Just received my Anajet today, while the very helpful dealer was demonstrating the cleaning process, he recommended I do an ink charge daily as opposed to running print head clean. Is there a difference to what happens with the printer while its doing ink charge as opposed to head clean?
Both a head cleaning and an ink charge will use the suction pump under the capping station to draw ink from the print head to make sure that all the nozzles are firing properly. This is probably why they mentioned to do this before you get ready to print. However, an ink charge (which is done using the Epson Adjustment software) will use significantly more ink than a head cleaning. This is one of the reasons why it takes longer for an ink charge to run than a head cleaning. I am not sure if Ian (ZoomMonster) or someone else actually weighed / measured either the cartridges or the waste tank to estimate exactly how much ink was used. But this might be something you can do to determine to find out yourself.
An ink charge by far will solve head clogging issues than a clean. But as Mark said, it will use more ink. I would recommend a head clean first and if it doesn't succeed after 3 (at the very most) times, then last resort ink charge. 3 simple cleans most likely wouldn't use as much ink as an ink charge, but I've never measured it myself so I couldn't say that for sure.
Just received my Anajet today, while the very helpful dealer was demonstrating the cleaning process, he recommended I do an ink charge daily as opposed to running print head clean. Is there a difference to what happens with the printer while its doing ink charge as opposed to head clean?
Thanks.
Do the head cleanings first!! and Charge uses about 10x the amount of ink then a head cleaning does.
He said to do it every day, so can if I do head clean instead of the charge daily, would it stop potential ink blockages as much as doing the ink charge?
Obviously based on what you guys say, I would rather do head clean daily, but not at the expense of causing problems.
I would not do it every day. With the proper maintenance, you would have to do this very little. This is definitely not advisable simply due to the ink cost alone. I have a hard time believing the machine would need that type of maintenance.
Its slightly confused me, as he said its the most important part of the maintenance of the machine to charge daily - how often do you guys charge the inks?
We have an AnaJet and sometimes you do have to do an ink charge, mostly if the humidity level has dropped below 40% on the week end. I have ours set at automatic head clean every 8 hrs, If you don't get a good nozzle check the first couple of nozzle checks and the print purge on white has bright specks in it that's the only way to get the white to flow correctly. Its faster to do the charge than mess with it for two hours regardless of ink cost. My opinion. John
He said to do it every day, so can if I do head clean instead of the charge daily, would it stop potential ink blockages as much as doing the ink charge?
Obviously based on what you guys say, I would rather do head clean daily, but not at the expense of causing problems.
Thanks
Hawrai,
There is no queston that the "charge" is more vigorous. It's kind of a double edged sword. If you are doing enough business(volume) to warrant the 4 to 7 bucks (please don't quote me...) on a charge then you might not even have to do it because, you're using it enough to prevent the settlemet of TO in your dampers. That money and ink, could be put on a shirt and you could make samples that get business and teach you to use your machine better. If you print several times a day every day, you may be able to get by with less purging. If you maintain the machine and you can do a near perfect nozzel check (very little ink) before each run, you may not have to do the charge except for after a weekend of inactivity. Also realize that each environment and situation is different, and it will be up to you over time to figure out what works for you and your business model. Jerid and Mark's advise is good. Just realize that over a months time all that ink could be expensive. Then again... if the charge is what works and it's worth the time saved then by all means.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by hawrai
Its slightly confused me, as he said its the most important part of the maintenance of the machine to charge daily - how often do you guys charge the inks?
They may have changed the manual. I just got a new one. I'll have to check that out. Personally, I only charge when the my other options a gone..or if I'm in a real big hurry.
Ian
Last edited by zoom_monster; April 30th, 2009 at 04:39 PM.
I have only had my machine for 5 weeks and am not needing to do ink charges to keep things right. My machine is set to do a clean every 16 hours and I have made it a practice to print white ink every day. No issues here. I do not have to print a huge graphic, just print to keep ink moving.
I have only had my machine for 5 weeks and am not needing to do ink charges to keep things right. My machine is set to do a clean every 16 hours and I have made it a practice to print white ink every day. No issues here. I do not have to print a huge graphic, just print to keep ink moving.
That is all you have to do.. I would say every 8 hours for cleaning but regardless ink charges cost more like $12-15 and are a waste.
The only ink charges I do is after a through cf cartridge cleaning. A head clean should be more than sufficient. I usually do a nozzle check every morning then a head clean, then a nozzle check and I'm good to go.
ink charge vs head clean 
