L1800 - all ok, but not printing

[Stuart21]

The only things not changed are the paper edge detector & carriage position sensor & paper feed sensor.

Would any of these have the ability to block ink ejection?

Have about 4 old printer chassis going back to 1390 / carts; - ink tank L1800 is much better - but only when its working!

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Would any of these have the ability to block ink ejection?

I don't know but wouldn't think so at this time. But you forgot to mention anything related to the ink supply from the tanks via the tubing and dampers to the printhead, is there a blockage, squeezed tubes, and isn't there a mechanical tube lock at the ink container block ?

 

[Stuart21]

Ink supply is fine, as I have external drain bottle I can see the ink flowing when the heads are cleaned. Engineers came but could not help; said that bad heads can burn out the main board. So only solution (is?) to replace both at one time - ;-(

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I would assume that a defect main board would give an error code one way or another and would not let the head moving normally . But o.k. - if you take a known good printhead and board ......a defect driver chip for the nozzle signals could be the problem.. but I think I would close the case at this time.

 

[Stuart21]

OK it looks like the problem is fixed. It seems that if a bad printhead is connected to a good mainboard, it can burn out the main board. So change to a new (good) printhead, it wont print either. Hence have 7 mainboards, uncountable printheads.

Solution; new mainboard and printhead. Just tested, colour good -

Is is necessary to register the printhead number to the mainboard? This option does not appear to be available on a mac -

Also, anyone know where we can get mainboards tested? Also printheads? Doubt Epson will do that for you ;-)

Mucho thanks to all, esp Ink Stained Fingers ;-)

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Wow, what an exercise....

It seems that if a bad printhead is connected to a good mainboard, it can burn out the main board.

I heard about such a sequential damage with Canon printheads so far only - but you experienced it as well with
Epson hardware -that's new to me.
Printhead registration - is there any note about this in the service manual ?
Printhead testing - I don't know whether somebody in China is testing such printheads and selling them refurbished.

 

[Mbaltay]

Hello Stuart,

I read your case with interest since I have the same issue with my L1800. Did you ever make further progress? I have dug into the main board and have a better understanding of what causes the system to act normally except no piezo action. I did much research and also studied the schematics against two other boards and then made some measurements. Please tell me anything you learned since this original post and or comment on my thought process below. I would be glad to help you repair any of your other boards, or better would be glad to buy one of your bad boards and try to repair it myself if you still have them.

We use the L1800 in a flatbed DTG platen setup adapted with a simple ink reservoir system to print silver nano particle conducting inks. (another whole story...)

I finally gave up on trying to repair my original board. Now I am waiting on a replacement board from China that I plan to install simultaneously with a "new" head from another printer, but I'd really like it to work and not cause more trouble. I believe the board is a genuine OEM board but the seller says it will need firmware. I am hoping the adjustment program that I use will be able to restore the firmware from a file. I have done that already in my existing printer in order to rule out the EEPROM firmware as being the problem (which I am not 100% certain is not causing the trouble, but did all I could do). I do suspect that the firmware includes more than the information that is displayed in the adjustment program, but I am not sure. I am pretty sure that the machine will work normally without inputting the head serial number and that is used to further adjust the system by giving additional information about the particular head to the main board. (another reason why I believe the firmware is much more complex than displayed in adj. program).

In my case I was the fool who started all the problems. Like you I trimmed the ribbon cable by 1 mm to get a clean edge, but in the process I forgot to unplug the printer. So I instantly I proceeded to short all the wires with the metal razor blade I was using.

Since then I rebuilt the board - the 1430 schematics are pretty accurate for the main portion of the board and seem to differ in the ink replacement circuit and in the fact that the L1800 seems to generate its own 3.3 v power whereas the 1430 seems to accept 3.3 v dc from the PSB. Other than the names, nearly every component and connection is a 100% match to the schematic.

So I was able to replace the F2 fuse, all 4 transistors (2 were blown) and I even changed the IC driver chip. Even then still no printing. I am pretty sure my head is good for several reasons: 1. there are no apparent shorts to ground, 2. It was unplugged at the time of the short 3. When I reconnected the system, the old head has not blown these components on the main board. 4. I have also tried with a head from another printer. Cable seems good as far as I can tell with continuity from each of the pins on one board to the other.

What I think is the problem in my case is that I may have installed another bad IC driver chip. It is difficult to test since I have no idea really what goes on other than it receives inputs (analog) I believe from the main logic chip and transmits signals to the transistors. You must be very careful with the L1800 system because I am pretty sure that the 42 v from PSB is applied to the main board even when the power button is off (as I found out above). The capacitors can store high voltages in certain situations even after disconnecting. In my case I was making some live tests and proceeded to do more damage when my voltmeter probes slipped and shorted across more pins. Further damage and failure to get it working prior to further damage is what caused me to throw in the towel and order a replacement board. These are hard to find for many reasons, but one is that 1430 users replace their boards with the L1800 to get around the silly cartridge lockouts. I also believe that is one reason that the L1800 schematics are not available.

Please pass on any thoughts or precautions. I need some encouragement. It is maddening to have everything work and then see the paper emerge with nothing. I am 90% certain that the head and nozzles are at least working enough where it should at least spit something out even if not a perfect print. Right now I am completely stopped.

Mike

 

[babao60]

Hello Stuart,

I read your case with interest since I have the same issue with my L1800. Did you ever make further progress? I have dug into the main board and have a better understanding of what causes the system to act normally except no piezo action. I did much research and also studied the schematics against two other boards and then made some measurements. Please tell me anything you learned since this original post and or comment on my thought process below. I would be glad to help you repair any of your other boards, or better would be glad to buy one of your bad boards and try to repair it myself if you still have them.

