TexAndie
Newbie to Printing
- Joined
- Feb 21, 2023
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 8
- Points
- 5
- Printer Model
- Epson 3880, Canon Pixma Pro100
Greetings To All!
I'm sorry that my very first post will be LONG - I believe it is better to explain everything I HAVE tried, and that saves a lot of suggestions about trying something that I already have. ;-)
This past week, I ran into an issue that NO ONE IN THE WORLD seems to have encountered, nor resolved. I found ONE post about the same issue from 2012, it was a person who prints photos, and no one had any ideas for HIM, so he just gave up and bought a different printer. I have two Epson Stylus Pro 3880s. I call them printer A and printer B. I have only recently begun DTF printing. No worries, I am not going to throw any DTF questions at you - I have plenty of help for THAT. Because I'm not yet printing all day, every day, I, at the very least, make certain that I run a full color 13x19 print on each printer daily, and manually clean the heads and use capping solution on the capping station before shutting them down each day. When I first rec'd the printers, there were a few choppy prints, broken lines on nozzle checks that weren't cleared by running cleaning cycles, so I replaced the dampers and completely flushed the lines, the manifold and the print head clear on BOTH printers before starting up again. That was about 3 mos ago.
For those not familiar, with DTF, we only print CMYK+ White. Because one can only see the "white" ink when printing an actual print on film for transfer, I did not realize that printer A had stopped laying down white ink until I went to print a transfer last week on it, because printer B was having "head strike" issues. (That RUINS a DTF print and wastes a LOT of pricey ink and film!) I checked the manifold and could see that there was no white at all. I tested my dampers for clogs and there weren’t any. I cleared the manifold and the p-head again and put it all back together. Ran an cart initialization via the adjwiz and attempted another test print. The first time I tried a nozzle check, the printer ran thru the entire process purring like a kitten, error free, but the page was blank. I tried a 2nd time and within about 30 seconds, the printer stopped, and I received error 131B, which indicates the p-head is overheating. I found ONE video online that tells me this is EITHER a clog (either in the head, or the dampers) or a bad p-head. Since I had already ensured both were clear, I decided to test the p-head on printer B (ONLY the head). I rec'd the same error, so I stopped testing with THAT p-head. I put the printer B's p-head back in place. and ran a quick cleaning cycle. Now, I run a nozzle check on printer B and it goes thru all the motions, makes all the right sounds but EVERY page comes out blank!! Ink is making it thru the entire system as I can see all colors in the manifold as well as in the waste tank. So, HERE, is where I am stuck. I have had ppl tell me to check the main board for a blown "ink selector fuse". Well, the ONLY reference I can find in the entire service manual to anything related to an "ink selector" is selecting between MB and PB, and I have no issues with that. Even if I did, we don't print with Matte Black at all, so as long as your chip reads, it really doesn't matter because both carts share a common line. I have never used a multi-meter, but I ordered one and took printer A apart and removed the main board for testing. I have NO idea what to test or what I should see when I DO test - but I tried my best to learn from a few brief tutorials and can only say that every circuit, chip, resistor or fuse on the board tests as "good". (I can't even find anyone who can tell me WHAT on the main board to test!!)
Due to my electronic ignorance, I set printer A aside and decided to focus on printer B - figuring worst case, printer A can become a "parts" printer. For anyone who is in the industry, these old Epson's are workhorse and are some of the highly sought after (and highly priced) printers because other than printers that can run chipless, or the ETs, Epson has fixed all the other good ones (SC-700 & SC-900) so that no one can reset chips or use third part anything. EcoTanks, while great, are not used in DTF because the inks must be shaken daily or the settle and thicken and can ruin the p-head.
I have taken as many variables out of the loop as I can. New main. tank, OEM cart chips/carts that are full. I does not matter what I do, or what I try or how I attempt to print, it's the same result. I've tried to run a nozzle check from the control pain on the printer, from Windows, and from my RIP software. It makes no difference. EVERY print attempt I make, the printer goes thru all the motions make all the right noises, p-head swiftly goes back and forth....and the page rolls out BLANK.
Of course, the idea of bad p-heads runs thru my mind non-stop, but on BOTH printers, within an hour of each other?? And to even find a new print head, they don't make them, so I take a chance at dropping between $500 - $1000 on an Aliexpress special, or spend just about the same amount and hope that whomever I buy one from doesn't sell me a dud.
Thus far, all I've done is SPEND a LOT of money, a little at a time - probably upwards of 10K. I have put so much money toward working with the 3880s (cartridges, chips, M-tanks, etc, etc) that the thought of trying another printer gives me a panic attack. To simply buy another of these 3880s, as to not make all my investments pointless, would run upwards of $3K. As I said, because everybody in DTF wants one, the price is OVER THE TOP.
If there is any one out there, anywhere, who can offer some words of wisdom, I cannot even express how much that would mean to me. I am completely out of ideas.
