[killerwebs]

Ok, so I fixed my white lines / damper issue, I cleaned the value where the cartridge attaches and then just needed some purging to clear it out the white lines.

Done. Printer works awesome, on all levels.

Came in the office this morning and all ink was sucked out of the printer overnight again. This happened maybe 3 weeks ago, on another firmware version.

This time the printer was not stuck in any circulation mode, it was idle.

Sucked it dry, basically have to start the fill process over. I am going to need more ink, and I think I might as well run cleaner thru it before i refill.

Emailed tech support and my sales rep, hopefully I hear back very soon, I have shirts to print. Will keep you updated.

 

[zoom_monster]

I know on the ealier generation printers that sometimes if the right conditions happened..you would get syphoning from the head to the capping station and out the waste bottle. If the emptying of the capping area is "passive", I would start at that point to see if there is a way to block this from happening. The "solution" for some people was to pinch off the exit tubes. Another thing to try would be to look at the capping station after the last job of the day, and make sure that it is completely drained. Let us know what ends up happening.

 

[killerwebs]

Just talked to tech support, she was going to check on it, she had not heard of this happening before. I am going to run cleaner thru the lines now and reload new ink. I keep the maintenance station very clean, clean it all the time.

 

[abhobden]

I know its a simple suggestion, but have you made doubly sure that the printer is level? as that effects the way the ink drains etc. A long shot but quite often its the simple things that cause the biggest problems and get overlooked easily.

 

[onthespotgraphix]

Ok, so I fixed my white lines / damper issue, I cleaned the value where the cartridge attaches and then just needed some purging to clear it out the white lines.

Done. Printer works awesome, on all levels.

Came in the office this morning and all ink was sucked out of the printer overnight again. This happened maybe 3 weeks ago, on another firmware version.

This time the printer was not stuck in any circulation mode, it was idle.

Sucked it dry, basically have to start the fill process over. I am going to need more ink, and I think I might as well run cleaner thru it before i refill.

Emailed tech support and my sales rep, hopefully I hear back very soon, I have shirts to print. Will keep you updated.

Chad,

I'm having this exact issue as I type this! My cartridges are completely full...new in fact. The color ink dampers are perfect....but the white ink dapmers are completely starved of ink and the lines show an overwhelming amount of bubbling in the lines and slight gaps. The more printhead cleans I do the worse the nozzle checks get to the point of no colors producing a half decent nozzle check. I'm still back on 1.0.1 because even after following the instructions to a tee...I still get BAD SUM, WRITE ERROR, NO INK, COMM FAIL sporadically for all inks.

I too have 200 shirts that were to be delivered today! I havent been able to even start. Whats the process for correcting the damper issue you were experiencing?

 

[23spiderman]

this may have been mentioned, but are you sure all the connections are tight where the lines connect to the carts/head? maybe some damaged o-rings? little bubbles aren't too bad, but gaps suggest air is getting into your system somewhere. if the color is fine, then there has to be something different with the white.

also, this is an issue if delicacy, but too many head cleanings can work against you as the ink foams up in the head. you have to wait for that to settle, but really your issue seems to be between the carts and the dampers.

 

[abhobden]

see my result in another post about dampers emptying. Tech support talked us through some things to do. Although after we followed their instructions, we ran out of ink and had to wait for some new cartridges. Ended up doing a complete refill as if we had just installed the printer. Once the ink got to the heads, we left it for 1 minute to completely fill everything up and to make doubly sure it was maxed out. So far so good although we are at early days yet.

 

[onthespotgraphix]

10 hours after my first post regarding this and still troubleshooting this. its really difficult when you are limited to firmwear 1.0.1 despite having brand new cartridges dated 4/24/2012. Were still getting the COMM FAIL, BAD SUMM, errors on the display which does not recognize the ink cartridges and therefore does not permit nozzle checks, printhead cleans etcetera. I completely disassembled the carriage assemby and removed the damber holding assembly and coulnt not figure out how to remove that balc round filter under the damper. My plan was to do what we used to do on the fp-125 which was to manually suck out all the bubble and gaps with a syringe. Re-assembled everything. filled print lines. purged print lines. print head clean 1. perfect nozzle plate. then i start to print a pattern and within a few passes the dampers empty out and the white gradually runs out. This thing is cursed!

 

[abhobden]

Did you try what I mentioned in the other post? We are on firmware 1.0.3 and are having bad cartridge issues but its cleared when re remove and reinsert the cartridge. We did have issues on the old firmware with the black cartridge saying bad chksum when we inserted a white cartridge but that seems to have corrected with new cartridges. You can do things in the hidden menu as per my other post.

 

[onthespotgraphix]

Did you try what I mentioned in the other post? We are on firmware 1.0.3 and are having bad cartridge issues but its cleared when re remove and reinsert the cartridge. We did have issues on the old firmware with the black cartridge saying bad chksum when we inserted a white cartridge but that seems to have corrected with new cartridges. You can do things in the hidden menu as per my other post.

