Question Anyone Figured Out How to Wet Cap an EcoSolvent Print head?

[David40]

I would appreciate hearing from anyone that has come across or invented a way to wet cap an ecosolvent print head to keep the nozzles from drying out during extended idle periods?
Seems to me like there must be something that can be applied to the head surface that would seal out air and prevent the ink from drying out without damaging the head. I even thought about smearing it with Vaseline but I can't be sure that won't damage the head. Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank You

 

[victor bogdanov]

Let the printer do its automatic cleanings?

 

[damonCA21]

How long are you talking about it being idle? Solvent heads dont like having ink sitting in them, so if you sealed the head you are likely to do more damage. The best way to keep them working is to have fresh ink flowing through them regularly, so letting the printer do its automatic cleanings is the best way if you are not using the printer for a while.
Even better is just to run a good test print every few days. Make up some stripes of C,M,Y and K about 10cm thick and the width of the vinyl, and print those out. This also stops ink drying on the captops and wipers

 

[Signarama Jockey]

Definitely no Vaseline. My gut tells me that once you get Vaseline in print nozzles you will never, ever get it out.

Victor had the answer I'd give. Set your automatic cleanings up and let them do what they do.

If you're talking about mothballing the printer for a few months or more, then I'd look into just flushing the lines completely and packing the machine up like you were moving. That's an ordeal. auto head flushing is a much better idea.

 

[David40]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, this danged machine is like a ball and chain. It's sad that with all the technology nobody has been able to figure out a simple way to keep these heads from drying out without wasting a ton of supplies and time.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Yeah, that's what I was afraid of, this danged machine is like a ball and chain. It's sad that with all the technology nobody has been able to figure out a simple way to keep these heads from drying out without wasting a ton of supplies and time.

Simple way is to let the printer do what its made for, print!

 

[David40]

True, but that can get to be an expensive loss if you don't happen to have any paying customers on a regular basis.

 

[damonCA21]

True, but that can get to be an expensive loss if you don't happen to have any paying customers on a regular basis.

Printing small things every day costs next to nothing. It is certainly a lot cheaper than having to replace heads!

 

[Kemik]

True, but that can get to be an expensive loss if you don't happen to have any paying customers on a regular basis.

Sell it!
If this printer is not your main money maker and you hardly use it, find someone local that you can buy from wholesale and resell for a profit.

 

[studebaker]

When I buy replacement eco solvent print heads, they have a small square of "saran wrap" attached to them. (just the nozzle section) I suspect that, or a small square of static cling material will do the trick.

 

[coltonwanderson]

In theory you could disconnect the drain tubes from the pump cap and put a syringe on each tub. Then you could fill the caps with cleaning solution and it wouldn't drain through. Never tried it but it might work.

As others have stated, its best to leave them plugged in, or replace all the inks with cleaning solution for longer term storage.

 

[unmateria]

Remove inks and flush it with cleaning cartdriges. Please, always use the original cleaning liquid for this task. Aftermarket ones are ok for cleaning tasks, but not for this.

 

[netsol]

we print something small (a color wheel, moving all the inks) on EVERY PRINTER IN THE SHOP
1 AIR BUBBLE in a line gets in contact with the piezo's internal to the printhead & the piezo's will FOREVER be stuck in position (open or closed)
the adhesion that makes the printer so versatile makes it a real pain in the ass when you are not using it.
my suggestion would be MAKE IT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY anyone who doesn't have to actually PAY FOR THE NEW PRINTHEAD when there is a failure, will convince himself that you are just
being a fanatic & no one has to print every day. that is what led to my daily routine

 

[premiercolour]

You should replace the cap top every 6 months per Roland service manual. If you are not printing enough, manual clean weekly say Fridays. Drip a few cleaing solution into the cap top while you do manual cleaning. The solution will clean up the dry ink inside the tubing from cap top down to waste.

If you not going to print for a while. Use clenaing cartridges, Jetbest brand is what we use. Done it dozen times without issues.

If you try to nickel and dime on the cap top, you might result for a new printhead. Replacing cap top is the cheapest way to maintain the health of eco solvent printers. Use genuine cap top for Roland printers and genuine maintenance stration for Mutoh printers.

 

[tulsagraphics]

You should replace the cap top every 6 months per Roland service manual. If you are not printing enough, manual clean weekly say Fridays. Drip a few cleaing solution into the cap top while you do manual cleaning. The solution will clean up the dry ink inside the tubing from cap top down to waste.

If you not going to print for a while. Use clenaing cartridges, Jetbest brand is what we use. Done it dozen times without issues.

If you try to nickel and dime on the cap top, you might result for a new printhead. Replacing cap top is the cheapest way to maintain the health of eco solvent printers. Use genuine cap top for Roland printers and genuine maintenance stration for Mutoh printers.

OEM for sure. There are tons of knock offs out there -- and they often "appear" the same, but the materials are not identical. I tried multiple times from different vendors over the years, and every time I had to go back to OEM because they just wouldn't seal properly.