# AI ink dripping from head



## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Hey, have a bit of an issue with my white Image Armor ink dripping from my print head. I noticed it doing it the other day after printing a bunch of white only images on dark shirts. I went to do some cmyk on white shirts and I was getting white ink drops and smears on the garments! I peeked at the head with a flash light and you could see white ink dripping from the head! 

I cleaned the head, capping station, changed the wiping cloth or whatever it is called on the opposite side to where the capping station is.....same thing kept happening. Spoke with the guys at spectra and they suggested moving the ink bags down which I tried and same thing, in fact I can have the white ink bags on the floor and it still happens!!! so its not a gravity thing. The ink is well shaken and like I said, I printed whites so I doubt its thinning ink. maybe a bad ink batch on the white?????

any suggestions on this anyone? I have pretty much tried what I know and what has been suggested to me by the team at spectra(thanks for the suggestions guys and the help).....I have so far ruined well over 10-15 shirts due to the white dripping after I initially start to use the machine trying to get jobs done and shirts to clients.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

I've had this happen with every DTG printer I've ever owned that uses bags, and it doesn't matter what brand of ink it is.

It's always an ink pressure situation, and it's always the end user's fault. If you had the bags too high, you probably overpressurized your ink cartridges and they do need to equalize. Sometimes a simple clean can help, but only if your bags are actually at the proper level. Putting bags on the floor can create a suction or underpressure which can actually cause the same issue.

Finding the proper bag height is a task that used to frustrate me but once you find that sweet spot or that range of sweet spots, the ink dripping problem goes away.

It isn't a bad batch of ink, and it isn't a bad printer -- it's just science.

Set the bags at the proper height as recommended by the printer maker, do a simple clean and let things equalize.

I used to ruin 20 shirts a day with my DTG printer I had 3 years ago, because I was never able to find the proper height for it.

The other issue to consider is how long you were causing this gravity pressure problem. If you had the bags way too high for too long, it's possible you have some dried ink contamination in the heads which is causing this problem to continue. How often do you print white ink? Have you done a cleaning solution purge every 2 months as recommended?


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Hi, thanks for the advice. I haven't had the printer long enough to do a cleaning. I had some banding issues and was told to make the bags higher and that helped with the banding. So I need to decrease the height to find a sweet spot then? I did have the bags up higher due to banding and dropped them down some, still had the issue and dropped them down some more, again had the issue. I have done a head clean when I dropped the bags(that was just coincidence though!). 
I was told to have the bags at just about the same height as the carts, however when I do that I get banding......do you have any recommendations on height? 
appreciate the response! hopefully I can get this sorted out as its killing me with the ruined shirts right now.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

Ruined shirts are part of the game -- in fact I am 99% certain I ruined over 200 shirts my first month of owning a DTG. I always suggest to newbs to use the same shirt 4 times during testing -- front side, back side, inside front, inside back. Keep at it until you've locked it in.

How's your humidity in the room? If you don't know, get a humidistat for $10 on Amazon and keep your humidity levels high. Winter is dry, and even after years of experience with DTG I still will forget humidity and have a run of bad prints.

What city are you located in and what kind of room are you printing in? Any chance of a heat vent or air vent blowing on the printer?

Secondly, the simple clean is the most basic cleaning but you never want to do one after another after another as you can burn out nozzles or create an air lock in the head. Try a simple clean and let it sit 5 minutes or 10 minutes and run a test print on a ruined shirt. I keep an entire plastic 40 gallon garbage can of ruined shirts for test print shirts!

Banding definitely happens if you have ink supply issues -- how are you suspending your bags? If you have a rack of some kind, mark the top where you get ink dripping and mark the bottom where you get banding and continue to adjust.

Also, whip out your trusty carpenter's level and confirm that your printer transport is LEVEL front to back and left to right. If your printer isn't level, it's also a possible cause of banding or dripping as the printer goes lower and higher from side to side.

Lastly, check with a magnifying glass and a bright light to make sure your printhead bottom hasn't picked up any shirt fibers. A single tiny fiber across the printhead can actually "suck" ink out of the printhead and create those drips.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Yeah I have a whole bunch of shirts I "practice" on and use both sides and in and out also 

I have a humidity gauge as I do signage and need to keep the area at a certain level anyways for my other equipment. 

I know to keep it above 50% and the heat over 70f. 

the printer is level for sure.