I went back and followed the notes you gave Chad going through the hidden menu as well. nothing seems to work. nothing. At this point I'm screwed! My customer's event is tomorrow. I will have nothing to deliver. We kept pushing the deadline to resolve issues with the printer. We're close to pushing this printer out the window.

 

[killerwebs]

Update:

My white damper issues were resolved by line purges, and they really are much better now since the last time the ink emptied I ran cleaner fluid thru, before reloading ink.

However I went thru a set of ink just refiling the system, still have not heard back from support about replacement ink, will call tomorrow, they should send 2 sets of replacement ink, 1 for what was lost when the system emptied and 1 for what I supplied to refill it.

I still am finding air in the lines overnight, and hoping that it doesnt empty again, and have been offered no solution as to why it might be doing that.

 

[abhobden]

mmm, dampers emptying is an issue with everyone at the moment I think. Our white damper emptied over night. Apparently they are talking about cleaning of the white valves to help alleviate the problem until they can think of another solution. We are having banding issues now even with great humidity (around 60-65%).

 

[killerwebs]

I fought bad printing for 3 hours yesterday, gave up and tried again later, and it all started working better.

So I finished the shirts I needed to do.

Its very inconsistant, when its good its good, when its bad just makes you wonder why. Most things I end up fixing myself, some issues are beyond what I can do, like the disappearing ink issue.

 

[estrada]

Most things I end up fixing myself, some issues are beyond what I can do, like the disappearing ink issue.

On the epson based printers we have a waste maintenance tank where the ink of the heads cleans go. When we don't use the machine, we close the valve on that tank to prevent a syphoning condition where the capping station is wet and works as a sponge sucking the ink into the waste tank.

Where does your "disappearing ink" go to? Do you not have a waste tank? Can´t you install a valve or a clip to close that hose and prevent the ink from flowing?

 

[abhobden]

I fought bad printing for 3 hours yesterday, gave up and tried again later, and it all started working better.

So I finished the shirts I needed to do.

Its very inconsistant, when its good its good, when its bad just makes you wonder why. Most things I end up fixing myself, some issues are beyond what I can do, like the disappearing ink issue.

After I posted that our dampers were emptying again, we ran a circulation (we're on firmware 1.0.3) then a clean1 and left the printer for about 30mins and when we returned, the damper had filled up again. Great that it fixed itself but doesn't explain why it happened unfortunately.

 

[abhobden]

Update:

My white damper issues were resolved by line purges, and they really are much better now since the last time the ink emptied I ran cleaner fluid thru, before reloading ink.

However I went thru a set of ink just refiling the system, still have not heard back from support about replacement ink, will call tomorrow, they should send 2 sets of replacement ink, 1 for what was lost when the system emptied and 1 for what I supplied to refill it.

I still am finding air in the lines overnight, and hoping that it doesnt empty again, and have been offered no solution as to why it might be doing that.

How did you get on with the replacement ink?

 

[killerwebs]

Hello,

Here is an update

I have been talking with Ray in support about the ink loss issue. They did send out additional ink. I had started weighing the ink carts to see how much ink was being lost. It turned out I was losing 30-35 grams of ink per cart per day.

So while it initially appeared to be a quick loss of ink it was actually happening over the course of 7 days or so. Ray wanted to see pic of the print heads and maintenance station. After sending those he asked a clean both.

Now I already cleaned both of those what seemed like all the time, but what I was missing was the slight layer of ink buildup on the underside and edges of the print head and in between the print heads.

So after a lot of cleaning the print head and maint station were shiny like they were new. I guess I was too gentle while cleaning / wiping. But after cleaning the ink draining stopped.

Whatever build up was there was preventing a tight seal between the print head and o rings on the maintenance station during idle time.

It is no longer is losing ink, the nozzle checks are great, it's easy to get going in the morning, and prints really well with no banding.

I am still flopping between firm was because of some ink carts not being recognized, but as of now I am back on 1.0.3.

 

[onthespotgraphix]

Well lucky you Chad!

Now that your in good shape help me out since Anajet takes the weekends off despite the overwhelming amount of people needing assistance.

I started getting this frigin black line banding on my yellows. Its supposedly the black ink haivng too much pressure in the line. How do you correct this?

BP

 

[killerwebs]

Billy,

I have seen that issue and had that happen as well, but cleaning usually corrects it. I am always able to clear it up. I usually notice it on the nozzle checks where the yellow will have black bands at the top and bottom of the yellow nozzle check.

Give me a call if you like we can discuss, I learn more about these printers every day.

 

[abhobden]

Chad, you mention you are still finding air in the lines over night, is that still the case? When you get to the printer in the morning, do you have a regular series of steps you do to ensure good printing for the day?