Leaving the solution in the lines and white heads is not a recommended solution for long term. Even for short term you will see the solution drip of the head and potentially ruin your CYMK prints.

I don't like the idea of removing white print heads after they have been used. Almost certain it will degrade in quality with storage.

I would focus my energy on getting white ink jobs. Even at cost price or printing for a charity.

 

What's the best way?

There is no way.

Once the white ink is introduced to the printheads, there is really no way.

 

I have done the following:

1) Run cleaning solution and left in for a day with filter cartridge in.

2) Run cleaning solution again and leave for another day with filter cartridge in.

3) Run distilled water instead of the cleaning solution and leave for several weeks with filter cartridges in.

You can print cmyk as needed with the distilled water loaded in the white heads. I had no problems with drips. If you did, it would just be water and should not damage the shirt. To keep the lines and heads from drying out, I ran the line maintenance after two or three weeks with distilled water again.


To reload white ink:

Do the line maintenance with cleaning solution and then load white. Ran a power clean and test white print. All work well for me.

Warning: Try this at your own risk. If this does not work for you or you damage your machine or heads, don't complain to me. I am only passing on what worked for me.

 

Can you tell us how did it go after almost 2 years? Did you get any problem? Do you keep doing it nowadays?

Thanks in advance

 

I currently have white ink loaded. I do white maintenance and leave the maintenance fluid in for a few weeks at a time. During the time the maintenance fluid is loaded, I will take orders for dark shirts but tell customers it will be a week or two for them to be ready. By doing this I can print all of the dark shirts at one time and then go back to the maintenance fluid.

I did have a problem with one head using distilled water. However, the water was in the lines for an extended period of time without refilling them with more distilled water. I do not think I would have had the problem if I had loaded fresh water once a week. You are taking a risk using either distilled water or the maintenance fluid.

 

You are taking a risk using either distilled water or the maintenance fluid.

Worth noting, it's also nowhere near as risky as leaving white ink in those lines. Even a three day weekend with white ink in the lines can be a killer. But, you are certainly right to suggest pumping fresh maintenance solution or water once a week, and giving some warning it's still not a perfect system.

I do this same thing, with very little downside.

 

I only use my white print heads once a week. After the weekly printing I do a white tube cleaning and then leave it be until the next week when I load the white and print with white again. Otherwise the white ink costs would be killing me

 

I have a question please.

Once a switch to 341 mode from 381, the lines are filled with maintenance solution and filter cartridges are added, does everyone clean the bottom of the printheads?

Thanks,

 

Acca, once white ink is introduced to the printer the 341 mode should not be enabled via printer settings menu. This feature is only for when a printer is setup and no white ink or white heads are going to be installed. Once white ink is installed the printer should only have maintenance solution left in the lines when performing 2 week storage when no printing will be performed. Please refer to our instruction manual for proper process of shutting down the printer when not printing. Please check the linked document Section 6-2-6
[media]http://www.brother-usa.com/VirData/Content/en-US/GarmentPrinters/Manuals/OwnersManuals/GT3%20Instruction_ENG_051313.pdf[/media] If you're located within the US or Canada and this didn't resolve your issue, please give us a call at 877-4Brother or contact your original dealer if outside these areas.