# DTG Printhead not moving on startup



## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi,

I bought a secondhand DTG printer, Crystal Jet, based on the Epson 1290. The sellers say that it was working fine when it left them, but when I switch it on, the display panel says "Connecting..." and "Wait Online..."

The printhead does not move when switched on, and it is also not doing a self-check, as supposed to.

I've installed the drivers on my pc, but the pc is not finding the printer at all.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks!
Charene


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## Uncle John (Mar 11, 2007)

Try this, with the USB unpluged, reload the driver. reboot, then with the printer on, plug in the USB and see if you get new found hardware. Good luck, John


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Also you might want to go to epson.com and download a new driver to make sure you have the most current updated driver.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

charene said:


> Hi,
> 
> I bought a secondhand DTG printer, Crystal Jet, based on the Epson 1290. The sellers say that it was working fine when it left them, but when I switch it on, the display panel says "Connecting..." and "Wait Online..."
> 
> ...



I would unplug the printer from your computer. Then turn the printer on. On any of the Epson based printers the head should move side to side and then park. You should also be able to do a head cleaning from the control buttons of the printer. If it does not do any of these your problem is with the printer itself, not the driver or your computer.

Harry


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## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi,

Thank you all for your replies. I downloaded the latest driver from Epson's website, followed your advice below, and still nothing...

The printhead is not moving by itself, and is not parking either. The buttons for positioning the bed works fine, but the "clean" button does not respond. 

I have two sensors on either side of the print rail. Right one comes on when I raise the bed, but the left one is dead... Not sure if it should do this, or if this might be part of my problem...

Thanks again for your help...


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I would check the connections on your printhead to see that they are both connected firmly. If the ribbon cables are loose this can cause the print head to not respond.


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## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

Thanks, Bobby-Lee. I've just double-checked, and they seem to be firm. Do you think the second sensor light might have something to do with this, or not really? Any other ideas of where I might need to look?


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

You might also want to try unplugging the ribbon cables and looking really closely on the ends to see if their are any scorch marks at all. All it takes is one small scorch to make them not work properly. I am not familliar with the machine you have, just the common working parts and what can be wrong.


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## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

BobbyLee, I will definately have a look into this... Even though you're not familiar with my specific machine, all of you are of great help. This is my first DTG, and I'm rather clueless (especially about one in a working condition and about how it's supposed to react, haha...) I will keep you updated.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

You seem to have hardware issues, not software issues. Your best solution at this point is to get in touch with the Chinese manufacturer of the printer. Every printer brand has at least some unique components and how they interact together. That is why support availability can be as important a purchase decision as the actual printer itself. I do not believe this equipment manufacturer has any distributors outside of China so you will probably have to deal with them directly.

Harry


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## sodrisc (Apr 6, 2006)

charene said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thank you all for your replies. I downloaded the latest driver from Epson's website, followed your advice below, and still nothing...
> 
> ...


so its not doing the startup routine at all (press power button head swooshes back and forth, small head clean etc....)? do you still have the set of epson status lights with the crystaljet? paper feed, ink lights etc.... ? if so are they always red from power on or a few seconds after ? if its a few seconds after it could be a problem with the step sensor, maybe just some dirt/crap on there, if thats not aligned just right it will throw a error before it gets to the head swoosh etc... on startup.


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## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

I will look into the possibility of scorching of any of the connections, as well as dirt and alignment of the sensors. This all seems like excellent advice.
On the Crystaljet's panel, I've got three lights: POWER, READY and ERROR. The POWER light comes on immediately, but the other two does not come on at all. 
I also see a few working LED's at the back of the machine (inside) - some green ones and some red ones. Not sure if they're some of the ones that we need to check out?


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## Mistewoods (Jul 7, 2007)

epson 1290 - fixyourownprinter.com

This thread lists a bit of information specific to the printer your dtg is based on. You might be abel to download as service manual for that model or a close model adn figure some things out.

Have you contacted the person who sold it to you as in working condition for any advice or manuals they may have had?


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## charene (Sep 7, 2008)

Hi again,

Just to keep everybody updated:

I followed all advice above, and again a great big THANK YOU to everybody who replied. It is great to know that so many people out there is willing to help us newbies...

I also followed Harry's advice, and made contact with the Chinese manufacturers, Gateway.
I left a message on their webiste, and they got an engineer, Kendy to assist me. After explaining my problem to him, he compiled a Word document, including pics, with troubleshoot steps, to isolate the problem. I would have liked to post the document, but it is 2.8MB - I'm not sure how to go about. 

Anyway, from these steps, we established that the printer's power board is faulty, and they will be sending me a quote for a replacement. I will also see if there's a way that this one can be refurbished. 

I'm also considering the option to replace the Epson 1290 parts with that of a R2400 - I've got no idea of the implications... But I know that Gateway's new printers are built into exactly the same casing as was used for my printer. Doing it this way would mean that it will take a little longer for the parts to become obsolute. Any advice will be appreciated...

I will wait for their quote, and also see if I can find it locally in South Africa, and then decide from there.

As for the seller telling me that the machine was in a perfect working condition before shipment - what are your thoughts? 

Kind Regards,
Charene


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## ytfreak (Jul 13, 2014)

hello, do you managed to use your gateway DTG? How is your business doing? Would you recommend buying this equipment?


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