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Changing from ES3 to SS21 ink sets

Forty One

New Member
Mainly for convenience as I am finding it hard to source ES3 ink from anyone here in Oz, but has anyone done this?
Do I need to completely flush the lines with ES3 solvent then SS21 solvent before switching over the inkset?
Are there any other do's & don'ts?
 

Solventinkjet

DIY Printer Fixing Guide
You definitely want to flush the system. The inks don't mix well. The basic workflow is, Discharge the ES3 inks, flush the system with Mimaki cleaning solution multiple times (I usually do 3 rounds), discharge the solution so the lines are empty, change the dampers, then fill with SS21.

If you are using white ink I would manually flush those lines after the main flush to make sure it did the trick. White clogs a lot easier and sometimes won't allow the flush to run it's course. Manually pulling some solution through will tell you if it's flowing or not.

Keep in mind that there is a possibility the head doesn't make it through the process 100%. You may lose some nozzles. The odds of that happening are much less likely if you are switching to the same color set. So if you are CMYK x 2 ES3 now and you are switching to CMYK x 2 SS21, it will go much smoother.

You do need to change a few parameters to tell the machine the ink set has changed. I'll need to know your model to tell you the right ones.

Edit: Also just to address one of your first questions, while the inks are incompatible, they both use the same cleaning solution so there is no ES3 flush and then SS21 flush. Just one flushing solution type.
 
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Forty One

New Member
Thanks.
I'll be sticking with dual CMYK as white is just pointless. IMO.
cheers for the heads up re dampers etc, seems like it may be best to stay organised and order ink from OS ahead of time and hold stock.
 
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