# CIS cleaning: How to print only LightMagenta and LightCyan channels?



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

I just bought a second hand Epson 1290 with a CIS. The first thing I tried when i got it installed was to print a nozzle-check page. And since the printer had not printed for over a year, it was clogged. I tried cleaning cycles, and this helped. What really helped was printing a page I made in Photoshop, consisting of 4 big squares of CMYK colours. This got the CMYK channels completely unclogged. But the printhead/CIS contains 6 colours: there's CMYK plus Light Cyan and Light Magenta. 

My problem is that these two channels (LM+LC) don't print at all with a nozzle-check. The first time i tried, LM came up with some colour, but now they're both dead. I would like to add these two colours to the Photoshop document that I made, to see what happens. But since i can only choose from CMYK channels in PS, i don't know how to tell the printer to print two squares of just LM and LC. Does anyone know how to go about this?

Thanks for your help!


----------



## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

I made my CMYK bars fade to white. That forces the lighter colors to come out and play.

For other cleaning options, take a look at these posts.


http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php?searchid=414648


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

John S said:


> I made my CMYK bars fade to white. That forces the lighter colors to come out and play.
> 
> For other cleaning options, take a look at these posts.
> 
> ...


The searchID number gets deleted after you search. What was the keyword you were searching for John?

If it was *cleaning*, the link to the search would look like this:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php?do=process&q=cleaning


----------



## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

Rodney said:


> The searchID number gets deleted after you search. What was the keyword you were searching for John?
> 
> If it was *cleaning*, the link to the search would look like this:
> http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php?do=process&q=cleaning


My bad. I was searching for "witch hazel" which shows up in the cleaning posts. 

Rodney, Is there a shortcut to linking to a list of search hits? Thanks


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

Ok, I've tried some different methods, with limited succes. The results of my attempts do point in a certain direction. Basically everytime i removed the cartridge and replace it, i get different results.

I tried to push windex through the LM and LC printheads with a seringe (very carefully). This got me the LC back, but no other colours would print.

I've tried to open the bulk system to see what's going on, but couldn't really reach into it. I did notice however, that there's a seventh cannister, where all the tubes go to. I also noticed that there are hoses connected to the bottom of each color cannisters, which lead to the printhead. (I thought the hoses on top of the cannisters did). This gave me the idea to put airpressure on the top of the cannisters, to push the ink through. For this to work i had to open the valve on the bottom of the cartridge with a nail. This way i could flush the air bubbles out (or so i thought) This actually worked, but when i replaced the cartridge (whereby the valves ar also opened), bubbles were seeping back into the hoses.

I noticed the LM color would NOT easily flush. I had to use considerably more airpressure to get it going, but even then it really didn't fill up the cartridge. Also, the hose on top of the yellow cannister started to overflow, when i kept the pressure on the LM. It almost seems like the hose is blocked somehow.

I also applied airpressure with the cartridge in the printhead, but this caused a puddle of magenta coloured ink on the bottom of the cartridge. Also, the next print would show all colours in magenta. So I cleaned that up.

After all of this, suddenly prints started to come out right. All colours show up perfectly, except for LM, which doesn't show at all. I also still have a lot of air in the yellow and LM hoses, and probably in the other hoses as well (i can't tell because they're dark). Still, the prints are good, except for the fact that LM doesn't print.

Could I have accidentaly squeezed the LM hose when I opened and closed the bulk system? Is that the reason why it was hard to flush?

Also, I noticed that the cartidge is hard to place in the printhead without it coming up with an error. It seems like the little copper connectors don't make good contact. I cleaned them and roughened them already, but the only thing that seems to work is to stick a piece of paper in the holder, together with the cartridge, to force it against the connectors. Is this a common problem with these kind of printers/bulk systems?

Lastly, I would like to thank you for reading all the way down to the bottom of this post. I really hope I've been clear and that you recognise my problem somehow!


----------



## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

I'm in the dark here, I've never pulled my CIS apart, but this is what I'm thinking based on your description.

The log jam is in the print head which sets under your cartridge in the printer. 

That is where the cleaning fluid of your choice should go to soften the dried ink. (and esp. on the pad where the heads rest when the printer is off)
When I installed my new system it was a while before the ink even made it into the cartridge (while it was printing jobs), suggesting the cartridge was primed with ink before it was sold to me. 
My understanding of the system is that the heads print from a pool of ink in the cartridge, not directly from a tube. Is that what you see?

Bubbles in your line are normal for a while, as you print, you will see them work through the lines and into the printer. 

I've also found the best trick is doing 2 or 3 cleanings, then turn the printer off for a period of time (an hour or over night) works better than 5 or 6 cleanings in a row. I think the fresh ink loosens up the old ink and lets it past the heads.

Let us know what is happening.


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

I decided to give the airpressure-method another go on the LM printhead. I removed the cartridge and stuck a piece of tube (about an inch) on the LM pointy thingy on the bottom of the holder. I filled this up with windex and let it sit there for a couple of hours. After this i attached the top end of the piece of hose to a seringe and slowly pushed the windex through. This went fairly smooth.

After that I mounted the cartridge back into the holder and ran a cleaning cycle. I have installed a program called SSC Service Utility 4.20, which lets me control the printer more presicely. For instance i can command it to do its 'initial charge', which seems like a cleaning cycle using a lot of ink. I did this a couple times earlier and this got rid of all the bubbles in the hoses too.

After the initial charge i ran another nozzle check (using SSC for this too), and this got me a printout with about half the C,M,Y,K,LC nozzles working, but still nothing on the LM. I ran a 'heavy cleaning' cycle, and did another nozzle check. This got me a bit better result. Clearly, all channels except for the LM are coming back to life.

