Epson 3880 Photo Black Ink leak - what parts do I need?

[CZM8]

Hi guys,

I have an Epson 3880 where the photo black ink leaks. I found this out when I was printing and even though the printer said the photo black cartridge was still half full it didn't print black at all. I pulled the cartridge out and weighed it and it weighed even less than a cartridge that was known to be empty. Anyway, I got a new photo black cartridge and did some tests yesterday - nozzle checks. When I'm running the printer in Matte mode with the Matte black ink the nozzle checks are beautiful. When I do the same with the Photo black, the printed pattern is still nice but there are some big drips (puddles) of black ink on the paper which proves the point that the Photo black ink is leaking.
I want to take the printer apart to see if I can fix it but I'm not sure what part(s) I need. Here are a few parts I found but I don't know which one I need. Can any one help me?

Thank you!

https://www.sdott-parts.com/epson-pro-3890-3880-p800-r3000-3885-3800-3850-damper.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...55903784023e7847!12000033703913268!rec!CA!!AB

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...503036!sea!CA!0!AB&curPageLogUid=zEajamw9hBnl

 

[RiverRat01]

The damper switch (second link) and the damper adapter (third link) are, I am nearly certain, the same part. The observation that the printer switches between black and matte suggests that the switch is good..... unless these switches wear out with a subsequent air leak when in the PK position. I simply do not have enough experience with the switch to know if they ever develop an air leak. Even in the case of an air leak at the switch; the associated damper, if good, should stop a major leak.
Are you the original owner? Do you know if someone has attempted to water fall the print head? Is the wiper of the capping station clean and in good form? If the print head is moved to the left of the capping station and placed over a folded paper towel. Does the head continue to leak? I know of dampers clogging, but I an not aware of whether they routinely fail to act as a one-way valve. Someone on this forum is apt to be familiar with the problem. The worse I can imagine is that a previous owner blew the outer Teflon plate seal while attempting to flush the head with a pressurized syringe. I doubt this happened, however, because the matte black would also leak. If the Teflon plate is delaminated, repair, albeit possible, is not for the faint of heart. I am essentially arm chair quarterbacking. I expect someone will chime in with more definitive information.

 

[CZM8]

The damper switch (second link) and the damper adapter (third link) are, I am nearly certain, the same part. The observation that the printer switches between black and matte suggests that the switch is good..... unless these switches wear out with a subsequent air leak when in the PK position. I simply do not have enough experience with the switch to know if they ever develop an air leak. Even in the case of an air leak at the switch; the associated damper, if good, should stop a major leak.
Are you the original owner? Do you know if someone has attempted to water fall the print head? Is the wiper of the capping station clean and in good form? If the print head is moved to the left of the capping station and placed over a folded paper towel. Does the head continue to leak? I know of dampers clogging, but I an not aware of whether they routinely fail to act as a one-way valve. Someone on this forum is apt to be familiar with the problem. The worse I can imagine is that a previous owner blew the outer Teflon plate seal while attempting to flush the head with a pressurized syringe. I doubt this happened, however, because the matte black would also leak. If the Teflon plate is delaminated, repair, albeit possible, is not for the faint of heart. I am essentially arm chair quarterbacking. I expect someone will chime in with more definitive information.

Yes, I am the original owner of this printer. The original photo black cartridge leaked out during "normal" use. I had not seen any marks on my prints but the ink must have leaked out when the head was parked.

 

[W. Fisher]

That valve is the curse of this printer. I bought two as a friend had his 3800 fail and leak, usually on the print itself. You can try and absorb the ink under the head and get a couple of good prints, but after a few passes the ink leak builds up and back to square one.

It does take a LOT of dismantling to get to it so take photos and lay out everything in some sort of order for reassembly. First time I did mine (3880) it was for a $75 plastic carriage replacement (Paper curled up while printing and the head hit the edge and broke the carriage holding the head) it took me two days to do it. Had to pull it apart again for some wiring omission that I forgot on the maintenance tank's ink sucking motor that gave me an error code on the LCD.

