Pro 100 Long term storage

[martin0reg]

Mike, thank you for detailed explanations..
..I have indeed a problem with one (of two) epson R285.
There are stripes in black / missing ca. 20% of the test pattern when doing a nozzle check. Nothing seems to help.

What I have done:
1. soaking on a paper towel (in the paper feed area), moving the printhead (printer unplugged) to the middle over the towel.
2. pushing cleaning solution through the PH with a syringe / tube on the spike
3. soaking on the capping station, therfore filling it up with cleaning solution and let the PH rest on it over night
4. filling the black cart (refillable) with cleaning solution and printing black color fields

May it be good better or worse
- to push and pull cleaning solution through the PH with tube/syringe
- to print black "purge patterns" with the cleaning cart
- to heaten up the cleaning solution on the capping station
- to intensify the cleaning solution (more alcohol more amonnia) ... or ...
- just let it soak even longer (more than one day and night)

Could you give me any more practical hints?
(Except removing the PH..this surgery I do not dare yet..)

 

[mikling]

You have that isolated clog that is being cushioned/isolated with an air block. That is the reason cleaning cartridges will not work.
Because the printhead has many nozzles any sort of forced liquid injection into the printhead will sometimes do nothing. The reason is that the liquid will exit through the other nozzles that is clear.
To get an idea of how much resistance there is in an internal isolated clog, one simply needs to dry up some ink inside a very fine gauge needle and then attempt to push something through. The amount of resistance is very high because the exposed area is very small and you are attempting to "shear" off a clog.

Another way to think of it is to look at a garden hose. Dry up some mud in the middle of the hose. Now try and clear the hose. using a sponge from one end to get into the hose to dry up the clog.

http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...n-about-piezo-vs-thermal-still-relevant.9319/

Take a look at the above presentations and it will give an idea of how the Epson printhead is contructed and why isolated clogs can easily occur at times. When the ink withdraws as in drying out, it withdraws into a larger chamber. If the column of ink separates as it withdraws and then dries, then you have the isolated clog. If it withdraws as one uniform column of ink back into the printhead, then a cleaning will pull the ink back to the nozzles.

So yeah, that presenatation is 1998 but the essence of the challenge is the same and similar issues remain.

The newer precision core head has smaller chambers because since 1998 Epson has been able to use newer piezo material that flexes more. This requires a smaller chamber. This increased flexure will create challenges in terms of durability as there is the potential for faster material fatigue as it is strained more and more than a larger surface that is flexed less. The smaller chamber should be less sensitive to the isolated clog. These precision Core heads are entirely new fabrication technology...Lest we forget that the first year of the DX5 head ended up delaminating eventually between the yellow and black channels. Drove many users wondering why yellow was getting black ink!..after a year or two of use...unfortunately the warranty was gone by then....but a real defect it was.

 

[mikling]

Look at page 16 in the presentation, this gives you a crossectional view of the piezo printhead single nozzle that is inverted. See that red layer. That flexes to push the ink out. Follow the path. That is one reason why Epson printers used a lot of ink to chase air out of the nozzles....There's lots of space in the nozzle chamber.

the newer heads are smaller now with smaller chambers as well...and they use longer but slower and smaller cleaning cycles.

Slide 23 will explain why the R1800 and R2400 are examples of some owner frustrations.

 

[martin0reg]

Thanks for the theory ... I will report about my practice in the other thread:
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/easy-unclogging-of-epson-printhead.5057/page-2#post-75162

 

[filmguy]

Thanks for your insight Mike.

I have 2 Pro-100's with one still in the box. The other has been plugged in (and on) and only occasionally used but did sit idle for over 3 months. Printed a test page and it came out perfect. I have a 9000 Mark ll and this is also the case but probably sat for far less time. I simply am not experiencing any issues with the Cannon dye inks (Precision Colors) but I can't say the same for my Epson 4880. I am not blaming the printer, I simply don't use it enough. Now retired, that will be on my list.

 

[Methodical]

Shoot, this reminds me. I need to go and run my Epson printer.

 

[Drjim]

I have a slightly different problem.I can get a "like new" pro-100. I have immediate use for the partially used carts but I want to store the print head for backup way down the road. What is the best way to do this?

 

[stratman]

I want to store the print head for backup way down the road. What is the best way to do this?

https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/how-to-store-a-print-head.6343/#post-47497

 

[Tin Ho]

One huge difference between Canon and Epson print heads is Canon print head heats the ink to print. Epson print head pressures the nozzle to push ink out to print. If ink does not flow for any reason heating ink is like cooking ink. The water content of ink is vaporized first then the ink turns into solid substance and the result is clogging. For this reason Epson print head should be less likely to clog.

Epson cartridges work in a principle that require a small chamber in the cartridge to be filled with ink. If the chamber is empty the print head will not be able to such ink out of the cartridge to print. In my experience with my R2880 using a set of cheap Chinese refillables, which are covered by translucent plastic on the side so the inside of the cartridge is visible, if that little chamber is empty no matter how full the cartridge is the printer will not print. Don't mistaken it as a clogging. It is not. I use a small gadget from Ink Supply Company to prime the cartridge. Then one to two cleaning cycles will get the cartridge work again.

If your Epson printer is in storage for a long time and the cartridges have emptied you may see the clogging symptom. What you will need may be just to prime your cartridges.

 

[Tin Ho]

I have a slightly different problem.I can get a "like new" pro-100. I have immediate use for the partially used carts but I want to store the print head for backup way down the road. What is the best way to do this?

Buy a cheap set of prefilled carts and install them in the printer. Then store the printer. I would print a nozzle check once every month.