# Epson 4880 head clogging problem fixes.



## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

I recently had a very aggravating problem with the print head on one of our 4880 printers. It was working great, then all of a sudden out we started getting all kinds of banding and horrible print quality! I ran a nozzle check and was missing the top half of every color and the bottom half was very spotted. So I ran severial head cleaning and things just seemed to get worse.

So I called the company I purchased my Hybrid system from and they had me run more head cleanings, wanted me to waste another $100 on PrintJockey software.(which they did end up sending me a free copy.) After I installed this software and ran more head cleanings on each channel there was still no improvement. I was about ready to through this thing in the trash and call it a right off hell I had already wasted close to a thousand Dollars in ink.

I decided to give sawgrass a call and see if they could help it is their ink. They were great they quickly explained to me that if after two head cleanings you still have a clog then your problem is probably somewhere else.They had me flush the capping station with an eyedropper and some cleaning solution and then had me remove the Flushing Box and clean it with warm running water under the sink. I only had to remove 1 easy to get to screw and the whole procedure took about ten minutes. 

I believe my problem was the flushing box because it was completely clogged on the top and you could not even see the mesh over the filter, this is where your printer pulls ink through for head cleaning so if it is clogged you are just wasting ink and further clogging your head because the ink has no where to go.

After this simple and free maintenance the printer works great again. To get the print head out of the way just fallow the instructions to change the cutting blade this will move the head to the center position. 

In the pic below you can see the capping station and the Flushing box. Just remove the carefully remove the screw and take out the Flushing box to clean.

Hope this helps someone as much as it did me.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Daniel,

Glad to hear that you were able to get the printer fixed. Thanks for posting the solution to your problem.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

I have also been in contact with Sawgrass all week and went through all the steps you mentioned and I still have a clog in the Blue Channel. the same as before. Sawgrass had me soak the heads with Simple Green for 20 minutes as well but that did not seem to help. They are now FED eXing me 2 free cartridges so I can do the next step which is a Power Clean. 

The company I bought my printer from wants me to soak the print heads over night instead of just 20 minutes so I am donig that right now before I do the power clean. Because if the Power Clean does not work, Sawgrasses next step is to do a full flush of the system. At this point I am dumping all this money trying to determine it is a clogged head and if it isn't, I get a new printer but have invested $2,400 in sawgrass to get up and running with the replacement printer. There has to be a better way!!


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

The Company I bought the printer also suggested I use Windex instead of Simple Green and also saturate a small swatch of t-shirt material and place it on the Capping Station. I have not done that yet I will wait to see how the simple green overnight does first.

Is this fix because the Windex is stronger and saturating material instead of the capping station will keep the fluid next to the heads longer without going into the maintenance tank? I was afraid to try this method until I got a little more feedback.
Has anyone else heard of this? I really do not want to do a power Cleaning if I don't have to.


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## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

I don't know about printer heads but I would stay away from Windex because it really pits up surfaces other than glass pretty fast. It was popular to use in the Airbrushing industry to clean clogged airbrushes and it worked great except the more you used it the more clogs you got and the harder they where to get out. Has your printer ever had the stock Epson inks in it?


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks for the input on the Windex, It sounded like a harsh way to go. I will try the Simple Green overnight trick. Have you heard of soaking a swatch and placing it on the capping station. Is this to keep the solution from going down the to the maintenance tank. My concern was it would also keep the clogged ink from draining as well. Kinda like when the Capping station is all gunked up.

My printer has never had the stock cartriges in it but I am holding onto them in case I have to return the printer. In fact you just gave me a great idea.

Can I do all these trouble shooting steps using the Epson inks and save from wasting all the sub inks. Or after purging the ink in the lines and then having to recharge them later pretty much going to wast as much as the Powerclean? If the Powerclean does not work and Sawgrasses next step is the full flush and recharge, shouldn't I at least use the Epson inks after that. I have seen brand new sets of 4880 carts on ebay going for just a little over 100.00 that is less than one Sawgrass cartridge. Troubleshooting with regular ink sounds like a better idea to me. I realize that Sub ink is thicker than regular ink but it would still either clear the clog or determine that it is a faulty head right?

Boy I just do not know which way to go.


