# Clogged Printhead? (I hope) On Easy T Printer (R1900)



## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

I know there are a bunch of posts on this in the past; but I want to get new advice!

I have an Easy T Printer (R1900)

So, my printhead seems to be clogged on the magenta, and a little on the black. Everything else is great. I've run a bunch of head cleanings and it doens't seem to be getting better.

I'm out of HD Clean!

Is there a home remedy that I can try and flush the printhead with?

Should I take it totally out of the printer to do the flush?

I have shirts that have to be done by Monday...

HELP PLEASE!!!!


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

When was the last time you waterfalled those nozzles? When was your last perfect nozzle check?

How's humidity?

Check the rubber gasket on your capping station: any dried ink?

Check your wiper blade, is it clean rubber?

Probably not possible to find on a weekend, but I've used 80% Distilled water, 10% Propylene Glycol and 10% Ethylene Glycol as cleaning fluid.

I once used 100% distilled water slightly warmed and got a perfect nozzle check on white after a complete clog.

Are you sure your cartridge isn't vac-locked with air bubbles?

If I get a rough clog, what I do is attach a syringe with hosing to the clogged head nipple. 2ml of cleaning fluid. Tap just a touch of fluid in (0.1ml) and then suck out ink into the syringe. Empty it and fill 2ml more cleaning fluid and repeat until you aren't pulling any particles out.

A gentle waterfall once a week to all 8 nozzle sets almost seems required. It shortens head life certainly, but reduces ruined shirts.

A fresh capping station, if you have one, can do wonders for head cleans.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using T-Shirt Forums


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

treefox2118 said:


> When was the last time you waterfalled those nozzles? When was your last perfect nozzle check?
> 
> How's humidity?
> 
> ...


I've never water falled the printhead. I Should pull the printhead out to do this correct?

We were printing today and everything was fine; everything crapped out when I filled my bulk ink bags...it's been down hill from there.

I'm not 100% but I think I had the issue with one of the being "vac-locked with air bubbles" how would I fix that.

Honestly, I really haven't had any major issues with my printer...so this is all kinda new to me!

Where sells Propylene Glycol, and Ethylene Glycol?

Thanks for the support BTW!!!


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

(_If I get a rough clog, what I do is attach a syringe with hosing to the clogged head nipple. 2ml of cleaning fluid. Tap just a touch of fluid in (0.1ml) and then suck out ink into the syringe. Empty it and fill 2ml more cleaning fluid and repeat until you aren't pulling any particles out.)_

In the process above; your sucking out from the top of the cartridge? vs. pushing the cleaning solution though?? and you are saying to pull the cartrigies and attach on to the nipple the cartridge attached to correct??

-Rob


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

Yep. I remove my cartridges, tape off the bottom hole with Scotch tape to reduce air intake, attach the tubed syringe straight to the black nipplr and tap a touch of fluid in and then suck out. Slooooooooowly. Too much pressure in either direction and you'll pop your nozzles.

The first time I did it, I pulled out visible chunks of dried ink. The fifth time I did it, I got cocky, rushed, and blew my print head nozzles forever.

Now I'm an expert at waterfalling the nozzles clean.

YouTube has videos for other Epson based printers that are the same basic head. neoflex I think, or Anajet? Same premise.

If your capping station is old and not making a full seal, expect your ink to dry in the head FAST. Especially white. I clean my wiper blade and capping basket every morning and every evening. 7 days a week, one of my guys does that maintenance to keep the rubber soft and clean.

I use Belquette's HMS red fluid on the gaskets once a week. I use their cleaning fluid to waterfall nozzles twice a month if needed.

My Easy T had a light banding lately from a warped bottom platen, so we have to be cautious with gradient art but it hums along with perfect nozzle checks and still makes us good cash. I need to mail the platen base to Arizona to refinish, but we have jobs every day, 7 days a week, so until my second printer comes, I can't shut down.

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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

I'll give that a try! My new Easy T should be here around 7/2...maybe! So I don't need to get much more out of this machine.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

I waterfall with the print head in, but you have to be careful not to drip fluid into the carriage station.

I center the station, put a cup under the print head, and waterfall softly into the print head. I use a little LED to see the beautiful clean lines coming out.

There are days where I think pulling the cartridges at days end and running cleaning fluid through might be worth the $20 in labor and $5 in supplies. The printer just kills after a full cleaning.

If I can triple my volume, I would budget for a new print head and capping station every 3 months! I figure that's $0.04 per shirt overhead to never worry about downtime or ruined shirts.

