it's 15 years old, not sure how that would be a factor. Ink lines were flushed with cleaning cartridges before the dampers were changed. Ink was then drawn through the lines manually before inserting the dampers into the head manifold. Did numerous "little charges" (ink fills). There is zero air in the lines and I can see the dampers are full. Despite the top half of the magenta and yellow not working, there's still the issue of magenta getting into the yellow channel. Which is why I believe it's a head issue, since nothing else coukd cause that. The capping station has been replaced and pumps and drains as it should, there is no flooding in the cap.
 
SGC

SGC

New Member
Print heads CAN fail in 2 years. These are mass produced super sensitive electronics.

Epson may not be making these heads like they used to, your mileage was not usual on the original.

When you got your printer originally, epson was still putting those heads in many printers, including ones with their own branding. Today, it’s to satiate the market of those who won’t let the old gals go. Anecdotally, this could mean they’re made with less quality control, on ancient molds and equipment.

The seller is not responsible 2 years after sale for conditions they cannot control.
 
V

victor bogdanov

Active Member
401Graphics said:
Using budget-inks.com. been using that ink brand for many many years with no issues. Yes it's 15 years old, not sure how that would be a factor. Ink lines were flushed with cleaning cartridges before the dampers were changed. Ink was then drawn through the lines manually before inserting the dampers into the head manifold. Did numerous "little charges" (ink fills). There is zero air in the lines and I can see the dampers are full. Despite the top half of the magenta and yellow not working, there's still the issue of magenta getting into the yellow channel. Which is why I believe it's a head issue, since nothing else coukd cause that. The capping station has been replaced and pumps and drains as it should, there is no flooding in the cap.
Click to expand...
Too many other factors/variables and too much time has passed to put all the blame on the head distributor imo
 
Smoke_Jaguar

Smoke_Jaguar

Man who touches printers inappropriately.
Defective heads tend to show their defects really quickly, within seconds to days in most cases. On top of that, the seller has zero control over a new Epson printhead. Heads in general tend to get almost no warranty, as ink can be a huge variable in how long a head lasts. Combine that with maintenance and potential for abuse, there's definitely a bit of a gamble going on for both the buyers and sellers.

With DX5's, the main failure I see is cross-bleed. Rarely it's just the gasket or manifold, but most of the time it is a failing nozzle-plate allowing ink to flow underneath it. Combine that with the head being obsolete for quite a while, a lot of inventory is just old stock at this point. Might be a slightly different story with a P400/Lock 4 variant, but older unlocked aftermarket compatible heads are getting pretty scarce.
 
H

hybriddesign

owner Hybrid Design
I think everyone feels your pain on the printhead. I've got two DX7s that need to be replaced right now both only about a year old which is a fun $5k. Honestly, 2 years isn't bad at all for a print head no matter what the use is. We all definitely get those unicorn heads that go forever but there's never any guarantee on timing and although it lasted shorter than the 3 years that you were expecting I don't think you got a bad head. There are definitely some vendors out there that sell sketchy heads and give questionable advice but solvent ink jet isn't one of them. I've bought from them for 10+ years and would trust them above pretty much anyone else. Generally they give it to you straight and bend over backwards to help out when they can. You could look for another vendor when you buy the new head but I'd say you should take the 5% and have them help you out. You're not going to get better service or pricing anywhere else.
 
SightLine

SightLine

║▌║█║▌│║▌║▌█
2 years seems reasonable to me. 15 years is insane. Been running machines with Epson heads since about 2002 and typically last around 3-5 years but have had a couple only make 2 years before going bad.

This is nothing Solventinkjet should be responsible for...
 
DL Signs

DL Signs

Never go against the family
If you open a can of Pepsi and there's a finger floating in it, do you put fault on Pepsi, or blame the store you bought it from who can't see inside the sealed container?

So what did the vendor do besides tell you what what the average lifespan is? Was it something they should have been aware of, or somehow deceived you, or knowingly sold you something defective? Can't blame them when they just pull a sealed part off the shelf and ship it. That's why you have warranties, for the defective units that sometimes get released into the wild. If it fails after the warranty, it's no longer defective according to the Mfgrs, after two years it's not a defective part in my opinion. Average I get on heads is probably 5-ish years, have also had heads fail as early as/ less than 2 years, and I maintain my stuff very well. I don't see where it's their fault. I've used them, and am actually impressed with them, as are many others here, they're about the most helpful and honest vendors I think I've ever dealt with.

On you though... Using aftermarket inks is a gamble, they may print beautiful, and be spot on in color, but their formulas often differ from OEM, they can use (or switch at any time to) solvents and other ingredients that can eat away at head internals, shortening their lifespan, and it's almost always the seal between colors inside the head. Those seals are actually pretty sensitive, you can blow them out just by suctioning too hard, or even if you're gentle if chemicals harsher than what should be used are introduced through aftermarket inks or flush solutions. In the aftermarket ink world, what you've used successfully for many years can come back to bite you because they changed an ingredient to save a buck, they won't tell you they changed anything, you just have to trust them. They have no rules to adhere to, and if it takes a couple years to kill a head, who's gonna say it was because of them. I used to run with aftermarket inks, but these printers ran 2-3 shifts, and the savings resulted in huge numbers, like enough to stock spare heads.

Like you, I now only print a couple hours a week, and I'd never use aftermarket inks, it's hardly worth it, you save pennies, and take a lot of risks to do it.
 
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