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## SBEMedia (Jun 26, 2008)

I would ask Sawgrass if their is going to be a reaction between the two inks. I am pretty sure if you look on their website under the trouble shooting section for the c120 they tell you to test the print head with the epson Ink, but I am not sure if I am remembering that correctly or not. I have a Chromablast hybrid sub so I don't have all that much experience with the sub ink.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

The best way to flush the system would be to see if you can get a hold of some refillable cartridges and some cleaning fluid. I am not sure what the price is on the 4880 refillable cartridges if there are any out there. For the 4800, I got the 8 refillable cartridges and cleaning fluid from www.dtginks.com for around $130.00 (i.e. below the cost of one Sawgrass cartridge). I know that some of the companies doing dtg printers use refillable carts for their modified 4880 printers, so they have to be out there. Just depends on what price you can buy them for. 

I have also heard that some types of Windex has wax in it that can clog up your maintenance station. I have heard positive things from dtg owners about the Clog Prevention Solution / Clog Buster product. Because it is thicker, you can only put this stuff in the maintenance station. I think it is only about $15 at DTGInks.com as well. Might be worth the try before you start flushing the entire ink system. If you do flush your ink system, make sure that you get a chip resetter or a new waste tank.

Hope these are some alternatives that will give you and Sawgrass some things to think about.

Mark


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Well, I soaked the heads in Simple Green for 18 hours and now the machine is running perfect. I wonder why Sawgrass does not suggest a longer soak time. Now I will just have to wait and see if the blue channel stays free for more than a couple days. Because in the past, after freeing it up it clogged again. But so far so good, maybe I just had to really get some nasty clog that kept reappearing. Is this something that can happen while charging the system up for the first time because this has been the case since owning the 4880.


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## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

i,m an european and sometimes I misunderstand some of the trade names of a few of your products, so could anyone be nice and tell me what Simp0le green is?


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

Ino,

Simple Green (Simple Green) is just a household cleaner that is not as harsh on plastics and other parts found in equipment. It is also reported that it does not have the wax that some of the Windex brands have. So it tends to be a good way to clear clogs in printheads without damaging them. If that does not work, there is an official capping station solution from Epson that most of the distributors can provide... but that might be the last resort. Hope this clarifies things for you.

Mark


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## ino (Jan 23, 2007)

thanks Mark, I,m getting there.
cheers


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## brbpro (May 13, 2008)

Heres somthing I read about in a trade mag. Harvey Head Cleaner keeps heads clean If you don't use your printer every day this program keeps heads clear. I'm thinking of getting it. Also another thing to try is a sponge in a dish to keep the moister high inside printer because it's too dry where you have the printer. I'm trying that trick now


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Another option to Harvey Head cleaner is Printer Jockey. I chose this over Harvey Head Cleaner because it will run Daily prints but it will also allow you to select that channel that is giving you problems and work on just that head instead of cleaning all heads. The flush wasn't succesful against my really screwd up blue head but neither was Sawgrasse's PRN files you run through the Print Spooler and Printer Jockey is 100 times faster to work with than the Sawgrass PRN files. But if you are broke and need to address flushing specific heads you can get permission from Sawgrass and they will give you a password to download thier PRN files to run through your spooler. It works like Printer Jockey except you cannot adjust the amount of ink layed down like you can in Printer Jockey.


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## outputimages (Sep 22, 2008)

I had this same problem and could see ink build up on top of flushing box. Removed this and flushed under hot water. Found applying small amounts of IPA between flushing with water removed clogging well. Once I had done this, dried it and re-installed and completed a nozzle check the print is perfect again. Wouldn't recomend using IPA on print head but no problem on the flushing box part so long as rinsed thoroughly with hot water.


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## sene (Nov 9, 2007)

hi there all,

I am having a problem with my epson cx5900 printer using sublimation inks. The magenta ink head is completely blocked and not printing at all. I have returned both my printers (both had the exact same problem)to my supplier but they are not having any luck and it has now been a week and my business is taking a knock and I am at my wits end because i really dont want to buy another printer and end up with the same problems. I was hoping that someone can give me some advise on why this is happening with the same colour on all my printers, am I doing something wrong? I am quite new to sublimATION AND GOING MAD.......PLEASE help me.


