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I am working on a C79 Which uses cogs direct from the drive motor for the paper feed. Hopefully this might be a little more adaptable to having a moving head rather than tray (Smaller foot print is the main reason)

However I am having trouble with the paper feed. It appears the plastic piece sits in the sensor until the paper is fed through at which time it is pushed up and the top comes out from the sensor. However I can't seem to trigger it and get paper jam errors. I think it is to do with the way the paper was fed from the "storage" area in to the paper feed mechanism. (Hope this makes sense) (They come with a basic "sheet feeder" at the back which holds at a guess 50 sheets upright

Any suggestions???? (Once completed I'll post some pics)

 

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I have some experience with printing using the standard inks on melamine faced chipboard....... It smudges and stains!

(I tried taking the whole "carrier" assemply off and mounting it but during the startup it does an ink "dump" spraying ink on to the melamine!) Oh well better there than off the side and on to the loungeroom carpet I was working on at the time!

 

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Has anyone else had luck with an Epson C79 printer yet? There definately seems to be a difference in the paper feed sensor system.

 

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OK getting there nearly done!

Hopefully a test print today on the C79 (The C90 looks almost identical)

Just have to get the platten sorted! Will post all the info and pics when done.

 

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Good job sodrisc. Would love feedback on how it goes

 

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Just use your normal spray adhesive (If you don't already have it most $2 shops, craft, fabric or hobby shops sell a suitable one

 

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Great job looks good! I damaged the print heads on my C79 and bought a new Epson CX5500 (all in one) the guts are the same except the control board AND THE POWER SUPPLY (Hmm should have checked that instead of being lazy and just moving all the guts across......

 

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Has anyone tried to do this on a c92?
is it possible?

Yep, it is the same as my C79 (and the C90 I am getting) It uses a gear drive instead of a belt but still can be done. I will post some picks up soon of my C79 layout

 

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And for all intents and purposes that site is really a commercial one.

 

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No offense, but why would I pay to join that forum just to show people how I built my printer. I will keep posting in the yahoo group, as well as in my personal image gallery.

Agree totally with you!

 

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Basic Plan for a C79 or C90

Ok finally back again, These printers are almost the same.

A few quick pics of the curent setup although I am in the process of refining ready for version 2

I used chipboard as it is what I had and I didn't want to "experiment" on bought wood. Version 2 will be made of play and glued! (This is just screwed together)

I still need to move the printer forward another 2cm ish so I can move the overall image "up" the Tee. I only do baby gear so this size of printer works well for me.

I removed the cover from the printer then the power supply and drive gear. Then also removed the paper sensor and feed rollers this is mounted with. (You will also want to remove the excees ink bottle/pad, if not a new printer be carefull this gets messy, use a twist tie or similar to stop ink coming out of the line) After this you can remove the whole bar the print head moves along (4 Screws) so you are left with the basic printer. I then cut out the bottom between the paper "widths" out as per the picks. Reassemble and mount and away you go.

I am in the process of drawing up the plans and measurements once I settle on the drive and printer final location. I will post these here. Thanks too everyone for their input along the way and lets keep refining the idea!

I have also included a couple of prints. One is close up so you can see the accuracy of the print on the cotton fabric.

The drive is by toothed cog so I drilled and chiseled the countersink but next time I'll get the router out and do it properly. You could also use a hole saw and a rasp (it isn't all round you need to allow for the wires coming out). And this should have been a little further forward if you want to print further down (at the moment the draw runs off the roller after the print which doesn't bother me anyway but is easily fixed.

I have also drilled a hole in an old bubble blowing mixture bottle (thanks kids!) and put the pipe from the head cleaner in to it. When changing cartridges I can run my finger over the white cogs to "prime" the heads with ink. Works well. Eventually I'll add a CIS system to it on version 2.

The paper feed sensor I ended up extending the wires by about 20cm. You need to allow about 5cm between the sensor and "trigger" on the C79 but about 6.5cm on a C90. I then Just made my cardboard trigger the max length I wanted to be able to print and set up a custome paper size to match. (I used word for a test run) The sensor was mounted so that a piece of cardboard attached with double sided tape could be used as the sensor trigger.

