[Dragon ink]

My dtg kiosk printer is going on 3 years. recently i was having trouble with my printing head drying out, plus i had starvation with the white ink. i replaced the capping station wiper assembly, blades. and even the carraige.now the ink flow is great and the print head doesnt dry out anymore.

Now the printer will print nice on one shirt. but it will puke color all over the next. by puke i mean it will make a high pitched beep then empty out all the colors by printing out a dark bar of color the full length of the drawer. this problem will appear anytime. even if im doing a white pass it will still spew out all colors in one dark bar right in the middle of a print. I have both cleaned the encoder strip and lubricated the carriage bars. i still have the puking issue.

has anybody else had this problem?

one thing i might add. the tubing that is glued to the plastic strip running to the print head is starting to let loose and the strip is starting to curl a bit. I have to keep staightening it out about every 10 prints. I thought this might might be the culprit but the print head moves freely to both ends. so im not sure this is whats causing it. anyone out there know?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[CoopersDesignCo]

Sounds like it might be doing a print head cleaning in the middle of your shirt?
Have you tried to update your printer driver package?
Which machine are you using?

 

[abmcdan]

Make sure your encoder strip is clean. I had that problem with a t-jet 2 and it was the encoder strip.

 

[Dragon ink]

our machine is a dtg kiosk with white upgrade. its about 3 yrs old. Im thinking abmcdan has the right idea. I might have to replace the encoder strip it looks a little worn in spots.

 

[equipmentzone]

our machine is a dtg kiosk with white upgrade. its about 3 yrs old. Im thinking abmcdan has the right idea. I might have to replace the encoder strip it looks a little worn in spots.

I would say that from the symptoms you describe it's almost certainly the encoder strip. Replace it with a new one and see if your problem goes away. Also check that the encoder spring is tight. I always recommend to customers to keep a new encoder strip and spring on the shelf. If you get symptoms like this and are sure you cleaned your printer's encoder strip well, just take a few minutes to put a new strip on to see if it solves it. It helps make troubleshooting that much easier. Encoder strips for printers like the Kiosk and similar run about $12. It's cheap insurance to keep a new one around.

Harry

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Thanks for jumping in guys. My money is on the encoder strip as well. Make sure you put the new one in right and not upsidedown. Tech support can walk you through the install.

 

[Dragon ink]

ok I have installed the new encoder strip and spring. it printed without the color bar problem. although it was printing correctly i was having drip problems on the shirt.I tried headcleans and cleaned around the pump the pump was sucking fine and and the capping station was nice and clean and had a tight seal. I noticed the tubes on the plastic strip leading to printer head starting to curl again so i carefully staightened it out and taped it down. it printed a few more shirts still leaving drips
behind. then one of the pieces of tape came loose and it printed a full length color bar again.
I 'm beginning to think the plastic strip with the tubes is the source of my problems with the color bars and maybe even the dripping. any one else had an issue like this with thier Kiosk?

 

[abmcdan]

I'm not familar with the Kiosk, but on most machines a dripping problem is caused by the bulk ink tanks being too high. Try lowering them or the level of the ink in the tank.

 

[Don-ColDesi]

If your machine is three years old and you are still running the same hose harness, I would suggest replacing it. Typically this item has a lifespan of about 6-12 months.

Hope this helps!

 

[adrenaline]