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## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

I use rubbing alcohol. Squirt with syringe filled with alcohol on all the foam in the capping station until saturated. Let sit overnight. Works for me every time. There is also a very thin strip of foam that acts as a head wiper. I saturate that too.


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## sene (Nov 9, 2007)

Thanks Luis, will give it a go. Will let you know if it helps. hope so 'coz i am losing so much valentines business.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Hey Guys - 

Have seen numerous posts about "soaking" the print heads in Simple Green. I have one color that isn't printing perfectly and I wanted to try it.

*Where exactly do you put the solution to soak the head? Is it the capping station? How much solution do you put in it? Anything else I should try?*

May seem like an obvious question, but I didn't see the apparent answer. 

BTW, the photo in the first post was very nice - helped me locate and clean out the flushing box! Thanks.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

If you have ran several head cleanings, have you done a power cleaning from the printer?


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

conde tech said:


> If you have ran several head cleanings, have you done a power cleaning from the printer?


Sonya:

Not sure if you were replying to me - but I was trying to figure out where the simple green should go for the soak - and how much to put in.

I did not run a power clean, as I was told that you should try other things before that as a last resort - because of how much ink it uses.

I did go into the SublijetIQ print driver, clicked on utilities, and ran a nozzle check. Then after that didn't look perfect, ran an auto clean from the same screen. That cleaned up all but the magenta nozzle.

That's where I am at.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Raise the cover on the printer. Using your left hand...reach across your body and place your left hand on the print head. Your fingers are on the back of the print head. Your palm is on the side. And, your thumb is on the front. With your thumb...locate the spring loaded pin ...it should have blue plastic on top.(Not the piece with the sideway arrow)Push the spring loaded pin down and move the print head over to the left side of the printer. Next, if you look where the print head is normally docked you will see the capping station. ...there are 2 pads with grids. On the 4000 series Epson printers, you should clean them every 6 months...OR if when you have SEVERAL colors missng from your nozzle check. If you have one or two colors missing and have performed head cleanings, do a power cleaning.

Hope this helps.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Thanks for your help!



conde tech said:


> Push the spring loaded pin down and move the print head over to the left side of the printer.


I read somewhere that you can use the cutter replace function to move the head over, and I was able to confirm that works to move the print head over. 




> Next, if you look where the print head is normally docked you will see the capping station. ...there are 2 pads with grids. On the 4000 series Epson printers, you should clean them every 6 months...OR if when you have SEVERAL colors missng from your nozzle check. If you have one or two colors missing and have performed head cleanings, do a power cleaning.


So, you put how much simple green solution in the capping station (see picture in post one of this thread) to clean it? Do you fill it to the brim? Do you use a syringe to put a specific amount in?

And when you say clean them, you mean soak the print heads every 6 months right?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Use a diluted version of Simple Green and water. ....one part simple green....two parts water. Using a syringe to saturate pads.....gently scrub with saturated cloth or paper towel...move print head over and do a head cleaning from the computer. You can move the print head back to its normal docking poistion and let soak overnight.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

conde tech said:


> Use a diluted version of Simple Green and water. ....one part simple green....two parts water. Using a syringe to saturate pads.....gently scrub with saturated cloth or paper towel...move print head over and do a head cleaning from the computer. You can move the print head back to its normal docking poistion and let soak overnight.


Sonya - sorry - maybe this is obvious to everyone... but bear with me...

Gently scrub the capping station?

And how much simple green are you supposed to use? Saturate till you can see liquid on top or just enough so all the soluton soaks up?

Thanks for your help.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

The pads are going to be stiff. Get a 10-12ml/cc syringe w/out needle. Fill the syringe w/ the solution. Squirt about half of the syringe on each pad...make sure you get the TWO pads with the grids on top. When you first look in the print ..there will be three side by side....find the two with the grids/grate on top. The first time you squirt the solution...it wil probably pool up. It OK..as my 2 1/2 year old niece would say. Let the pads absord the solution and saturate your cloth or towel with the soloution and gently wipe each pad. Don't be surprise if you get a slimy film off...it is ok. 


Give me a call if you like. I will be here for about 30 mins.


