Sorry i have a question, how do u post a topic or a question? Thanks


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Sorry i have a question, how do u post a topic or a question? Thanks

Go to the that part of forum which are interested in and simply press the "Post new thread" button above the list of topics.

 

Hi zerg,

It is indeed normal to have ink on the wiper during cleaning. But, if the wiper is relatively old and has a build up of dried ink on its surface, then the wet ink could potentially get the head dirty instead of wiping it. You say that you tried another capping station (which could be a used one), but did you try installing a new capping station?

K.

 

Hi Kostas,

I didn't try new caping station but I made an exchange from one printer to another (both are relatively fresh). Caping station from problematic printer works fine with second printer. And caping station from the second didn't solve the problem in the first.

 

Then, i'm not entirely certain that it's the wiper to blame for this one. Double check that the t-shirt (or its fibers) don't touch the head at all during printing. After making the AUTO height adjustment, just press Down for 1'' and check again the nozzle check between intervals.

K.

 

Zerg71, what kind of ink are you using?

 

DuPont White and Polyprint power inks for CMYK.

Last days we had colder weather and the temperature was lower. Situation is much better but white nozzle check is still not perfect (few missing nozzles in random locations).

 

How old is the ink? When is the last time you change the dampers? Do you wet cap with solution?

 

Ink is fresh for sure, I've ordered it one or two months ago. I agitate it everyday.

Dampers and printhead are not even one month old.

I wet cap with solution for night, and even when I don't print anything for 2-3 hours.

I extended maintenance as far as it's possible, but it seems that nozzle problems are just DTG curse. You can fight it but you never know when printhead will be gone.

 

Zerg: Learning maintenance on DTG is important even if you have a $150,000 DTG printer so keep that in mind. One of my best friends works for a competitor running huge expensive DTG equipment (and many of them) and he deals with issues at least a few times a month so I know that my printers aren't unique in that.

You say you're having a cleaning problem, but is it affecting your print quality? Can you post a photo or video of this issue you're having?

One thing I do every day is to turn off my printers, unplug them, remove the carriage from the capping station and remove the wiper blade and soak it and rub it until it's clean. Then I also get my fingernail into the capping station gasket (surrounding the foam) and try to feel if there is ink dried there.

That gasket needs to be CLEAN and it's easy for ink to dry on it and be hidden. If that gasket isn't make a perfect seal on the printhead, you can get white ink foaming as air mixes with the ink evacuated during a cleaning.

During a standard cleaning I also make sure to squirt some cleaning solution into the capping station to try to help break down and remove as much ink from the foam as possible. Before I am done for the day I get my foam as white as possible and all the rubber (wiper blade, gasket) as spotless as possible.

 

You say you're having a cleaning problem, but is it affecting your print quality?

No, it's not affecting my prints by far. I can say that they're perfect. But I'm so sensitive at maintenance that even such a small thing is making me worried.

I do all the things that you mentioned about the cleanings (cleaning wiper and rubber gasket, pouring the solution into caping station etc.)

How about cartridges? How old are they?

They are about one year and two months old.

and head cables? Have you inspected them?

Last month I had a tech visit and he changed the head and dampers, so he also took a look at the cables obviously. Everything seems to be ok.

My supervisors decided to order a tech visit despite that I can do it all myself. Their decision was caused by magenta my last magenta problems on the second printer (another topic). I changed the whole ink anatomy head, ink assembly, caping station, cartridges and then after a week or more, I was loosing magenta after 3-4 prints. The case was a bad batch of ink

My distributor gave me two 250 ml magenta ink bottles for free.

In this week I work in another department so I don't have a look at the printers. Of course they have another operator. I hope she is doing everything properly By far she is not calling me with problems

Thanks for your support guys!

 

How about cartridges? How old are they?

 

and head cables? Have you inspected them?

 

What brand ink did you have that had bad magenta?

 

Polyprint POWER INKS

 

Ah I see, well we'll keep an eye out for our friend Zerg. Tell the new girl maintenance is key hahaha

 

Hi,
I am in a similar situation, the printer ( ibaought it second hand) had an overhaul six weeks ago and nearly everything was replaced (printerhead, caping station, dampers, ink system, ...) and I also have residues on the sides of the printerhead, and a dirty wiper (but I clean both as good as it gets, daily). Do you only use Polyprint cleaner and swabs or something more? (like Isopropanol?)

cheers

 

Hi,

Do you only use Polyprint cleaner and swabs or something more? (like Isopropanol?)

cheers

I use isopropanol for cleaning wiper and rubber gasket in the caping station. As Anthony mentioned above, it's good to clean the gasket and the wiper with fingernail. I think swabs are to soft to clean out the dried ink.

Use safety gloves and dust-free tissue soaked in isopropanol, then rub both parts (wiper and gasket) with your fingernail.

It is also important to clean the ribs around the carriage and sticks around the caping station. I also gently clean the metal parts on the sides of printhead.

Tell the new girl maintenance is key hahaha

Today I'm in the t-shirt part of company and everything seems to be ok so far

 

Polyprint just said (in a mail) no Isopropanol on rubber parts... but their Cleaner does not remove dried ink. does Isopropanol remove it? I also think that swabs do some job, but when soaked with ink, you just spread it even more, or you use 4-5 pieces each time...

 

Caping station is not expensive part, I think it's better to have some risk of damaging it when cleaning it with isopropanol (works waaay better) than wiping the head with dirty wiper.

Other way that works but consumes more time is rubbing the rubbers when they're dry.

 

If you clean the side of the head each morning, wiper at night and around capping top area and wet cap should be fine.

 

to remove ink, sometimes I use my hands to get off if necessary. Have to clean nails after though so I can have pretty nails. hahahaha just kidding but seriously, sometimes you have to get hands dirty or use gloves

 

Sorry to hear that. I know your frustrations. Hang in there! I also used super cleaning solutions in the capping station to try to keep it clean once a week. And used the antistatic qtip looking pad to wipe away any excess.

 

Not sure about the TexJet but if it's a standard Epson capping station, the wiper blade comes off (gently!). I keep spare wiper blades soaking in cleaning solution and I clean the top cap with distilled water, glycerin and a little iso. The foam turns white (clean) and the rubber gaskets come off very clean. I just rotate wiper blades daily after I do general PM.

On some Epsons, the top cap pops off if you're careful and can be scrubbed clean and reused.

One thing to also be aware of is that the capping stations are consumable parts and usually not too expensive. With my prior printers (R2880, R4880) I was rotating out capping stations every 5000 shirts or so, and then reconditioning the ones I pulled out.

If ink gets clogged in the exit tubes, you can actually have greatly reduced vacuum to the head.