We use the L1800 in a flatbed DTG platen setup adapted with a simple ink reservoir system to print silver nano particle conducting inks. (another whole story...)

I finally gave up on trying to repair my original board. Now I am waiting on a replacement board from China that I plan to install simultaneously with a "new" head from another printer, but I'd really like it to work and not cause more trouble. I believe the board is a genuine OEM board but the seller says it will need firmware. I am hoping the adjustment program that I use will be able to restore the firmware from a file. I have done that already in my existing printer in order to rule out the EEPROM firmware as being the problem (which I am not 100% certain is not causing the trouble, but did all I could do). I do suspect that the firmware includes more than the information that is displayed in the adjustment program, but I am not sure. I am pretty sure that the machine will work normally without inputting the head serial number and that is used to further adjust the system by giving additional information about the particular head to the main board. (another reason why I believe the firmware is much more complex than displayed in adj. program).

In my case I was the fool who started all the problems. Like you I trimmed the ribbon cable by 1 mm to get a clean edge, but in the process I forgot to unplug the printer. So I instantly I proceeded to short all the wires with the metal razor blade I was using.

Since then I rebuilt the board - the 1430 schematics are pretty accurate for the main portion of the board and seem to differ in the ink replacement circuit and in the fact that the L1800 seems to generate its own 3.3 v power whereas the 1430 seems to accept 3.3 v dc from the PSB. Other than the names, nearly every component and connection is a 100% match to the schematic.

J’ai donc pu remplacer le fusible F2, les 4 transistors (2 ont été grillés) et j’ai même changé la puce du pilote IC. Même alors, toujours pas d’impression. Je suis à peu près sûr que ma tête est bonne pour plusieurs raisons: 1. il n’y a pas de short apparent à mettre à la terre, 2. Il était débranché au moment du court 3. Lorsque j’ai reconnecté le système, l’ancienne tête n’a pas soufflé ces composants sur la carte principale. 4. J’ai également essayé avec une tête d’une autre imprimante. Le câble semble bon pour autant que je sache avec une continuité de chacune des broches d’une carte à l’autre.

Ce que je pense être le problème dans mon cas, c’est que j’ai peut-être installé une autre puce de pilote IC mauvaise. C’est difficile à tester car je n’ai aucune idée de ce qui se passe à part qu’il reçoit des entrées (analogiques) je crois de la puce logique principale et transmet des signaux aux transistors. Vous devez être très prudent avec le système L1800 car je suis à peu près sûr que le 42 v de PSB est appliqué à la carte principale même lorsque le bouton d’alimentation est éteint (comme je l’ai découvert ci-dessus). Les condensateurs peuvent stocker des tensions élevées dans certaines situations, même après la déconnexion. Dans mon cas, je faisais des tests en direct et j’ai fait plus de dégâts lorsque mes sondes de voltmètre ont glissé et court-circuité sur plus de broches. D’autres dommages et le fait de ne pas le faire fonctionner avant d’autres dommages sont ce qui m’a amené à jeter l’éponge et à commander une planche de remplacement. Ceux-ci sont difficiles à trouver pour de nombreuses raisons, mais l’une est que les utilisateurs 1430 remplacent leurs cartes par le L1800 pour contourner les verrouillages stupides des cartouches. Je crois aussi que c’est l’une des raisons pour lesquelles les schémas L1800 ne sont pas disponibles.

Veuillez transmettre vos pensées ou vos précautions. J’ai besoin d’encouragement. C’est exaspérant de tout faire fonctionner et de voir ensuite le papier émerger sans rien. Je suis sûr à 90% que la tête et les buses fonctionnent au moins suffisamment là où elles devraient au moins cracher quelque chose, même si ce n’est pas une impression parfaite. En ce moment, je suis complètement arrêté.

Micro

hello, I have exactly the same problem as you, my printer inserts the paper, starts its print job but the ink does not come out. I replaced the print head today but the same problem. did you manage to find the source of your problem?

 

[websnail]

[Long tale of woe and hard won experience from the trenches]

Please pass on any thoughts or precautions. I need some encouragement. It is maddening to have everything work and then see the paper emerge with nothing. I am 90% certain that the head and nozzles are at least working enough where it should at least spit something out even if not a perfect print. Right now I am completely stopped.

Mike

I can't help but wince as I read through all of that Mike. You've learned far more than I knew about these models and shared that information willingly so thanks for that.

I can't offer much in the way of encouragement except to say that were I in the same situation I'd probably be looking primarily at the ink feed system first and make sure that the ink wasn't impeded by poor venting on the reservoirs or indeed any indication of blockage in the lines, locked poppet vales in the outlets, etc...

If all of that was working I suspect I'd be looking at replacement had and mainboard to get it all up and running rather than continuing the litany of woe you've experienced.

Oh and on the point about whether or not the printhead needs to be registered in the printer, no idea whether it's required (I suspect it is) but the WICReset tool (2manuals version) does have the function to read/write the printhead identifier so you don't necessarily need the AdjProg to do this. If you have the latter though I'd use that over the WICReset just because it's specific to the printer model whereas WICReset can be a bit more generalist and not always function properly on things like this.

Best of luck!

 

[PeterBJ]

Google translate has this translation from Spanish:

IF YOU HAVE TRIED AND CHANGED THE MAIN BOARD AND HEAD, THE MOST LOGIC WOULD BE THE DATA BUS THAT CONNECTS THE MAIN BOARD WITH THE PRINT HEAD


I don't know if that is any help.