I have 5 items being wash tested, tumble dried, air dryed in the sun and wear tested at the moment and will let you know how I go. I used an iron for heat setting but 1 item faded drastically after the first wash and I suspect I ddin't heat it long enough

 

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Sorry to take so long to reply... someone dug up the main phone cable and so no phone or email for 4 days!

I use the standard ink (Durabrite not the cheaper alternative) at the moment, heat set works fine. I am still doing the washing/dryer/sun drying/bleaching tests on it but so far seems good. (I will later update to a continuos Ink System once it is all go)

The rails I bought from a hardware store (this one is called Hong Kong Importers at Parafield for anyone in Adelaide South Aust.) They had a selection of lengths so I went for ones closest to the 66cm (A4 Size plus a bit extra to allow for feed before sensor triggers print) I could probably have used a slightly shorter length but wanted the flexibility at this stage. (They cost about $18 AUD)

Mine is made of Chipboard as mentioned in my previous post for the reasons mentioned. Metal would be easy for anyone with basic metal skills (or a sheet metal place would probably be cheap as they are basic bends)

Height Adjustment - Mine has it the platen is attached to the "tray" via 2 dowels. Different platens can have different heights/sizes as required for different items. Simply lift and change the platen for the different item. (There is no doubt more sophisticated methods but at this stage it does what I want.

 

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Bob,

I'm not sure what your plan is here. To run two printers (heads if you like, 1 Machine) or run 2 (or multiple "sets" of printers with effectively a pair being 1 doing white only and the second doing the colour?

If so I would be curious if you have a plan for alignment and being able to get it to print in the same spot for either option as I would love to be able to print on dark aswell (getting a bit ahead here!)

Thanks

 

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OK thanks, that's what I thought would be the better way but thought you might have come up with a workable solution using the smaller printers!

 

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OK Update with a couple of pics and video

A few mods I have made. Shortened the height of my platen (which is located by dowell's) to allow mouse pads to be printed (I insert washers to increase the height for Tee's)

Also routed out the top of the platen to allow for the collar to sit, I was having problem with head clearance on some which would end up with a black mark.

Images didn't work will try again a bit later

OK here we go, links to the movies! (If Rodney can copy and insert or whatever please do so!)

Index of /wwwuploads/dtg

I have also tried running the same print 7 times and the alignment was fine, so in theory (ha ha) you could set up two machines, one for white, one for the colour and have it print the white then the colour.

Hmmm, when I free up some $$$ might give it a go. (2x printers @60 and 2x CIS systems (just run white in one) @ $135

Pic 4 & 5 is too show how the distance to the print from the heads is important. Pic 2 shows how I adjust the height for thinner items (Thickest I have it setup for is a mouse pad (5mm) then with two washers I print on Tees etc.

Pic 1 is my setup, printer and draw mounted on an old computer hutch with a draw for the laptop. (I have a couple of spare 12v gel cell batteries so just need an inverter and can use it anywhere!)

Pic 3 is the cut out in the platen so the colar doesn't end up with ink on it. Pic 6 is just a printed copy of a mousepad.

 

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Jonwye, they are great links. Those ball rails would certainly be a beeter way than the draw rails I am using... They could even make it possible to move the head instaed of the platen!

The Ink link is great too, that's the next thing to address (original is getting expensive, even for testing!)

 

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not yet but I will be hopefully

 

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I still think the slide area is where the best improvements are to be made. I was talkig to a friend who is also in to four wheel driving and he made an interesting point.... why not use a similar setup to the way draw slides are made to go in the back of the vehicles. Simple system that is cheap, bearings!

Thanks for fixing Rodney!

 

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The rails can be an almost unlimted legth (multiple platens in line!), smooth and less load on the drive motor

 

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The draws above do exactly that. There are bearings both over and under the rails and also on the "floor to locate the draw left to right