To whomever might read this, thank you for your patience. I'm crossing my fingers that someone has an idea.
Thanks,
Andria
I'm sorry that my very first post will be LONG - I believe it is better to explain everything I HAVE tried, and that saves a lot of suggestions about trying something that I already have. ;-)
This past week, I ran into an issue that NO ONE IN THE WORLD seems to have encountered, nor resolved. I found ONE post about the same issue from 2012, it was a person who prints photos, and no one had any ideas for HIM, so he just gave up and bought a different printer. I have two Epson Stylus Pro 3880s. I call them printer A and printer B. I have only recently begun DTF printing. No worries, I am not going to throw any DTF questions at you - I have plenty of help for THAT. Because I'm not yet printing all day, every day, I, at the very least, make certain that I run a full color 13x19 print on each printer daily, and manually clean the heads and use capping solution on the capping station before shutting them down each day. When I first rec'd the printers, there were a few choppy prints, broken lines on nozzle checks that weren't cleared by running cleaning cycles, so I replaced the dampers and completely flushed the lines, the manifold and the print head clear on BOTH printers before starting up again. That was about 3 mos ago.
For those not familiar, with DTF, we only print CMYK+ White. Because one can only see the "white" ink when printing an actual print on film for transfer, I did not realize that printer A had stopped laying down white ink until I went to print a transfer last week on it, because printer B was having "head strike" issues. (That RUINS a DTF print and wastes a LOT of pricey ink and film!) I checked the manifold and could see that there was no white at all. I tested my dampers for clogs and there weren’t any. I cleared the manifold and the p-head again and put it all back together. Ran an cart initialization via the adjwiz and attempted another test print. The first time I tried a nozzle check, the printer ran thru the entire process purring like a kitten, error free, but the page was blank. I tried a 2nd time and within about 30 seconds, the printer stopped, and I received error 131B, which indicates the p-head is overheating. I found ONE video online that tells me this is EITHER a clog (either in the head, or the dampers) or a bad p-head. Since I had already ensured both were clear, I decided to test the p-head on printer B (ONLY the head). I rec'd the same error, so I stopped testing with THAT p-head. I put the printer B's p-head back in place. and ran a quick cleaning cycle. Now, I run a nozzle check on printer B and it goes thru all the motions, makes all the right sounds but EVERY page comes out blank!! Ink is making it thru the entire system as I can see all colors in the manifold as well as in the waste tank. So, HERE, is where I am stuck. I have had ppl tell me to check the main board for a blown "ink selector fuse". Well, the ONLY reference I can find in the entire service manual to anything related to an "ink selector" is selecting between MB and PB, and I have no issues with that. Even if I did, we don't print with Matte Black at all, so as long as your chip reads, it really doesn't matter because both carts share a common line. I have never used a multi-meter, but I ordered one and took printer A apart and removed the main board for testing. I have NO idea what to test or what I should see when I DO test - but I tried my best to learn from a few brief tutorials and can only say that every circuit, chip, resistor or fuse on the board tests as "good". (I can't even find anyone who can tell me WHAT on the main board to test!!)
Due to my electronic ignorance, I set printer A aside and decided to focus on printer B - figuring worst case, printer A can become a "parts" printer. For anyone who is in the industry, these old Epson's are workhorse and are some of the highly sought after (and highly priced) printers because other than printers that can run chipless, or the ETs, Epson has fixed all the other good ones (SC-700 & SC-900) so that no one can reset chips or use third part anything. EcoTanks, while great, are not used in DTF because the inks must be shaken daily or the settle and thicken and can ruin the p-head.
I have taken as many variables out of the loop as I can. New main. tank, OEM cart chips/carts that are full. I does not matter what I do, or what I try or how I attempt to print, it's the same result. I've tried to run a nozzle check from the control pain on the printer, from Windows, and from my RIP software. It makes no difference. EVERY print attempt I make, the printer goes thru all the motions make all the right noises, p-head swiftly goes back and forth....and the page rolls out BLANK.
Of course, the idea of bad p-heads runs thru my mind non-stop, but on BOTH printers, within an hour of each other?? And to even find a new print head, they don't make them, so I take a chance at dropping between $500 - $1000 on an Aliexpress special, or spend just about the same amount and hope that whomever I buy one from doesn't sell me a dud.
Thus far, all I've done is SPEND a LOT of money, a little at a time - probably upwards of 10K. I have put so much money toward working with the 3880s (cartridges, chips, M-tanks, etc, etc) that the thought of trying another printer gives me a panic attack. To simply buy another of these 3880s, as to not make all my investments pointless, would run upwards of $3K. As I said, because everybody in DTF wants one, the price is OVER THE TOP.
If there is any one out there, anywhere, who can offer some words of wisdom, I cannot even express how much that would mean to me. I am completely out of ideas.
To whomever might read this, thank you for your patience. I'm crossing my fingers that someone has an idea.
Thanks,
Andria
