On the hm1 dampers are neccesary. It has either the regular damper or the cartridge system. These are what filters your ink, without them you will get clogging. Hope that helps.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Sunnydayz is correct the damper serve two purposes one is the supply a reservoir for ink to the print head and they also serve as a filter for the print head!
That is because they have completely different types of printheads on them. I am not sure whether the kornit or brother have them but I do know that those two machines have different printheads and are not epson based.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
The dampers regulate the ink flow as well as filter the ink prior to it entering the print head (as Sunny said). A second option is a cartridge based CISS - these can be effective if they do not contain a sponge in them which will break down, which a fair amount of them do. Reality is that you need one or the other to regulate ink flow and to filter the ink. Because they are filters they do need to periodically be replaced. Running the lines straight to the head without dampers or cartridges could be equated to running on the rim when you get a flat. It may work for a while, but eventually you are going to do more damage than you bargained for.
Dampers Neccesary? 
