Epson L1800 missing nozzle problem, please help

[ali_911]

Hello everyone,



Im new to the forum and want to thank you everyone out there of their help in advance.

I have Epson L1800 and always been using original inks since I bought like 2 years ago. I use the printer almost every day.



Im have missing black nozzle problem since last week. I tried head cleaning, different papers, different quality of printing and even injected head cleaning chemical on to black ink spark. Checked waste tank count, no problem. But Black nozzle still missing.



I have no idea what else I should try. Can anyone help please?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

and even injected head cleaning chemical on to black ink spark.

did you do a flushing action as shown here in this video ?

It is rather important that you pull back some of the ink you push into the ink channel. You did various actions as you describe it - did the number of missing nozzle change after those attempts ? Do they move around from one attempt to the next and doing nozzle check prints ?
Did the problem occur at once ?

 

[ali_911]

Hello,
Thank you for your reply.
No i didnt pull the ink back. I put towel under the head, pushed the head cleaning but didnt pull back.

Missing nozzle never got changed. Only the black one and same line, same pozition. Doesnt move around.

 

[maximilian59]

For a hard clog like this you need some time. When you push cleaning fluid in and you do it with a tube, then pull back a little bit, so there is no pressure anymore in the tube. But try to avoid air in the tube. Then remove your syringe with the tube filled with cleaner. Fix it, that it won't come off from the head and let it there till all cleaning fluid has gone through. This is not much pressure on the nozzle but sometimes gravity is enough.
Cheers,
Maximilian

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

It is a kind of unusual that you didn't see a change at all after such flushing, but if there is some blockage on the path from the piezo actuator to the nozzle you won't be able to push that out, that's where a small pull might help, you can do several small pull/push actions but the last one should be a push to get the cleaner into the ink channels. And yes, keep the cleaner there for a while, it might dissolve a blockage over time. Did tlhe problem occur suddenly or did it happen over time that more and more nozzles disappeared ?

 

[ali_911]

Thank you. I'll try push and pull. I can tell that i dont really need much preasure as it goes very smoothly. I had this for few times before but 1 head cleaning was good enough. This time it took longer. Btw i connected a hose to waste tank hose to keep the printer pads clean. I did this when i first bought it. You think this could be any issue? Do you also recommend me to such the cartridge from the bottom for any potential of air in it? Its also very hot where i live so we have aircon runing all the time. Would this be a point of the printer getting dry?

It is a kind of unusual that you didn't see a change at all after such flushing, but if there is some blockage on the path from the piezo actuator to the nozzle you won't be able to push that out, that's where a small pull might help, you can do several small pull/push actions but the last one should be a push to get the cleaner into the ink channels. And yes, keep the cleaner there for a while, it might dissolve a blockage over time. Did tlhe problem occur suddenly or did it happen over time that more and more nozzles disappeared

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

a rel. humidity sensor would help to understand your environment, yes - heat can accelerate the drying out process somewhat, but since you state that you print regularly and almost daily it should be a lesser problem.
You can put some water onto the foam pad of the cleaning unit and run a cleaning cycle, if the water is gone the tubing to your waste ink container should be o.k., you could disconnect the tube there and push some water into it as well and flush it, but that's an action separate from cleaning the printhead. There is a remote chance - problably not in your case - that the damper - the cartridge like insert into the printhead carriage - the filter in the damper is clogged, there is a small metal mesh wire filter inside at the ink outlet which can get clogged and restricts the ink flow.

 

[ali_911]

Yes i print everyday but, weekends and may be 1 or two days of not printing. Thats when the place gets very hot like 40degrees. I didnt get you well when you said about the damper. I will try the push & pull, leave the liquid there for about 1 hour and see if the missing nozzle gone or change the place.

a rel. humidity sensor would help to understand your environment, yes - heat can accelerate the drying out process somewhat, but since you state that you print regularly and almost daily it should be a lesser problem.
You can put some water onto the foam pad of the cleaning unit and run a cleaning cycle, if the water is gone the tubing to your waste ink container should be o.k., you could disconnect the tube there and push some water into it as well and flush it, but that's an action separate from cleaning the printhead. There is a remote chance - problably not in your case - that the damper - the cartridge like insert into the printhead carriage - the filter in the damper is clogged, there is a small metal mesh wire filter inside at the ink outlet which can get clogged and restricts the ink flow.

but

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

40 deg C is out of the product spec for the operating temp at max 35 deg C, I'm wondering that the other inks are not affected the same way as the black ink. You really should find a cooler place for your printer .
There are white cartridge like inserts - wihtout a chip - in the printhead carriage typically called 'damper' in Epson terms, you find them in all larger printers which use tubes for the ink supply, and the ink tubes are connected to these. These dampers contain a small ink reservoir and a filter in the ink path at the exit. It happens that this filter blocks the ink flow and would need to be replaced in that case.

 

[ali_911]

40 deg C is out of the product spec for the operating temp at max 35 deg C, I'm wondering that the other inks are not affected the same way as the black ink. You really should find a cooler place for your printer .
There are white cartridge like inserts - wihtout a chip - in the printhead carriage typically called 'damper' in Epson terms, you find them in all larger printers which use tubes for the ink supply, and the ink tubes are connected to these. These dampers contain a small ink reservoir and a filter in the ink path at the exit. It happens that this filter blocks the ink flow and would need to be replaced in that case.

Hello Sir.
Many thanks for your kind help and support.
I tried your push & pull way and pressed cleaning liquid on to the head. You'll see the left check I had before and the middle one after. The one on the right hand side is after 1 head cleaning. There seem no different after the action.

Yes the weather is very hot but we work under AC unit so, the printer doesnt run under 40deg.

Now Im thinking if Im not using the right head cleaning liquid I got from internet. You think I should give it another try with pure alcohol?