DTG still only accounts for 10% of profits so it isn't a priority. If I had 4 Easy Ts and a conveyor dryer, I bet I could do 30% of our profits. We turn away work now because we can't handle the volume.

My ex DTG manager works for the biggest guys in town. His new department prints 10,000 white underbase shirts a week. 10,000. Can you imagine? $2.5 million a year profit potential. Insane market for those willing to take risks.

My dedication to Easy T is simple: I can buy 10 printers for the cost of 1 Kornit. Just can't understand why others haven't done it. A day laborer can run the production side, one artist can do RIP management, and a picker/folder can pack jobs. $150 an hour in labor, $450 an hour in profit! If you could find the work.

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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

I think the printhead is just dead! Errr...I don't know what I'm going to do now!

We're one of the only DTG printers in where I live that does white ink, so I do contact work for a few screen print shops. I have to get a 75 shirt job done by Wednesday and I have no printer.

I have another job that was due Monday!!! I'm so screwed!


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## abmcdan (Sep 14, 2007)

Be EXTREMELY careful pushing fluid through the head, it's easy to damage.

If you are in need of a quick fix you can swap your colors around. Move the magenta and black over to white channels that are working correctly. 

Make sure you thoroughly clean out your cartridges and then change the ink channel setup in the RIP software to match your new arrangement.

Since the old magenta channel is clogged you will only have 3 whites so you will need to increase the white ink settings for the underbase to compensate. This will slow the printer but at least you have something.

Hope this helps and makes sense


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

So what would I set the two bad channels too in EK?

How should clean out the cartridge?

The black and magenta are both messed up...and it seems
Like the more I do the worse it gets.

Would I be able to get a accceptable white underbase with two channels??


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## 23spiderman (Jun 26, 2008)

Rob, i have detailed instructions in the AnaJet section on taking your print head apart and cleaning it out. just search my id in their threads. the r1900 heads shouldn't clog so bad that you can't fix it, especially on the cmyk side.

if you think you are "sunk" and there's nothing to lose, just remove the print head and gently push distilled water through the head to see if the nozzles are actually clogged or if you just had an air lock. it only takes gentle pressure to see the waterfall effect. once you do this, you will be able to see where the clogs are. the safer method would be to sit the head in a lid of fluid (like a butter dish) and pull UP so that the fluid is being sucked up through the nozzles and out the top of the head. this will allow bigger chunks to leave via larger holes versus forcing them through the extremely small nozzles. i've used Simple Green as my fluid for several years with no problems. you just need to fully flush the head with distilled water afterwards.

if, and only if, the above doesn't work, you can remove the 3 screws that attach the nozzle plate to the plastic manifold where the nipples are (where the dampers connect to). and you can separate the actual print head from the plastic manifold. now you can see if the channels in the plastic manifold are clear. there is a mesh screen at the base of those nipples, and it's possible that your clog is there and it's restricting ink flow into the head. quite rare on the cmyk side, but possible. you should be able to easily shoot liquid through this plastic manifold if there are no obstructions. this will also tell you if your clog is here, or in the actual nozzles of the print head. this whole process can take a couple of hours, so just be patient and go slow. remember how it all fits back together and keep track of the screws and their locations. 

my guess is that you can get this back up and running as i've never had a fatal clog on the cmyk side. the Teflon coating is quite forgivable. i can go weeks without cleaning my wiper blade or capping station and still get a perfect cmyk nozzle check. is that advisable? NO! but i've done it. now white ink is a completely different beast and regular maintenance is a must if that is being used.

sorry this was long, and if there are any confusing parts, just ask more questions.


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## equipmentzone (Mar 26, 2008)

Rob,

Where are you located?

_


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

I sent you a PM...


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

So I'm trying to pull the printhead it doesn't look like any of the pictures of R1900 that I've seen online!

The ribbon cable holder isn't removeable...

See the attached picture.

Thanks,
Rob


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

So I decided that; that I need to just leave the printer and walkaway; I just came back and started to work on it again and not I have a death cycle of ink errors. (6 hours later)

It's been bouncing between all of them and only 3 of them; but never fully clears.

I've tried both my refillable cartridges, and 2 sets of reset chips from my bulk system...

Since I wasn't able to get the printhead out I still haven't given the head a good flush/waterfall...because I fear frying the board.

I think it's toast...I'm very much so looking forward to my Easy T XL to get here!

All the stress I've had of waiting will turn into Andy being my hero!

DTG Printing can be stressful.


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

Yes. Got it back in August.


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