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## DAGuide (Oct 2, 2006)

I will also add that anytime you use water... use distilled water as it does not have all the minerals in it. This goes for any type of printer (sublimation, inkjet transfers, dtg printer,...).


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

How is your printer?


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

conde tech said:


> How is your printer?


Overnight soaking seems to have helped.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Good...call me if I can be of further assistance.


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

Sonya, or anyone else,

I am leaving on a trip for a week and will not be using the 4880 printer. I must say this scares me due to the fact I have had a lot of costly clogging issues.

What should I do to keep from clogging. I actually have a neighbor coming over daily to keep my humidifier pumping to hold my 60% humidity. That seems to be helping. 

I have the timed prints option from Print Jockey but that seems to error after about 2 days.

I have heard to lower the levers on the cartridge bays.

I was wondering if I should do the simple green treatment before I leave. or would that be bad to not run a cleaning after a day of soaking.


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## Daniel Slatkin (Jun 25, 2008)

I would at the minimum wet the capping station with water really good before leaving town. So it was at least sitting in a moist capping station.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Just raise the ink levers....only clean the capping station if you have SEVERAL colors missing from your nozzle ck. What is the error you are getting with Printer Jockey?

If you are in an area that is going to experience thunderstorms while you are gone, turn the printer off ...with the ink levers raise. Power outages or disruptions can cause the printer to get "Service Required" errors.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Well, I was wrong. 

The clogging came back. Now it's both magenta channels - both dye sub side and chromablast side.

Chromablast is about 80% clogged.

DyeSub side isn't printing anything at all.

These are brand new cartridges as well. Just installed in the last week - so lack of ink isn't an issue.

This is very frustrating. Tried soaking overnight and still have the same issue. 

When "soaking" - you do it with the printer turned off right? This allows the pads to rest against the heads. I used simple green with distilled water mixed as mentioned and 10ml via syringe - 5 in each pad.


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## #2! (Mar 25, 2009)

Iv done everything mentioned in this thread plus have changed out the carts and a few power cleaning cycles which seems to make things worse every time. I pulled out the flushing box and completely cleaned that out and tried soaking the heads in simple green 2 times overnight and then once over this whole weekend. Any thing else i can do?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Are you using refillable carts? 

If not, run cleaning carts through the printer. Your vendor should have them in stock. You will need to purge the printer before installing them. Please feel free to give me a call.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Indeed sawgrass sent me cleaning carts. Can you run just one color or do you need to run them all at once. I'm going to call them for follow up tomorrow. They had sent them and they arrived over the weekend. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else I should do before doing that.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Install all cleanings carts.....you will need to raise the ink levers and remove sublimation carts. With the ink levers RAISED... turn off the printer. The printer will purge itself of sub ink. Once printer settles down, turn it back on...install the cleaning carts and lower ink levers. Follw the instructions on the LCD of printer. When printer is READY, run a power cleaning..then a nozzle check. If nozzles are still clogged, run another power cleaning. You may want to let the cleaning solution sit overnite in the printer.

When you get a good nozle check, purge printer again and install sublimation inks.


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## #2! (Mar 25, 2009)

So it will still be able to print out a nozzle check with the cleaning carts?


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

yes...it will be light pink.


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## levelbest (Mar 12, 2007)

Ugh - frustration continues.

Went thru the whole process as instructed - with the cleaning carts on my 4880. Did 2 power cleans with the solution. Even let em soak. Then drained and recharged with ink per sawgrasses instructions. BTW, I did try to print a test when the cleaning fluid was in and couldn't see a thing on the paper.

Everything looks great now except my ChromaBlast Magenta which is still printing about 80% of the nozzle check test pattern. And this is a new Magenta Cart just installed. The magenta on the sublijet IQ side is perfect now so that's cleared up.

So, as you might imagine - I'm at a loss. Not sure what to do. 

Luckily we have some sub orders right now and no chroma - though we did do 2 chroma shirts last week and at 80 percent, they looked good enough, but I could see banding on the paper before we pressed them on. The finished product looked good enough to deliver to the customer.


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## JanetSeay (Jul 18, 2009)

How do I remove the print head so I can soak them? I'm having problems with clogged print heads the cleaning the capping station and flushing box have not helped.