So, I'm still left with the LM problem. I'm now going to flood the pad where the heads rest with Windex, and let it soak there for a while. I'll post back as soon as I have some result.

In the meantime i still have one question though. Is it possible that some of the copper connectors are not making a proper connection, causing LM not to 'kick in'? Or would a disconnected connector result in a printer-error?


----------



## badalou (Mar 19, 2006)

joah said:


> I decided to give the airpressure-method another go on the LM printhead. I removed the cartridge and stuck a piece of tube (about an inch) on the LM pointy thingy on the bottom of the holder. I filled this up with windex and let it sit there for a couple of hours. After this i attached the top end of the piece of hose to a seringe and slowly pushed the windex through. This went fairly smooth.
> 
> After that I mounted the cartridge back into the holder and ran a cleaning cycle. I have installed a program called SSC Service Utility 4.20, which lets me control the printer more presicely. For instance i can command it to do its 'initial charge', which seems like a cleaning cycle using a lot of ink. I did this a couple times earlier and this got rid of all the bubbles in the hoses too.
> 
> ...


i was asked to help you out by another member but to tell you the truth I can't. One thing you might want to do next time is use 'Simple green. I heard it works better than windex.


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

badalou said:


> i was asked to help you out by another member but to tell you the truth I can't. One thing you might want to do next time is use 'Simple green. I heard it works better than windex.


Thanks for the effort though! As I live in Amsterdam, Simple Green is not readily available. Can you tell me what it is, so that I may be able to find its Dutch equivalent? Or do you perhaps know of a shop that ships it all the way out here? Thanks again!


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

Well, i let it soak overnight, and ran a couple of cleaning cycles the next morning. I'm afraid there's little improvement, although where LM used to print nothing, it now seems that three nozzles have cleared...

Next, I reinstalled the original Epson cartridges, to make absolutely sure that it is a nozzle clog. I did some more cleaningcycles and nozzlecheck patterns, and sure enough: also no LM. I also noticed a lot of clogs on the Black and Cyan printheads. 

This LM clog is not your everyday-ordinary clog. It's seems to be some kind of thick layer of ink, that doesn't dissolve after one night of Windex. I'm not sure about how to continue. It might be wise the get my hands on that Simple Green, but then again, i'm impatient and i just want to get this over with right away .

Anyway, all advice is very very much appreciated!


----------



## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

joah said:


> Well, i let it soak overnight, and ran a couple of cleaning cycles the next morning. I'm afraid there's little improvement, although where LM used to print nothing, it now seems that three nozzles have cleared...


You might find another chemical cleaner. We have a lot of citrus based cleaners here that seem to work well for other things but are not as nasty as some of the paint thinners. Windex has ammonia in it. I don't know what rubbing alchol would do. Just make sure you don't try anything that will melt plastic!

Keep your pad and heads wet. 
You are making some progress!


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

Yes I was kinda afraid Windex might ruin everything. Actually, i used a Dutch glasscleaner called Motip Glasscleaner, which doesn't have specific ingrediënts written on it, so i'm not sure if there is any ammonia in it. I've called a specialist printer repair company and told them of the problem. When I mentioned using glass cleaner, they said the printhead was ruined for sure.

Still in disbelief, I went to a pharmacy and bought 'denaturalised alcohol' (or whatever that might be called in english), and i flushed the LM printhead until i was absolutely sure it was coming through. I put a piece of paper under the printhead and noticed the liquid coming through progressively getting clearer. So i figured the printhead MUST be clean, and the problem is something else. Besides, yellow now went dead too, which worked fine before.

Then i figured, the cartridge must act as some kind of reservoir/buffer to provide a continuous flow of ink. What if this reservoir is empty? It would first pump air through until ink filled it up again to the point where the inklevel would reach the top of the pointy thingy. But when it reaches that point it would just stay there. This causes the inkflow to be inconsistent, at times coming through the printhead, and at times blowing air. I hope I'm makling myself clear. To illustrate this see the following drawing:










So, what I did was hold the cartridge sideways, with the bottom opening up high. I then used a nail to open the valve inside the cartridge. Next, i put airpressure (using a seringe) on the cannister in the bulk system. This makes ink flow into the cartridge, and since the valve is open, air will flow out, thus making the overall buffer level rise in the cartridge. The following picture illustrates this:










I then put everything back in place and ran a 'initial charge' to get the bubbles out (which probably gather in the cartridge-reservoir again, but this is unavoidable). I did a cleaning cycle, and lo and behold: there was the LM in my nozzle check!! I've also filled the Yellow buffer this way, and that worked as well. All in all, every color is now printing. I still have a little amount of clogged nozzles, but that problem is only marginal.

So i guess i licked it!


----------



## John S (Sep 9, 2006)

Nice graphics Jof!

I'm glad you are getting somewhere. This thread will be a big help to those who refuse to give up. Sounds like a little more alcohol in the print heads overnight might break the final nozzles loose. You will want to get all nozzles working or it will leave streaks when you print.

After you get it running, you will want to run a print each day to keep the clog from coming back. 

Well done.


----------



## joah (Mar 16, 2007)

Thanks John,

I will try and keep the printer healthy. I'm now down to 7 clogged nozzles out of 288 in total.


----------



## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

John S said:


> My bad. I was searching for "witch hazel" which shows up in the cleaning posts.
> 
> Rodney, Is there a shortcut to linking to a list of search hits? Thanks


The link would look like this, just change the search term at the end:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/search.php?do=process&q=*cleaning*


----------

