[Uz27]

Hi guys,

Got "ERROR 131B" message today.
What is it ?
and how to fix it
After turning off and on again printer starts normally and then showing this error again in the middle of the print.
Tried to turn it off and to disconnect it from power and USB for 15min (as internet suggested) still same problem.
Help !!

Thanks !

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Hi,

This is head temperature error. There are several reasons for this:

1) If you just did a head clean or flush, fluid may be on flex connector to head - with power OFF, remove head and clean all cables with alcohol and make sure dry
2) Can be cable itself, check connections both at head and mother board
3) blown head - prior to this was it printing O.K?
4) blown mother board - rare, but can happen.

Check cables on Epson mother board first then move to head and verify no ink/cleaning_solution on
cables going into head.

Keep me posted

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Also, when printing does it print slower than normal, pauses each pass of head OR does it print
normal speed but then throws this error? Does it throw error at start of print or at random time?

If normal then random time of error I would guess a cable issue. Is your nozzle check 100%, low
ink flow can also cause head to over heat

 

[Uz27]

Also, when printing does it print slower than normal, pauses each pass of head OR does it print
normal speed but then throws this error? Does it throw error at start of print or at random time?

If normal then random time of error I would guess a cable issue. Is your nozzle check 100%, low
ink flow can also cause head to over heat

Thank you for your answer !
Nozzle check is 100% good.
Printer prints at the same speed, and throws this error randomly.
When it happen yesterday(I didn't try to print today yet) I printed 8 full size shirts (16x20) and suddenly got this error on 9th .
After turning it off for 10 min I manages to print 4 additional shirts with no problem and then this error showed up again on 5th shirt.
i tried to print on top of the unfinished shirt twice and twice it got stuck again.
First time at the beginning of the print ( about 15% printed) and second time at the end of the print (at about 98%)

I checked all cables and they all clean and dry.
I cleaned it with alcohol anyway.
Basically I cleaned all flat cables.

Also - I noticed that before I'm getting this message printer stops printing for few seconds,"thinks" and then throw this error.

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Hmm, I do not think "actual" head temp issue, rather the Epson reads an incorrect temp and errors out?

Does it only happen on white layer - my thinking is "if" thermal then white is massive dump of ink
and head heats up.....but....that would show up consistently. However, after 10 mins (cool down?)
it works for 4 or more then kaput again.

Does heatsink on Epson board get warm/hot during printing?

 

[Uz27]

Started to print today.
So far I printed 9 shirts (same image and print size as yesterday)
It takes 4.28 min to print each image (and its always was that long for this image)
There is almost no "rest time" between the prints, maybe 20 sec until a new shirt loaded.
Not sure if it's relevant - but this is how much ink printer uses for this print :
C-0.116ml
M-0.099ml
Y-0.059ml
K-0.146ml
I don't have white ink.
Heatsink on Epson board is warm, but not really hot. I can touch it with my fingers and hold them on the heatsink with no problem.

Can it be a room temperature ?
I had AC malfunction yesterday and room temperature got as high as 86F.

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

That all seems pretty normal, we have printers in countries that have no AC with high ambient temps >100 deg without issues.

I am leaning towards cable issue, it could be changing the reading of the temp sensor or providing no
reading at all? Do you have a multimeter unit so you can measure DC voltage and reads resistance?

 

[Uz27]

That all seems pretty normal, we have printers in countries that have no AC with high ambient temps >100 deg without issues.

I am leaning towards cable issue, it could be changing the reading of the temp sensor or providing no
reading at all? Do you have a multimeter unit so you can measure DC voltage and reads resistance?

I do have multimeter.
What should I check ? And where.

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Hi,

The temperature sensor output comes in on CN71, pin 8 (angle part is pin1). This is a voltage
reading which is held high by 4.7K resistor to 3.3Vdc. The sensor is connected to this point and ground.
So, reading should be below 3.3Vdc. If you can take a reading from cold start and then say
after 2/3 prints. So, red lead of meter to pin8, black to ground - heatsink or corner metal mount
pads are good ground, set meter 0-10Vdc.

 

[Uz27]

Hi,

The temperature sensor output comes in on CN71, pin 8 (angle part is pin1). This is a voltage
reading which is held high by 4.7K resistor to 3.3Vdc. The sensor is connected to this point and ground.
So, reading should be below 3.3Vdc. If you can take a reading from cold start and then say
after 2/3 prints. So, red lead of meter to pin8, black to ground - heatsink or corner metal mount
pads are good ground, set meter 0-10Vdc.

Well - I measured it "cold" and it was 3.28V .
I printed two shirts and measured it again and got the same 3.28V.
But when I sent a new print I got Error 1A37 :-((((

I REALLY hope that I didn't managed to short something!!
Now this error will not go away.
After shutting down and turning it back on this error pops up immediately.