Thanks,

janet


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Don't remove the print head. You can saturate the capping station with diluted Simple Green and Distilled Water, ...1 part Simple Green/ 2 parts Distilled Water. Once you have saturated capping, move the print head back to it nornal docking position. Go to the computer and perform a head cleaning. Perform the entire process 5 times. Then, let the print head sit overnight on the saturated capping station pads.


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## Lnfortun (Feb 18, 2006)

5 times head cleaning cylce is a lot of ink. I use rubbing alcohol to saturate the foams in the docking station two or three times over night before head cleaning cycles.


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

Hello. I hope someone can help me. My printer ran out of ink for almost 2 weeks ago. I got the new ink today and refilled 7 out of 8 cartridges. I ran a powerclean, then printed the test pattern. Cyan was missing. So I ran a nozzle clean. Nothing happened. So I ran a nozzle clean again. Still no luck. I ran a powerclean. Still no Cyan. Now, my supplier told me to tak out the head and clean in. I did. I removed the head, flushed trough each channel with alcohol (I use solvent ink). All jets are open and produce a nice spray.
I assemble and do a powerclean again. Print the testpattern. NO PRINT!
I do the nozzle clean several times, but still NO PRINT at all! 
OK, so we took out the head again, checked everything, flushed again and every channel is open as hell. Assemble, nozzle clean, test pattern, nozzle clean. NOTHING happens! Not a spot of ink on the paper.
I feel the weight of the cardridges, and it seems quite heavy. After so many powercleanings, it should be almost empty like the level indicator shows. The maintenance tank is not very heavy or soaked either.
So I suspect ink not coming trough.. What can I do?
This machine is only weeks old. I have done some printing every other day and now I have a very big order I wish to finish. 
I will contact the supplier tomorrow.. but hope that someone here can give me some hints..


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

If no ink is working on any of the channels I would look first at the capping station seal (Making sure that is clean) so that it would make a good seal on the bottom of the print head, if it were only one color and the rest were working than i would look at the damper.If the capping staion seal is clean I would than think that the capping station has become clogged or has gone bad.
Who makes the solvent ink that you have in your printer? (Brand)
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

Thanks
Can the capping station really make the printer not produce a single drop of ink on the products I try to print?? Ok, I will look at it tomorrow.

I bought the machine and ink from China. Kingie Elec-tech.

R


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

> Can the capping station really make the printer not produce a single drop of ink on the products I try to print??


There are other parts that could go bad, if improper repair was done, like on the print head ribbon cables or even the motherboard, If you got the ribbon cables wet than turned on power than there is a good chance that you fried your motherboard and the printer going through the print motions without any ink comming out is a good indication of this.
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## Cjoe Design (Jun 3, 2008)

I had many problems with my 4880 clogging in the past. One of the best stricks I had was soaking the capping station overnight with simple green. (not 20min like tech support suggests). To keep things going without anymore headaches I added a humidifier in the office to keep the humidity at 40%.


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

Ok, so this means the ink are sucked by vacum into the capping station when I do powerclean?
And the problem must be that the seal is dirty or damaged?


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

I took out the cap station, cleaned it, flushed it, and put it back.
Still not luck. Ran 2x head clean and no ink on the capping station at all.

Before I cleaned the head (because of clogged Cyan) the other colors was printing just fine.


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

I put the cartridges on a scale before and after powerclean. The weight is the same..
There are no ink visible in the 2 tube that goes down to the waste tank.


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

Put some distilled water in your capping station and than do a simple clean, the water should than suck into the wast tank.
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

I did that, expect that I used alcohol cause I use solvent ink. It suck down to the waste tank when I run head cleaning..


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

Check both of the ribbon cable contacts for dis-coloration (Burn marks) the ones that go into the print head # "0" and "00"
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

Thanks. Sunday I will.
Hope not this is the issue.
Double checked if I could have connected them wrong way, but that seems impossible...


