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all ink cartridge lights flashing

6007 Views 18 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  FulStory, 
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My printer was printing fine the suddenly all the ink cartridge lights started flashing. I can not get the printer to do anything. Any help with this?
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IYFGraphics
iheart1980s said:
My printer was printing fine the suddenly all the ink cartridge lights started flashing. I can not get the printer to do anything. Any help with this?
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Probably need to reset your waste ink tank counter.

This thread will help, post #3 has a link to the instructions.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/fast-t-jet/t91823.html

Hope this helps.
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I
i've only had it a month its barely been used!
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cohort
Exactly what does it do right before?
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JeridHill
Even though you only had it for a month, I'm sure it's a used machine. To reset the waste counter is painless and if you haven't done it yet, this is most likely the issue. You will have to reset it every now and then according to how much waste ink is produced.
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iheart1980s said:
My printer was printing fine the suddenly all the ink cartridge lights started flashing. I can not get the printer to do anything. Any help with this?
Click to expand...

Resetting the waste ink counter can be done at any time and can be done frequently without any harm. Jerid is correct in pointing out that if it is a T-Jet 2 it cannot be a new unit at this point. When we refurbish our T-Jet 2's we reset the counter as part of the refurbishing but if you bought this used from someone it could very well need resetting. It's unlikely that the seller did it right before you got it. The other item that could be causing your issue is a dirty or scratched encoder strip. Either clean it well or replace it with a new one.

Harry
Equipment Zone
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S
It could be a number of things. It's important to note exactly what the printer was doing when they started to flash, how fast are they flashing and exactly which lights are flashing besides the ink lights. If it's the waste ink counter then the error eject and the ink lights will flash alternating on half second intervals.
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sirslickenstein
Yup I had the same thing, had to reset ink counter. I had to download some software from Eq zone to get the utility.
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R
We have a T-Jet 2-
We are having flashing light issues, also. Our printer was printing very well, then one of the ink lines caught on the top part of the frame. We don't have the new bulk ink system. It got pulled very tight, before it came off the frame, and the carrage flew across and stopped on the other side. I tried resetting the waste tank, several times, we put in a new carrage, as the ears that hold the head were broken, new encoder strip, and am wondering if anyone can tell us what to try next. Ribbon, timing belt, re-installing the software? Thank you Darlene
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S
So when you turn it on the carriage goes to the opposite side fast and lights start flashing? If that is the case the problem lies with the encoder strip. It could be that it isn't in the sensor on the back side of the carriage, not installed properly or really damaged. Since the carriage was just replaced take a look at the ribbon cable particularly where it connects to the back side of the carriage. Make sure that it is connected properly and securely. It's kind of hard to see but if you get a flashlight you can see it okay. The connectors on the cable should be facing up or the blue side down. If it is installed the right way I would check that portion for damage. By damage I mean broken or damaged connectors or cuts or kinks in the cable itself.
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R
It starts out going across, as normal, 2 times across to read the strip, then goes a 3rd time, very slowly and stays over on the other side, and the lights start flashing. We supect the ribbon, and will be ordering one, but wanted to see if there might be another idea. Thank you
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S
It could also be that the bed is binding up some or something obstructing it from moving the proper distance accross. Are you using the orginal screws that hold the printhead bracket down, the ones that attach on the tabs on the sides of the carriage? If you didn't and used on longer than orginal that could cause the carriage to do this. You might also take a look inside and make sure that nothing else is stopping the carriage from moving the entire way accross. I've also seen a case where the waste ink tube from the pump assembly was sticking up too high not allowing the carriage to go all of the way to the home position. It can be something that minor. It could also come from binding. Make sure that the 2 guide rails are clean and lubricated well with a light machine oil. While you are looking at things make sure that the drive belt and the gear that drives it are clean and free of any fiber buildup. As a test you can start up the printer and when the carriage starts to move to the left, reach in with your hand and help it accross. You can move it slightlly faster than it would move on it's own but not too fast or it will cause the machine to error. Once you move the carriage all of the way to the left, or when the carriage touches the frame on that side,get your hand out of the way and see if it goes through the normal startup at this point. If it doesn't work the first time try a couple more times. If it still doesn't work then you can rule out any binding as the cause of your issue.
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Okay, we now have it so it will turn on read the encoder strip, and ink. Thank you for the advice. Now when we try to print a design, the bed jerks back about 1/2 inch, the lights start flashing and the red X comes up on the screen beside the design. Any clues there? Thank you, Darlene
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S
The reason that you are getting the red x is because the printer is in error. The cause of the error is that the bed doesn't know where it is. Under the left side panel or opposite the control buttons there is a round scale or encoder. It is for the bed movement and is only read when the printer is given the print command. On the rear side of this scale is a sensor that reads the scale that is attached to a white plastic clip that snaps into the machine frame. Push on the white plastic piece particularly toward the rear tab. Make sure that it is snapped into place securely to the frame. The other thing is the sensor itself. It is connected to a small circuit board. That circuit board should be straight up and down and not angle forward or backward. If it is angled it will probably be toward the rear of the printer and can be adjusted by loosening the one screw that holds this assembly to the white plastic clip. This is fairly common because the clearance between this assembly and the chrome cover is so small and you have to be careful when putting the cover on not to "hit" the sensor and knock it out of place.
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FatKat Printz
Glad to see you back... Karl
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D
Hi All

