SP 300 Magenta dropping out still....

[geckophoto]

I put New Caps in and today New Dampers. Last week I thought it just may be the caps getting old and my heads starting to block up so put the new damps in just now, rand a couple cleaning cycles to see/verify that the ink was pumping and it did till the dampers, I did not pull any ink thru with a syringe. Ran a small test print and nozzles were not perfect but just a few dropping out in the magenta/black.

Next I ran this print and it uses a lot of magenta then after about 4 inches the magenta seems to be running out and you see from the sample print something is wrong. I then run a nozzle check and about 1/2 the magenta are not printing. My ink cartridge is almost full, took it out and shook it and reinserted it. I also do several cleanings and nozzles seem to come back but when I try to run the print again the magenta drops out.

Any ideas on where to look next? I try to look at the magenta ink line and 'think' it's full of magenta but when I changed the caps I did see the inks all run back up the lines and could tell there was air in the line. Once I did the power cleaning it pumped all the lines back full and filled the dampers. What confuses me is I think the magenta is not filling as fast as it need to as it prints. When I do cleanings I DO see the y/m filling the cap area and then draining down.

Could the head be starting to 'fail'? Do they stop firing randomly, I thought they would just clog up and not print but I DO get back magenta as I do several cleanings and some times pinch pump line below the caps to fill cap with head flush and let soak for a bit.

Magenta line loosing suction as it prints a lot of ink and then it cant get the ink to the nozzles?

Should I get a cartridge to flush the magenta line/head to see if maybe something is clogged in the line? I'd hate to try a flush and have dried ink go into the heads and clog even more, or take line off cap and cartridge out and try to clear the line with a syringe? I didn't use the printer much the past months but did keep doing cleanings and small test prints, but I"m sure the test prints did not run enough ink thru for me to see this issue.

As seen in pic should I still be getting some magenta printing with 1/2 nozzles firing on test print but on main print you see it almost stops completely printing?

 

[geckophoto]

I'd do another small head soak then cleaning then print a test print and show how the nozzles come back.

 

[Solventinkjet]

There is probably air getting in the system and usually it's going to be around he damper. Did you change the o-ring between the damper and ink line? If not, that's where I would start. If you did, as these machines get older the ink line starts to constrict from the pressure of the o-ring over time. This makes it so the o-ring doesn't make a good seal and a little bit of air can get in. As soon as air gets in, you will get drop out. I usually just cut the tip of the ink line off to get rid of the divot and then re-install the damper. Don't cut too far up. Just enough to get rid of the divot.

If that doesn't do the trick, either air is getting in somewhere else, such as the needle that punctures the cartridge, or you might have gotten a bad damper. They make them in the thousands so some a bound to fail.

 

[geckophoto]

There is probably air getting in the system and usually it's going to be around he damper. Did you change the o-ring between the damper and ink line? If not, that's where I would start. If you did, as these machines get older the ink line starts to constrict from the pressure of the o-ring over time. This makes it so the o-ring doesn't make a good seal and a little bit of air can get in. As soon as air gets in, you will get drop out. I usually just cut the tip of the ink line off to get rid of the divot and then re-install the damper. Don't cut too far up. Just enough to get rid of the divot.

If that doesn't do the trick, either air is getting in somewhere else, such as the needle that punctures the cartridge, or you might have gotten a bad damper. They make them in the thousands so some a bound to fail.

But if any air leak happens would it not get any magenta flowing back in? Kind of like a straw with a hole in the side you get no suction?

Do heads fire and just squirt ink out or do they also draw/suction the ink into the damper so there a reserve in it? Seems like I can get the damper full but it won’t fill back up fast enough to feed the nozzles printing so much of that one color.

 

[geckophoto]

What if I put y damper/line on m head and m back on the yellow head to test if head is failing? I’d be printing magenta on yellow head nozzles and if it still fails I’d know it’s up line towards the cartridge? Just don’t want to damage the heads by switching lines.

