Epson 1390 & L series problem

[Stuart21]

I have found that the two tubes below the the printhead 'park chamber?' cannot stand up to eco solvent (and presumably solvent) ink. They have a short life - less than 1 year before they split at the end or crack. See pics.

This has caused me endless trouble / losses. Coupled with the fact that trained engineers are 'unable' ;-) to service my machine this has been very frustrating. Hit and miss, but am slowly getting better at diagnosing probs as they come up. Fortunately I run the 'racing version' L1800 (no bodywork) otherwise I might never have found the problem.

Would anyone know what tube material can stand up to eco / solvent ink?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I assume you refer to some tubing connected to the cleaning unit - pump etc.
I take from your comments that the tubing for the ink - from the tanks to the dampers in the printhead - is not affected, so you just may get that tubing as a spare part from the spare parts shop and use that. Or you look for a shop for model airplanes and check which tubing they use for the propellant from the tank to the engine, or search for some silicone tubing which might do the job as well.

 

[Stuart21]

Thanks ISF. The tank > damper tube is fine, tho I noticed it is much harder than the tube on an new, unused L1800 I have. But it doesn't seem to be in danger of cracking. The bad tube is some kind of a black rubber, moulded by the look of it. It is much smaller than the supply tube so can't use that to replace the cracked tubes.
Will go to the local hobby shop & see what tubes they have. Thanks for the suggestion.

Have since found that there is another failure inside the pump unit - it leaks when cleaning the printhead - so safe to presume that the peristaltic tube has failed as well. ;-(

Fortunately have another pump that seems to be good.

 

[berttheghost]

I went through a similar exercise a long time ago. I dom't remember my choices. Mechanical properties are important for peristaltic pump tubing. I suggest that you start here:

https://www.graylineinc.com/whitepapers/peristaltic-pump-tubing.html

https://www.coleparmer.com/tech-article/matching-the-tubing-to-the-fluid

That should help you avoid some issues. Good luck.

 

[Mbaltay]

Thanks ISF. The tank > damper tube is fine, tho I noticed it is much harder than the tube on an new, unused L1800 I have. But it doesn't seem to be in danger of cracking. The bad tube is some kind of a black rubber, moulded by the look of it. It is much smaller than the supply tube so can't use that to replace the cracked tubes.
Will go to the local hobby shop & see what tubes they have. Thanks for the suggestion.

Have since found that there is another failure inside the pump unit - it leaks when cleaning the printhead - so safe to presume that the peristaltic tube has failed as well. ;-(

Fortunately have another pump that seems to be good.

Hello Stuart,

I see that you addressed this issue a few years ago, and it may be that you have moved along, or that the re is more current information on the subject of using solvents in the L1800. In that case , please pardon me. I am new to the forum.

That said, I am looking for any and all information about the tolerability of the L1800 components to solvent inks.
We have the printer set up on a flat bed stage and will be using this system to produce very thin flexible electric circuits for our medical sensors. We are testing a variety of nano silver conductive inks, some of which sinter thermally and some with UV pulsed energy. The chemistry of these inks varies by manufacturer, but from what I can see on the SDS's and from speaking to producers these use stronger solvents, mostly organic, some polar and some non-polar. (I am not great chemist).

We use very low volumes of very pricey inks (like $1200US for 100 mL), and we do so sparingly. For that reason our approach is to syringe fill the dampers and to not employ the ciss lines or reservoirs at all. This eliminates need for compatibility of those components. We will remove the damper and replace it with cleaning solution, then initiate cleaning routines.

It seems as if based on your post we will need to upgrade the capping station lines and pump, but my guess is that that system is no where near as critical as is the front end ink supply system. Did you find a solution to the lines and peristaltic pump? could it be replaced entirely with some other system designed for harsher solvents?

Further and more importantly, what have you experienced with the head itself and the dampers?
I am pretty sure based on a teardown of another eco tank model, that the head and damper plastic is PPE/ PPS which I believe should be quite resistive to attack by most solvents.
PPE Polyphenylene Ether
PPS Polypheneylene Sulfite
GF-40 40% glass fiber

Damper is stamped with same PPE/PPS. How has your printhead and damper stood the test of time?

Have you had to replace the dampers and if so have you found a good source of more resistant units? From a quick search, there may be dampers with foil that replaces the thin film on the side and maybe metal filters??

Please pass along what you learned if you can. After we do some tests, I will add back to this knowledgebase.

Best,
Mike