I will try moving the white around some and see if that will help and keep a check on where it is being moved to. I do have a peg board system that I use so I can easily move the bags up and down in seconds.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

I definitely suggest picking up a IV rack from Amazon, they're just $30 including shipping and they'll make adjusting a LOT easier. Plus they roll making it easier to move things around if you need access to the printer.

Report back either way!


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Thanks, I will report back for sure. Yeah I was going to go with an IV rack but decided on a peg board system, I have that next to my printer and bought the peg board hooks, I can move all 4 cmyk and all 4 whites up or down in literally 1-2 seconds....super easy!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

The optimal range of that sweet spot might fall between the holes -- I'm not sure how tolerant the ink pressurization system in the Epson you have is. My old Epson 2000-series printer was pretty intolerant of wide ranges and took forever to move up and down before I locked it in.

And then seasonal changes had an effect on pressure changes so I had to adjust seasonally. The new R3000 and P600 printers have pressurized ink, though, so maybe they're more tolerant the old Epsons were (no pressurized ink).

You give me good reason to go out and buy a Spectra and run it through the ringer -- maybe I'll do that today.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

There is certainly a lot to learn like all new equipment. I have had to learn with several pieces of equipment over the years so I am kind of used to screwing up stuff and learning from it! I just didn't realize that by moving ink bags up or down would cause problems like this....you live and learn though right!!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

It could be more than the bags, even -- as I mentioned, a tiny piece of shirt line can wick ink right out of the nozzle.

Also, if your shirt is too close to the printhead, the tiny fibers sticking out of the shirt can also wick ink out of the nozzles causing it to pool on the bottom of the printhead until it forms a drop. I generally recommend lowering your platen a notch or two just to make sure this isn't the cause, either.

My first year owning a DTG was learning something new every 2 weeks -- and I've been in inkjet production for almost 20 years so I am well versed with the technology. But DTG is still in its toddler years, no matter what machine you buy.

Wait until the day you need to print 120 white ink shirts and realize all 4 bottles of white ink you have on your stock shelf are empties...


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

I know they recommend having the platen at 3mm, I had it slightly to high I guess at first and was getting some print issues..once I adjusted it to the correct height it was all good. I can adjust down a touch though, I doubt that would make much difference.

Yeah, I work with ink jet machines for signage so I know exactly what you mean regarding thinking you have ink spares in the middle of a print and then you get the "oh crap" moment!!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

I killed a $20,000 Mimaki last year by breaking a $2 hose and not realizing it until it was too late. "Hilarious" moment. Logged into my credit card accounting desk and just went down the line clicking the refund button a few dozen times.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

man that sucks! its amazing how something so small can cause so big a problem right!
I run a vp540i roland, a gerber edge fx and various plotters so I have certainly been in situations over the 16 years to know what you mean!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

When in doubt...

https://youtu.be/RF6bUr3pPaQ


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## Comicsans (Nov 7, 2012)

Yeah, probably has something to do with ink height of the bags.

I use the bags connected to IV pole method. 

Initially I had the bags very high compared to the printhead. Alot of the IV bag setups have the ink raised above the printhead about 1 foot.

I had this setup until about 250ml of black drained to my waste tank overnight. Maybe the capping seal didnt work that night, but I think it was due to the high level of the inks.

Now I have the bags level with the printhead. No problems since.


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## MungoLarry (Jan 10, 2016)

Thanks for the information!


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

yeah thanks for the info. I have put the white bags level with the carts and I am hoping that will work. I will try it again today. 
so basically, if I move the bags up or down do I have to then do a clean.......then leave it and see if it is still leaking? and have to do a cleaning every time I move the bags up or down? or can I just move the bags up or down without doing a cleaning and it will stop leaking? just I have moved them up and down several times and its still leaking......trying to figure out this whole equalization thing!


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

Yes, I think it's a good idea to do a head cleaning to "re-prime" to the new bag height. 

You might want to also test just the cartridges without bags to rule out other potential issues.



mattb said:


> yeah thanks for the info. I have put the white bags level with the carts and I am hoping that will work. I will try it again today.
> so basically, if I move the bags up or down do I have to then do a clean.......then leave it and see if it is still leaking? and have to do a cleaning every time I move the bags up or down? or can I just move the bags up or down without doing a cleaning and it will stop leaking? just I have moved them up and down several times and its still leaking......trying to figure out this whole equalization thing!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

That's an excellent idea, Psychobilly -- fill up the carts and detach the bags to confirm it isn't something else.