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

You would of gotten an error message if that were the case.
*Did you get any type of a warrenty with this printer?*
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## #2! (Mar 25, 2009)

They come with a 1 year warranty and if you live in a location where they have no techs then they just ship you out a refurbished replacements which have always out ran my new printers. 
But of course using non genuine ink voids that but they usually can give you a "one chance" warning and then fix the problem. I tell Epson support we run 6 of these printers and if we cant run dyesub ink in them than we have no other use for them so if its going to be a problem then I can just throw them in the dumpster and find a different method.


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## YoDan (May 4, 2007)

Also solvent inks are very harsh I would look at all the plasice parts on the 4880's ink delivery system to make sure that none of it has melted, and *YES *I have seen this before.
Dan
*"HAPPY PRINTING"*


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

Ah, I don't know what parts I should check.. and don't how.
My supplier tells me that it is the capping station. But the printer is brand new, I have done only a few prints occationally (every second day or so) and I had 4 days of full production. I can't understand that these things happen so soon..


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

One strange thing I noticed. There are to pipes beneath the capping station. On one of them, there is the tube that I think go to the vacum pump? The other pipe is open.. How can the vacum pump create vacum when the pipe is open? I guess it will just suck air into the capping station.. Any idea?


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## pickfact (Aug 20, 2009)

ERROR FIXED!
There was a black tube deep inside a spring that had fell off.. Like I said. I could not understand why only one tube was attached ..


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## FranklinMS (May 28, 2009)

ugh these printers are a stubborn thing.

I'm trying to get the entire Chromablast side unclogged. I have only been trying water, should Ibe trying simple green?


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## huub (Jan 30, 2007)

conde tech said:


> Raise the cover on the printer. Using your left hand...reach across your body and place your left hand on the print head. Your fingers are on the back of the print head. Your palm is on the side. And, your thumb is on the front. With your thumb...locate the spring loaded pin ...it should have blue plastic on top.(Not the piece with the sideway arrow)Push the spring loaded pin down and move the print head over to the left side of the printer. Next, if you look where the print head is normally docked you will see the capping station. ...there are 2 pads with grids. On the 4000 series Epson printers, you should clean them every 6 months...OR if when you have SEVERAL colors missng from your nozzle check. If you have one or two colors missing and have performed head cleanings, do a power cleaning.
> 
> Hope this helps.



I have a problem on our Epson 4880 subli with just one color, but so far head cleaning, powercleaning and a clean with cleaning cartridges didn't help. This is the output it gives ....









Should i insert the cleaning cartridges again and leave the cleaning fluid in longer ...could that be the solution?

With customers waiting any help is welcome and appreciated.


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

How amny auto nozzle cks have you done? Does the cyan move around one the print out?


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## huub (Jan 30, 2007)

conde tech said:


> How amny auto nozzle cks have you done? Does the cyan move around one the print out?


I've done between 10-15 nozzle checks and the results stay about the same. it is only the cyan, all other colors print ok. I also changed the cartridge with a speare one, but that also didn't change a thing.


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## FranklinMS (May 28, 2009)

We're also having this problem with our printer, howevern it's only the yellow (Y) side of our Chromablast segment.

I've looked through the head, and it seems as if the yellow is not being pulled into the head at all, due to I would suppose the head being extremely clogged.

We are planning on trying to use Rubbing Alchohol, then using Simple Green if that doesn't work.

Any response to this would be great, as we are a school with a limited budget. In other words, we're blowing about a thousand dollars on ink that we can't even use.

Thanks in Advance,
Franklin MS and Chantilly HS


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## conde tech (Nov 15, 2007)

Run an auto nozzle ck...it is in the same location you select print when doing a nozzle check. I need to know if the colors moving around.


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## LPStuff (Sep 30, 2010)

There is some very good information on the internet regarding this very problem. In fact we just went through it with the #2 Cyan (Sawgrass Ink) and decided to pull the carts and switch to a compleely different ink for the Epson 4800. Our Cyan nozzel check NEVER did clear so we ended up replacing the print head... considering what we paid for wasted ink, the whole mess cost us around $1,200. The video I found most helpful and will archive for future reference can be found here: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jHZWvYAXUs[/media].

Our tech mentioned that he has seen the #2 Cyan foul the most in just about all cases when the printer was running Sawgrass Ink. We now do a MANUAL nozzel check in the morning and again in the evening to prevent this problem in the future.