How old is your print head?? I had a print head that had done alot of prints and did not loose any nozzels but started to realise excess ink. I replace all my lines, capping station and pump assemble etc etc only to find the same problem. I spoke to the dealer and was told it would probably not be the print head. I replace it any way and problem solved straight away. They can do some funny things sometimes. Also ensure that your capping station pad is not touching the head it self. Alot of people use windex and some of then tend to soften the pad and it raises up allowing it to touch the head causing a wicking affect and either allowing the windex up into the head of letting the ink out. Windex can do damage inside the head itself thus it has been known to dump ink. Just a couple of senareos for you to look at. Just as an idea i get around 3000 prints out of a print head alot of them 28cm x 35cm. cost of about 10c per print. I always carry a spare print head and I would suggest if you realy on your machine every day as I do I would carry these spare parts for each machine: Ink Tube Assembly, Dampners, Encoder Strips, Pump Assemble, Capping Stations, Wiper Baldes, Print head, Main Board, Print head Ribbon Cable, Waste ink pads and maybe a power supply. Once you get to know your machine you will find that problems are easy and pretty fast to fix, You will hit snags from time to time but at least you can cover moprt of the basics and a bit more. I hope it all works out for you and you get it up and running properly very soon.

 

[Dragon ink]

Wow, I really hate spending all that money at once just to have spare parts on hand.
On that note sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
After replacing the Encoder strip and the tension spring and re-gluing the plastic ink tube strip with silicone sealant. (worked like a charm by the way) I still had the mysterious puking incident. I read on line about checking the metal gear on the motor that runs the belt. I cafefully removed the belt and saw a black crud built up on the gears. I carefully cleaned each groove with on the gear with a small screwdriver and reconnected the belt. The machine ran like a champ. there used to be a small clunking noise when the head went back and forth.
Now it runs as quiet as when it was new and the puking problem seem to have been cured.

Hope others will make sure to check gears first if they have a similar issue. Its no cost and sure to cause problems if unchecked.
Thanks for all your input. Take Care

 

[adrenaline]

I am glad you fixed the problem. Personally I do not think the Drive belt would have much to do with the ink, unless the print head was not sitting correctly on the capping station when returning, thus hte capping station would not suck properly. Any way looks like you have it all sorted. If you are using your machine all the time and it is your source of income I would be carring spare parts as down time is money in the business world. 1 day down time could be $800 profit lost. I know I would rather have 30 mins down time to change a print head than 1 day waiting on a service person and costing over $600 for parts and labour.

 

[Dragon ink]

I think the problems i was having where a combination of 2 things. The dripping issue was because the ink line was curling where the silicone was letting loose. All the tubes became unglued and it kept getting bunched up. the way the tubes where getting bent and knocked around as it was curling was creating the drips.
As far as the belt is concerned the gear was so dirty with black crud that it was causing the belt to slip at certain points.
If the head looses track of its location it can cause color blobs. here is the site page that tells you how to clean the gear.
Rainbow Effect on the DTG | DTG Kiosk FAQ's
I started this thread with one problem as as i fixed one thing i started having other problems.
I Think this is just due to the age of the printer and as things get used they wear out.
Luckily the dtg is just a small part of our business and its not our main source of income. We can still stay in business even if its down for a month or so.

 

[equipmentzone]

This points out the need for a regular maintenance schedule. Pretty much all of the digital garment printer manufacturers provide a maintenance schedule sheet in their instruction manuals. The sheet should go over what is required to be done daily, weekly, and monthly to maintain that printer. The schedule should be followed religiously. If you do you will probably avoid having any mechanical problems at all.

Our service department does a large volume of repairs on digital garment printers. The great majority of times my techs find the problem is simple lack of maintenance. There are some printers that come in that look like the last time they were cleaned was before they left the factory. If you buy any brand of these printers you must clean them at the end of each print day. If you do not then you are almost guaranteeing that you will have problems.

Harry

 

[Don-ColDesi]

Our service department does a large volume of repairs on digital garment printers. The great majority of times my techs find the problem is simple lack of maintenance. There are some printers that come in that look like the last time they were cleaned was before they left the factory. If you buy any brand of these printers you must clean them at the end of each print day. If you do not then you are almost guaranteeing that you will have problems.

That would be a big AMEN from Tampa!

 

[equipmentzone]

Regular maintenance (cleaning) should take no more then 5 minutes. If you get in the habit of doing it at the end of each print day you will experience greatly increased productivity.

Harry