Actually I don't have a Spectra (ordering two in the next day or two, though), so I have no idea how their CISS works. Does the CISS have an extra plug hole that needs to be sealed but can be accidentally unplugged? I know some CISS systems have a fill hole that a lot of people leave unplugged but generally needs to be replugged after filling or priming.


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

Yes, it has a fill hole that has a plug in it. The bulk ink lines feed into the air/breather hole.

I leave the air hole open on my cleaning carts.



treefox2118 said:


> That's an excellent idea, Psychobilly -- fill up the carts and detach the bags to confirm it isn't something else.
> 
> Actually I don't have a Spectra (ordering two in the next day or two, though), so I have no idea how their CISS works. Does the CISS have an extra plug hole that needs to be sealed but can be accidentally unplugged? I know some CISS systems have a fill hole that a lot of people leave unplugged but generally needs to be replugged after filling or priming.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

And the air hole is plugged on your ink carts?


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

The Spectra has ink bags. The line from the ink bags goes into the air hole in the cartridge. All bulk ink is set up this way (unless they go into dampers).

The cartridges are just like all epson re-fillables, 2 holes. One to fill ink and one air hole.

If you're using bulk ink (CISS) you can leave the fill hole plugged.




treefox2118 said:


> And the air hole is plugged on your ink carts?


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

Good to confirm.
@mattb are your ink hole plugged or unplugged?


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

I use ink bags that go to carts that go to dampers..my ink holes in the carts are plugged.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

so....still have the same issue! so far I have put in all new white ink in case it was a bad batch, changed the dampers, made the ink higher, lower etc........I have the exact same issue no matter what I am trying! 
this is soooo frustrating! basically if you stand in front of the printer looking at the print head, on the right hand side of the print head you can see a perfect line of white beads going from the front of the print head to the back all in a row...so I am guessing it is just one line that is the problem. I have no idea how to solve this to be honest and I am just ruining shirts trying to print cmyk prints without getting white dripping on to them! 

does anyone anywhere have any suggestions or thoughts on this? maybe something I have missed or over looked.


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

did you try printing without the bags attached?





mattb said:


> so....still have the same issue! so far I have put in all new white ink in case it was a bad batch, changed the dampers, made the ink higher, lower etc........I have the exact same issue no matter what I am trying!
> this is soooo frustrating! basically if you stand in front of the printer looking at the print head, on the right hand side of the print head you can see a perfect line of white beads going from the front of the print head to the back all in a row...so I am guessing it is just one line that is the problem. I have no idea how to solve this to be honest and I am just ruining shirts trying to print cmyk prints without getting white dripping on to them!
> 
> does anyone anywhere have any suggestions or thoughts on this? maybe something I have missed or over looked.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

That's my next option. I was speaking with Anthony creek yesterday and I thought as a temporary solution until I can figure out what's causing this, is to pinch the lines going from the bags to the carts. That way no ink from the bags will flow to the carts.
I am clutching at straws right now! I had my heat press nest to the printer, so I even moved that in case the heat was heating the inks up to much....same thing still happened.
I cleaned the nipples on the ink bay where the carts go in, I cleaned up the rubber on the carts that go on to the nipples....you name it I am trying it!
Technically moving the bags up and down shouldn't really affect the ink flow to the point its running out of the head since it is a pressurized system. I did noticed that since I had my whites lowered to the same height as the carts to see if that would work the white ink was dulled and banding to the point I had to raise it to get better results.
no matter where the bags are I still get the same ink dripping from the right hand side of the head. its like I channel is stuck open or something!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

Pinching the lines sounds like a bad idea, won't it cause the ink to not flow out of the nozzles?

The only thing I can think of is that you didn't print often enough, let the ink gum up the nozzles and the nozzles expanded during a cleaning, causing a broken printhead.

Do you have a modular you can swap onto the platen transport?

Without knowing how often you printed, shook the ink and ran head cleans, it is hard to diagnose. But if the ink won't stop flowing, my guess is badly maintained ink that led to printhead failure.

How many shirts a day were you printing on average leading up to the problem?