I just wanted to say 'thank you' for this post ... very timely for me ! We've had an issue where it sounded like our bed was struggling to get through it's 'load' and 'eject' cycles. I removed the bed ( ours is a red model been converted to a T-Jet 2 ) and removed the knurled drive shaft and cleaned a heap of gunk off it with a wire brush. A small wire brush and the circuit boards were covered ! I vacuumed it out afterwards as well as I didn't want any small metal fibres laying across the circuit boards ... Very intense job and whatever we did / moved / bumped / cleaned seemed to work as now the bed will load and eject without jamming and at about half the noise level.

Now we move to the test print and here we go with the flashing light syndrome again. We have run the software for the 'Ink Tank Full'. Last time we did this manually with some sort of sequence that neither of us can remember. Could anyone please tell us the sequence? Just in case the software procedure fails I would like to double-check :)

We have cleaned the encoder strip a number of times and we will replace it as we have a spare one 'new in the box' if the above doesn't work. I will have to remember to buy a couple of spare ones for later ! And a couple of ribbon leads to the head ... all these are cheap enough and they are after all .... consumables. In my head anyways :)

Karl, thanks for the tip above with that sensor thingy throwing up an error, I'd forgot about that .... will have to check mine again ...

Once again kids, thanks for this post !

Kind Regards

Devo
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C
Thank you, Karl! Reading the forums, trying to find a solution to my problem, and nothing was working. This was my problem, and I would have lost days of work and stressed myself out trying to fix things that weren't broken! So simple!
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Steeletec said:
The reason that you are getting the red x is because the printer is in error. The cause of the error is that the bed doesn't know where it is. Under the left side panel or opposite the control buttons there is a round scale or encoder. It is for the bed movement and is only read when the printer is given the print command. On the rear side of this scale is a sensor that reads the scale that is attached to a white plastic clip that snaps into the machine frame. Push on the white plastic piece particularly toward the rear tab. Make sure that it is snapped into place securely to the frame. The other thing is the sensor itself. It is connected to a small circuit board. That circuit board should be straight up and down and not angle forward or backward. If it is angled it will probably be toward the rear of the printer and can be adjusted by loosening the one screw that holds this assembly to the white plastic clip. This is fairly common because the clearance between this assembly and the chrome cover is so small and you have to be careful when putting the cover on not to "hit" the sensor and knock it out of place.
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hi do you have the video for showing this. I am quite confuse. :confused:
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ccdesignco said:
Thank you, Karl! Reading the forums, trying to find a solution to my problem, and nothing was working. This was my problem, and I would have lost days of work and stressed myself out trying to fix things that weren't broken! So simple!
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hi can you explain more clearly about the solution to your problem :confused:
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