Good Luck!


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## FranklinMS (May 28, 2009)

Conde Tech:

I have run auto nozzle checks, and I can guarantee that the ink in the Yellow channel is NOT moving at all.

I have the clear blue head thing taken off, and I can visibly see the line empty.

LPStuff:

I'm planning on trying that method the next time I use the printer.


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## haory (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi

I feel so dumb but how do you guys take the cap station out or flush station? I unscrew the one between cap station and flush station but it still won't come out. I can't force it because I'm afraid to break it..
Please someone help me in detail how to do...


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## brbpro (May 13, 2008)

Watch the video abouvr from Dennis and then there are other Utube videos on the suject. That should work


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## Moambeh (Nov 20, 2010)

conde tech said:


> How amny auto nozzle cks have you done? Does the cyan move around one the print out?


Greeting guys,
I'm having the same problem as huub. The cyan and lite cyan are not moving at all. after about over 10 nozzle checks, 2 power cleans and more nozzle checks before that all the steps in cleaning the capping stations with simple green the 2 cyan are still clogged, no movement of ink in the hoses at all! Maintenance tanks is now at 8% so I have to fork out another $40 and I have another $900 set of inks looking at me like 'we're not going in there'! can I just remove the cyan hoses and send some cleaning fluid in with the syringe or is this area suppose to be air tight? man any help would be awesome I'm going broke on this thing!
thanks in advance.


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## luarmstg (Apr 6, 2011)

I have owned the Epson Stylus Pro for over 2 years. I too have had problems with nozzle clogging. I purchased a product called "Epson Inkjet Head Cleaning Solution" from fixyourownprinter.com. This product comes with a suringe to put the product on the capping station. You have to leave it at least 3 hours, but it does a perty good job of cleaning. Epson themselves recommend using warm water in the capping station and moving the print head back into a normal resting position. Since I live in a dry area I have also been told by Epson to increase the humidity in the room I have the printer. This really doesn't make that much of a difference so don't waster money on a humidifier. Best wishes and thanks for your input.


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## luarmstg (Apr 6, 2011)

Moambeh,
A company called "Ryonet" at www.silkscreeningsupplies.com has a kit for the Epson 4880 maintenance tank refill kit. Item number NE4880MTNKIT and costs $59.95 plus shipping. They send enought material to fill the maintainence tank at least 2 times plus a little tool that resets the chip on the tank so you can reuse the tank without having to buy a new one and instructions on how remove the tank cover. I have actually seen where some individuals have use a wad of paper towels to do the same thing. There phone number is 1-800-314-6390.


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## Spawn (Apr 9, 2011)

Unfortunately these printers never lasted for Sublimation use - simply could not take the Sub ink. 

I don't know of many people still using them after maybe 3 years? Very unreliable from my experience.


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

You guys may want to read thru the DTG threads. They have major clogging issues and you will find many tech to clean heads. Same head in most dtgs. Tjet1/2 Kiosk1/2 all 2200 heads. Most newer including the 4880 are 1800/1900 heads.


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## lasterdaytees (Apr 16, 2011)

Cjoe Design said:


> Well, I soaked the heads in Simple Green for 18 hours and now the machine is running perfect. I wonder why Sawgrass does not suggest a longer soak time. Now I will just have to wait and see if the blue channel stays free for more than a couple days. Because in the past, after freeing it up it clogged again. But so far so good, maybe I just had to really get some nasty clog that kept reappearing. Is this something that can happen while charging the system up for the first time because this has been the case since owning the 4880.


I am sure this is somewhere here and I am not seeing it, but can someone give me instructions for removing the print heads so that I can soak them in Simple Green? I am at my wits end with this printer, have been having the same clogging issues as everyone else. I am about to throw this thing to the curb!!!! 

Thanks in advance!


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## Todus (Jun 2, 2011)

Hi

After many failed attempts, I finally found the solution to the problem of clogging of Epson 4880C.

Solution:
1. After finishing my work I move the head to the left

2. I have prepared a solution: 30% of 96% alcohol and 70% of pure distilled water

3. Solution of alcohol and distilled water I flooded by a syringe to fill and clean the Capping Station.

4. 80ml of distilled water I flooded by a syringe both to the Flushing Box and Capping Station (in equal amounts)

5. I finish pouring flooding on the Capping Station and quickly while still distilled water is not drained down I move back head into place.