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

I ran with white ink if not daily, every other day. I shook up the bags, carts and lines daily, most of the time twice daily just to be safe. I maintain the print head and clean exactly as I was told by spectra. I cycled between white and cmyk as normal just Like 99% of anyone dtg printing would do. I have asked both Jay and Anthony if they thought it was the print head, in fact that was the first question I asked and they both said definitely not.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

Did you get this figured out? I am having the exact same problem you are. Only one band of white ink dripping from the head. Tried everything you have and nothing works.


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

If you can rule out too much ink pressure, then you could have semi-clogged nozzles.

This has happened to me before on an r1800 based DTG, I pulled the head out and did a proper waterfall/reverse waterfall. All was good after that. 

Also, you might want to check out the dampers on the r3000.



scoobysam said:


> Did you get this figured out? I am having the exact same problem you are. Only one band of white ink dripping from the head. Tried everything you have and nothing works.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

Is it a possibility it could be the capping station? I have never replaced this before.

Also, could the nozzles be clogged even though when I do a white ink purge they all look fine? Nozzle check is fine as well.


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## Psychobilly (Jul 23, 2010)

How's the wiper blade look?



scoobysam said:


> Is it a possibility it could be the capping station? I have never replaced this before.
> 
> Also, could the nozzles be clogged even though when I do a white ink purge they all look fine? Nozzle check is fine as well.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

replaced the wiper a month ago and have been cleaning it daily. Clean the wiper and capping station seal at the end of the day everyday so it's basically new still


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## Comicsans (Nov 7, 2012)

The epson R3000 has had an issue with the PK causing black steaks on photo prints. If it is only the PK channel it might be a mechanical issue. Google drips r3000.

I had a refurbished R3000 that did this. Could be a possibility for you, especially if it happens with only carts being used.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

Hey Scooby, I never did it sorted out. tried a bunch of stuff, was in the middle of swopping out new dampers again and the machine just died on me! I am now having to send it off to spectra for them to fix it, sorry I couldn't be of any more help right now...if I do find out what it was I will for sure let you know.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

I think I mine might be due to the image armor white ink. I recently changed to this 2-3 months ago. Martin at dtgprinterparts was telling me it was probably the white ink separating. He said image armor needs to be agitated for a long time each day. When I looked at my ink cartridges they were separated. I ordered all new dupont inks, cartridges, and flushing kit. I'm going to flush everything and use all new white ink and cartridges. Hopefully this fixes the problem. Also ordered a new head just in case.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

scoobysam said:


> I think I mine might be due to the image armor white ink. I recently changed to this 2-3 months ago. Martin at dtgprinterparts was telling me it was probably the white ink separating. He said image armor needs to be agitated for a long time each day. When I looked at my ink cartridges they were separated. I ordered all new dupont inks, cartridges, and flushing kit. I'm going to flush everything and use all new white ink and cartridges. Hopefully this fixes the problem. Also ordered a new head just in case.


Keep me posted on this please, I would love to see if it is the AI inks. Thing with mine is it seems to be only 1 line/channel that was leaking...... I was told also it may well be the AI white ink but since my printed died on me I will have to wait to see what happens. If it continues I will probably change over to DuPont.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

Yea mine seems to be only 1 channel too. I should get the new inks this week. I'll keep you posted


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

different viscosity?


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

I find it really strange though that it only leaks from one place/channel(with mine it was the far right hand side of the print head)......can't figure out why it would do that. I agitated the inks in the mornings and evenings, sometimes even during the day.....I moved the bags, the lines going to the carts, shock the carts and even went as far as "flicking" the rubber lines inside the printer going to the print head....did that two, sometimes three times a day! what more would I need to do! I also printed regularly with whites and cmyk.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

So it looks like I have resolved this by using new white inks. I did a full flush and then got all new dupont white inks and cartridges. Did another flush to get the cleaning solution out and now all is well. No more white ink drops out of the head and prints perfectly now. I will never buy image armor again...nothing but headaches with this ink. Stick with dupont inks


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## Brian Walker (Jul 28, 2008)

Just so everyone knows, this is NOT an issue with the Image Armor inks. And Peter it is not due to different viscosities or other variances. There is a known issue with the R3000 with Epson and ink dripping from the heads - and NOT the inks. The same dampers etc are used in the 3880 and the P800.... and P600

See the issues on these links from people not even using DTG inks - but the same ISSUE outside this industry on the same print heads....