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Hi,

1A37 is thermistor connection error. When you pushed the multimeter probe to measure you
probably pushed the connector pin away from the actual cable pin. The reading you got (3.28 volts is actually an indication the temp sensor (thermistor) is not connected back to the mother board.

This is good since this is probably your issue, the pin is making intermittent contact. So, remove
cable and gently using a needle or sharp point pull the pin back towards where cable plugs in

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

....look at the other pins on the connector, make sure pin 8 looks like that. When measuring try to
touch the cable (exposed pin/pad) rather than the actual connector pin - light pressure only.

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

....also, how does cable look? Are the metal pins/pads bent or looked cracked right where cable/pin
meet (this part is where cable changes from being covered to where pins/pads are).

If you still get this error after trying to move pin gently we can use a thin strand of wire to make contact.
Let me know what you find - this can be fixed

 

[Uz27]

Hi,

1A37 is thermistor connection error. When you pushed the multimeter probe to measure you
probably pushed the connector pin away from the actual cable pin. The reading you got (3.28 volts is actually an indication the temp sensor (thermistor) is not connected back to the mother board.

This is good since this is probably your issue, the pin is making intermittent contact. So, remove
cable and gently using a needle or sharp point pull the pin back towards where cable plugs in

When I measured it first - I got something like 2.25v but I thought that I didn't connect it good enough do I pushed a bit harder on the red lead and got 3.28v.
So next time that I measured it again (after two shirts) I got same 2.25v so I pushed harder again and got 3.28v.
I guess this is when the 8th pin got bended.
(and it is bended i can see it by comparing it to other pins)
Ill try to fix it.
Thanks !

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Yep, reading should be below 3.28V, if you get this (3.28v) then pin is open. What happens is
that as sensor heats up cools down is resistance changes. Since on the Epson board there is a
resistor pulling this signal to 3.3Vdc (you measured 3.28) the sensor is connected between this
resistor and gound:

------------+----------- 3.3Vdc
|
>
< 4.7K (4700 ohms)
>
<
|
+--------(CN71 pin 8)----------- reading on meter = 3.3 x Tr /(Tr + 4700)
|
>
< Sensor Tr
>
<
|
+------------------- Gnd

 

[Uz27]

OOK.
I managed to fix the 8th pin with a needle and printed about 12 shirts after it.
So far it's running good.
THANK YOU NeoFlexExpert !!

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Nice job, glad you got thru all the tests/fix and made it work! The flex cables are only tin plated so they
can oxidise (rust) over time and create poor joints especially those wires that carry very little
current like this sensor. What probably happened in your case, the temperature sensor pin
connection oxidised. This increases the resistance in the circuit on the pull-up (4.7K side), thus
the voltage that the Epson see's is lower which means higher temperature (most thermistors
resistance decreases with temperature so lower voltage, hotter temp) - thus the error occured.

Glad you are up and running. Keep me posted.

 

[Uz27]

Hi,
This 131b error showed up again
With same "recipe" - after about 18 full sized shirts and with room temperature above 86 degrees.
This time I didn't do anything.
Just turned it off, and crancked up the air conditioner to the max cold.
When room temp dropped to 79 degrees I turned my printer on again and the error was gone.
Since then I worked for two full days with no issues.

Is it possible that somehow 86 degrees is the issue ?
Also - my understanding that the print head cools itself with the ink flow during the print.
Does it get less "cooled" with the lower ink flow settings ? (I'm usually printing with about 28% ink.)

Thanks !

 

[NeoFlexExpert]

Hi,

Hmm we do have customers that operate at that temp and higher....but that is rather hot to work in no?
Humidity is a big factor. We have a demo room, with no AC on no issues with prints but as soon
as AC kicks in the whites dry out quickly after a couple of shirts.

Yes, ink does cool the head but are your whites running at 100% still? If so then yep if colours at low
flow rate it could be this?

I will do a test on a 4880 printer to see at what temp the head gives this error - I am not sure of the
trip temperature.

So I guess for now if you can, get a large bucket of water and have the fan run air over it - to cool and provide humidity.

I'll keep you posted on my findings.

 

[Uz27]

Hi,

Hmm we do have customers that operate at that temp and higher....but that is rather hot to work in no?
Humidity is a big factor. We have a demo room, with no AC on no issues with prints but as soon
as AC kicks in the whites dry out quickly after a couple of shirts.

Yes, ink does cool the head but are your whites running at 100% still? If so then yep if colours at low
flow rate it could be this?

I will do a test on a 4880 printer to see at what temp the head gives this error - I am not sure of the
trip temperature.

So I guess for now if you can, get a large bucket of water and have the fan run air over it - to cool and provide humidity.

I'll keep you posted on my findings.

I'm printing CMYK only.
No white ink.
Humidity level is always above 40% (usually 50%)
I have evaporative humidifier that keeps humidity constant.