It works every time.
I forgot about the clogging.
Good Luck


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## zilch (Jul 21, 2010)

I am having a problem with my 4880 not getting any ink through the brand new print head. I hope someone here can help me out. Not sure if it has something to do with the capping station, I've tried many nozzles checks and even a power clean. It's frustrating and the bosses breathing down my neck to get this working. I use it mainly for sublimation. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## wyocarol (Jan 2, 2010)

sorry but the only way to say this is that your going to have to "suck Start" the inks, and that requires a seringe and you'll have to draw the ink up to the head...


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## spiderx1 (Oct 12, 2009)

If there is no ink printing at all. Zip, zero. Dampers are full and lines are full then you may have blown a fuse on the motherboard. Acts like it's printing but no ink. This would have happened when the print head was replaced and the ribbon cable connectors got wet or cable inserted wrong, or blue spacer tab missing. You maybe able to just repeat your cables.


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## GraphixImprint1 (Jun 27, 2014)

my neoflex printer is not printing the ink seems to be coming through uring cleaning but when i print nothing comes out of the printhead


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## Signature Series (Jun 11, 2016)

Let this be a warning to others - NEVER buy a printer that has been sitting without seeing if it can print. The odds are against you that it will ever print again. You may want to look at what an Epson printhead cost and determine if it is really worth it as they are very expensive. If you are still thinking about buying a new printhead make sure it is installable by an end user without Epson registering the printhead first.


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## goodoldlestat (May 18, 2019)

Hello, This is my first post in the forum.
Well I'd like to share my experience about this and maybe get clues on my research, even if it has been a few years since the last post.

I recently bought a second hand's 4880 from somebody who told me it belonged to his father, who passed away, and I don't know certainly for how long it has been sitting down. The cartdriges were all empty, regular, genuine epson's water based ink cartdriges.

I bought a kit of refillable cartdriges with inks and a bottle of piezoflush solution from inkjetmall and installed them. Tried to do a nozzle check, it just merely stained the paper in a couple spots, but no print at all. At the end I got a "Nozzles still clogged" error message.

I cleaned the capping station and flushing box as shown in this tutorial from conde: https://youtu.be/xNlYR1SKONI Another nozzle check, same thing. I took off the printhead, let it soaking on piezoflush solution for 48 hours, then carefully executed two reverse flushes and a waterfall with a syringe as shown in this other tutorial: https://youtu.be/sXEkfSD_HYY

The fluid was passing correctly through all channels. I reinstalled the printhead and let it sitting with cleaning fluid inside for one more night. Next day I tried another nozzle check with no results. Then executed two power cleanings with nozzle checks in between: nozzles still clogged...

I have now bought a whole kit of dampers and replaced them as shown on the 4880 field repair guide. Some of the old ones had, in effect, ink clogs inside. After that another power cleaning and nozzle check with no better result.

I am running out of ideas... The inks are correctly flowing through all channels and ink is going into the maintenance tank when I do the power cleanings.

Any ideas? Could it be the f6 fuse thing? Should I just buy a new printhead?

Many thanks in advance for your time and help. Herman.


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## goodoldlestat (May 18, 2019)

I know... Well it was a good price. I couldn't test the printer in place as it was sent to me. Anyway, I'm decided to make it work again so will try to exhaust all posibilities before buying a new printhead. Thanks for your answer.


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## Signature Series (Jun 11, 2016)

goodoldlestat said:


> I know... Well it was a good price. I couldn't test the printer in place as it was sent to me. Anyway, I'm decided to make it work again so will try to exhaust all posibilities before buying a new printhead. Thanks for your answer.


Your situation has been played so many times in the past and unfortunately many more in the future. There never is a "good price" for a printer that has set other than "free". So many people like yourself start throwing money at a printer and few ever get them to function if any. Again be very careful about buying a printhead without knowing if Epson has to "register" the head to the printer. If that is the case like wide formats then you have little choice then to have an Epson certified tech do the install. You would be into the printer at a couple grand and that printer is not worth with.


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