Epson Photo R3000 drips black ink onto prints.: Printers and Printing Forum: Digital Photography Review

See screen shot.... And this is just one of hundreds you can find outside the DTG realm. This has nothing to do with the Image Armor inks.....


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

I'm going to disagree because it was the image armor white inks that made mine leak. I switched back to dupont and now all is perfect with no leaks. With the image armor I kept getting white ink from one channel constantly dripping from the head. Apparently agitating twice a day, including bags and cartridges wasn't enough. IMHO I would stay away from image armor


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

scoobysam said:


> I'm going to disagree because it was the image armor white inks that made mine leak. I switched back to dupont and now all is perfect with no leaks. With the image armor I kept getting white ink from one channel constantly dripping from the head. Apparently agitating twice a day, including bags and cartridges wasn't enough. IMHO I would stay away from image armor


Hey Scooby, you still leak free since using dupont? hopefully will be getting my printer back from spectra soon and have been told by a number of people to switch over to DuPont and ditch ia inks.


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## scoobysam (Jan 21, 2016)

Yes still 100% leak free. Not a single sign of ink drops on the head.


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## Comicsans (Nov 7, 2012)

Is there anyone who has used image armor white in a production environment with no printhead problems?

A lot of assurances are coming from users who either sell IA or have a connection with IA. If someone has had success, it would be great to know what printer and maintenance schedule has been used.


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## mattb (Mar 25, 2015)

good to hear you got that solved Scooby. something I really need to think about then, changing over to DuPont. do you see a big difference with DuPont vs IA at all? washability for example.


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## allamerican-aeoon (Aug 14, 2007)

IA. FB. DuPont. INKS. Nazdar, Fuji Sencient etc all are decent inks. It is your call who do you going to trust on consistency. Good today questionable tomorrow should be avoided.
We have so many worries in Dtg business. Ink should not be a one of them.
Cheers to TSF! Beers are on me always.


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## Mind Plugs (Apr 7, 2016)

I am having a bit of trouble and am in need of some expertise. I recently purchased a Spectra 3000 used about two weeks ago.

My nozzle checks are almost non visible & My Head is dripping ink when I print.
(The platen height is two quarters away from the head) The ink bags are level with the cartridges. I will continue to to adjust their height and see if the dripping stops. 

When using the rip program I can use the layers option and it prints on white shirt great and blacks decently. (it just drips across the shirt, ruining it) - Though if I do any single passes it prints very light, faded. 
- I still need to check for fibers on the head. 

I ordered some glog protection solutions and cleaning solution. When I receive the clog protection can I put that in the flushing cartridges and run head cleanings to see if can help with the problem? How can I clean the system manually and check for clogging?

I also am currently doing two things that I am uncomfortable with but the guy I bought the machine said it was fine. (He obviously wanted to sell for some reason so maybe he wasn't the best person to listen to)

I am running two different inks. My Colors are Image Armor and my white is dupont...is that okay?

The other questionable setup is.
When I switched the flushing cartridges to the smaller ink cartridges to install the white, I did not have C, LLK, LK, Or PK. For some reason the guy had 4 extra "MK" I used the MK in the other slots. I did have the correct chips though and they are on the cartridges in the correct slots.

I understand this is probably not ideal and I take responsibility for the consequences because if I doubted the source I should have seeked out better help.

Im hoping its not too late and I can save having to purchase a new head on a newly purchased printer. 

Print made today-->


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## Island Designs (Sep 14, 2014)

Mind Plugs said:


> I am having a bit of trouble and am in need of some expertise. I recently purchased a Spectra 3000 used about two weeks ago.
> 
> My nozzle checks are almost non visible & My Head is dripping ink when I print.
> (The platen height is two quarters away from the head) The ink bags are level with the cartridges. I will continue to to adjust their height and see if the dripping stops.
> ...


Did the original owner do a nozzle check before you purchased the printer and how old was the print head in the unit?


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## Mind Plugs (Apr 7, 2016)

Yes the original owner did a nozzle check and a print in person before I purchased it. The printer is about 6 months old. I believe. I spoke with somebody today and they said in order to do the nozzle check I actually have to install separate software so I am going to give that a tr.. once I can locate the software.


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## gullprint (Mar 11, 2015)

When you decided to get rid of r3000 please let me know. I'm interested & can fix it.


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