Doing one you will learn how the labor costs to fix it can surpass the replacement cost. But at least you can get it working again and save some money as a DIY project since the part is cheap.

Also, I NEVER switch ink from Photo Black to Matte Black. I ALWAYS leave it on Photo Black now to avoid messing with that **** switch. I can spray it matte if I want a matte look.

WF

 

[Photog6]

Hey CZ, I have the same issue. Did you ever get it resolved? If so, what did you need to replace/fix?

 

[CZM8]

Hey CZ, I have the same issue. Did you ever get it resolved? If so, what did you need to replace/fix?

I have not. I've been busy and haven't had time to take the printer apart yet.

If you go further with this, may I ask that you update this thread so other people in the future with the same problem have some info to go on?

 

[Stormlight]

Have been not printing but back to the scene from 3 years hiatus. Yes, 100% sure it is the damper. Buy a few spare dampers while you are at it. They are cheap enough especially from Aliexpress. It takes about 20 minutes to fix. I have done about three (3880/3800) so far (2 Matte black and a Vivid Magenta). Very easy fix after you are done with the first one. Will need to waste some ink to charge back the line! This is much much easier fix than seal cartridge leak that drain out slowly from the header!

This is correct item for the damper. The other part is for the ink switcher.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805389614513.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.72b7MqCqMqCqWT&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.362094.0&scm_id=1007.40050.362094.0&scm-url=1007.40050.362094.0&pvid=683c268f-b184-4a92-a8cd-76e57c07234e&_t=gps-idcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40050.362094.0,pvid:683c268f-b184-4a92-a8cd-76e57c07234e,tpp_buckets:668#2846#8116#2002&pdp_npi=4@dis!USD!4.92!4.63!!!34.88!!@2103237317042325804057825e1303!12000033610690528!rec!US!!AB

For those are want to take risk and want to be cheap, you can take out the old damper and flush with pharmacist formula. I tested and it works but not worth the risk for potentially wasting a full cartridge of ink. Dampers are cheap enough unless you have problem with resource accessing!

 

[Smile]

I needed to fix clients R3000, no parts available.

 

[CZM8]

Have been not printing but back to the scene from 3 years hiatus. Yes, 100% sure it is the damper. Buy a few spare dampers while you are at it. They are cheap enough especially from Aliexpress. It takes about 20 minutes to fix. I have done about three (3880/3800) so far (2 Matte black and a Vivid Magenta). Very easy fix after you are done with the first one. Will need to waste some ink to charge back the line! This is much much easier fix than seal cartridge leak that drain out slowly from the header!

This is correct item for the damper. The other part is for the ink switcher.
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805389614513.html?spm=a2g0o.detail.0.0.72b7MqCqMqCqWT&gps-id=pcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller&scm=1007.40050.362094.0&scm_id=1007.40050.362094.0&scm-url=1007.40050.362094.0&pvid=683c268f-b184-4a92-a8cd-76e57c07234e&_t=gps-idcDetailTopMoreOtherSeller,scm-url:1007.40050.362094.0,pvid:683c268f-b184-4a92-a8cd-76e57c07234e,tpp_buckets:668#2846#8116#2002&pdp_npi=4@dis!USD!4.92!4.63!!!34.88!!@2103237317042325804057825e1303!12000033610690528!rec!US!!AB

For those are want to take risk and want to be cheap, you can take out the old damper and flush with pharmacist formula. I tested and it works but not worth the risk for potentially wasting a full cartridge of ink. Dampers are cheap enough unless you have problem with resource accessing!

Thank you for your input and thanks for verifying which part I need! I'm going to go ahead and order it so that I have it ready for when I have time to rip the printer apart!

 

[Smile]

Make sure you double check connectors on ribbon cables, as these can fail. There is a post on this forum
https://www.printerknowledge.com/th...4-after-printhead-removal-and-cleaning.16095/