[Stuart21]

Epson have released in Asia the L 1300 and L1800 - 4 and 6 colour A3 printers, with genuine Epson ink tanks!

I have an old A3 flatbed based on the 1390 - When it was good it was very very good, when not it was hell (mostly). Main problem was getting over service requests, & also short printhead life. I am printing onto ABS, not textile so required a special non Epson ink - which loved to block up the 3rd party CISS. Also ink deplasticised the CISS tubes, ended up like hard PVC, then cracking after a few months. New CISS; & ink would suck the plasticiser out of the tubes, & not cure.

I have nearly got L1800 flatbed going, but the drive is very erratic - moving in and out at any time, e.g. 'printhead test' or 'printhead alignment' can be printed all over the sheet, not just at the front. Any print usually ends with a 'fatal error'
I have installed new PF sensor cable, new PF encoder & sensor and done everything I can think of.

L1800 shows a lot of promise, but just this one huge problem - at the moment. Would be very grateful for any suggestions -

Thanks,
Stuart.

I will try to make a video & upload.

 

[Stuart21]

Ryan,
DO you know if the 1390 and 1800 encoders are different? I have checked them all (have several from the 1390) & they all seem to be the same - a very low interference pattern on the encoding, when you hold two together.

Now I am not getting the erratic drive any more, just getting fatal error as soon as the print heads finish traversing on startup, & it attempts to drive the table. The fatal error occurs whether table clutch is engaged or not.

Thanks,
Stuart.

 

[Stuart21]

Hi Steve,
Thanks for your reply.

I presume that alignment means just the location of the sensor within the beam? i.e. not the angle of the sensor to the encoder? I can adjust fairly well - to either side of the encoded area, where nothing is sensed, & also to the middle, where it does sense. But I imagine that it is a point detector, so the angle of the sensor to the encoder would not matter?
I have aligned by eye to very close to the picture in the manual -

 

[Stuart21]

Ryan,
I don't know of any adjustment programme for the PF sensor - only for the printhead alignment.

I am getting a fatal error (paper & ink lights flashing simultaneously, fairly slowly) after the print carriage finishes its traverse, as soon as the table begins to move - get abt 4 mm movement, less than ¼ of an inch.

 

[Stuart21]

Thanks Ryan, it is an L1800 (new mod. with external EPSON! ;-) tanks, not the R1800. I have had a look at the lights code but there isn't a code for this - a slow blinking of both the ink and paper lights. Fatal error can be seen at the end of the video at https://vimeo.com/108052341

Have changed encoders & sensors & new sensor cable - are the 1390 and 1800 PF encoder the same?

 

[Stuart21]

Thanks all, for all the suggestions. Printer is now running veeeery well! Problem was excess play in the three drive belts (not much - but encoder & control circuitry is very sensitive to free play), and also some slack in the shafts.

I think I can recommend the L1800 (but early days yet) - if it is sold in your country?

 

[Stuart21]

Jason, have just got going with the eco solvent, but would consider trying a UV ink in the future. Could you keep us posted on what you find with it (UV)?

TIA,
Stuart.

 

[Stuart21]

if you're looking into messing with UV curable ink and a lamp, it's a big project, but really fun. the main problem is finding a suitable ink, and way to move and turn the lamp on and off. just be super careful because once you clog a head with UV, there ain't no unclogging it. I used to work for Direct Color Systems and a couple other printer manufacturers who used an epson base to convert into a UV printer. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks Ryan. Would like to do UV, but having taken 18 months to get my eco solvent working I think I will put UV on my 'todo' list - after everything else gets done. i.e. -

Only problem I have now with the eco solvent is an unreliable start position - variation of 3 - 4 mm in first print location. We have to print a start mark off the product, & if it is not correct, cancel & try again. The maker had an IR sensor detecting the table edge which was pretty unreliable, I have changed it to the orig chopper type with the chopper connected to the table, which is improved but still not 'good'.

I think the problem is that the PF motor starts with a sharp jerk - if it could be made to start slowly, the position detector should be much more accurate.

Is Epson software editable? To make the motor start slower? Can / does anybody edit Epson software?

TIA,
Stuart.

 

[Stuart21]

It seems that the erratic start position was due to failing linear bearings - replaced them & now I get ~ 75% of starts within 0.2mm which is acceptable.

Printing is now very good even at 'quality' - but some arts require 'best quality' to provide a slower ink deposition, to prevent orange peel.

Still have one problem however; about every 5th to 10th print, the drive will jump forward about around 5mm, causing a double print on that part, & ruining the other parts unless you catch the error, and cancel the print. Occasionally the table does a bit of a 'dance' - in & out - but mostly this is after finishing the print, so can cope with it.

So still looking for a solution to the erratic feed - ~ 5mm in the middle of a print -

Grateful for any suggestions!

TIA.

BTW, printing eco solvent ink onto ABS credit card sized products, 3 x 8 on the table.

 

[Stuart21]

Unreservedly, with a few reservations.

Are you printing T Shirts or something else?

 

[Stuart21]

I would say it is probably be good for this, without modification.

I use mine to print onto plastic moldings, so have fitted a flatbed. I don't use a rip - mostly print using Apple Keynote for artwork - works very well.

Can you buy the L1800? I understand distribution is limited.

Maybe ask Epson to print you some test films before you buy?

Good luck.

 

[Stuart21]

If you are using Windows, don't bother with Keynote - I just mentioned it it because it works well for me, but I doubt if it will work on Windows.

 

[Stuart21]

I want to make dtg based on Epson l1800 , I need tutorial any one if you send me on [email protected]

Raza - if you are still going to do this, check out UFOprinter website & youtube videos -

They look good to me, but no personal experience - yet -