 

[Zoogee World]

I'm not sure I would recommend switching the colors, as it is a pain to get the colors properly after (from experience) without running cleaning cartridges through, but as a last resort you could try, but I'd try to pull from the cap top line with a syringe to see if you can get all the nozzles back first and once that is like that, see if it still drops out, and if it does, then that usually means an air leak.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I'm not sure I would recommend switching the colors, as it is a pain to get the colors properly after (from experience) without running cleaning cartridges through, but as a last resort you could try, but I'd try to pull from the cap top line with a syringe to see if you can get all the nozzles back first and once that is like that, see if it still drops out, and if it does, then that usually means an air leak.

Interesting. Every time I do it, a single cleaning clears it out. And I've done it a lot!

 

[Zoogee World]

Interesting. Every time I do it, a single cleaning clears it out. And I've done it a lot!

Interesting, I can't say I've done it a lot, but, I've done it a few times and I had a hard time clearing it out completely, as it kept a little residue, but I also used the same dampers, so that might have been a partial reason. Anyways, I'd still recommend the syringe first.

 

[Solventinkjet]

But if any air leak happens would it not get any magenta flowing back in? Kind of like a straw with a hole in the side you get no suction?

Do heads fire and just squirt ink out or do they also draw/suction the ink into the damper so there a reserve in it? Seems like I can get the damper full but it won’t fill back up fast enough to feed the nozzles printing so much of that one color.

When air leaks into the system the ink recedes back to the cartridge. In the case of a little bit of air getting in, it just impedes the flow enough to cause the drop out. It's more like when you were a kid and would close one end of the straw with your finger and pull it out of the glass of water, the water stays in the straw. As soon as you let your finger go, it drops out. The cartridge pulls back on the system which is why instead of dropping out of the head, it goes back to the cartridge,

 

[geckophoto]

Ugh, still issue. Pulled M line off damper, cut it about 1/4 inch and installed it again. Pushed tube on damper well, slid o ring up/down on tube (not a new ring) and screwed it back on damper. Same result test print was ok, but magenta dropped out again.

Cleaning cycle magenta fills cap and drains down so I know it coming thru head. Is there anything I need to do/check where cartridge is inserted? Can air be coming in there?

Did another head soak with lines pinched shut at pump, on first test prints M printed on Y nozzle area/back flowed into head during soak but printed out and yellow was perfect. Any chance M nozzles can be stuck open and air back flowing into head as it prints?

 

[geckophoto]

Maybe I’ll pull the m/y head off and soak it overnight in flushing fluid then reinstall it, just hate doing all the alignment/calibration again?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Ugh, still issue. Pulled M line off damper, cut it about 1/4 inch and installed it again. Pushed tube on damper well, slid o ring up/down on tube (not a new ring) and screwed it back on damper. Same result test print was ok, but magenta dropped out again.

Cleaning cycle magenta fills cap and drains down so I know it coming thru head. Is there anything I need to do/check where cartridge is inserted? Can air be coming in there?

Did another head soak with lines pinched shut at pump, on first test prints M printed on Y nozzle area/back flowed into head during soak but printed out and yellow was perfect. Any chance M nozzles can be stuck open and air back flowing into head as it prints?

Nozzles don't really close or open but they do become clogged. Ink will flow through a nozzle when it's idle. The back flow is pretty normal after doing a soak like that. If it clears out with a cleaning that means your cap tops and pump are probably fine.

Sometimes the septum on the cartridge will be double punctured. You could check for that. Usually if the needle is causing the issue you will see physical damage like it being bent or something. I would recommend getting a new o-ring and test that out. They tend to flatten on one side and that lets air in.

 

[geckophoto]

Can anyone tell me is cleaner solution the same as flush fluid?

 

[Zoogee World]

Can anyone tell me is cleaner solution the same as flush fluid?

The cleaning fluid would be the solvent fluid you use to clean the machine. I am not familiar with flush fluid, so I cannot say if it's the same.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Can anyone tell me is cleaner solution the same as flush fluid?

Most of the time the cleaning solution that came with your printer and is the same band as the ink can be used as a cleaner for the cap tops and wipers etc. and can also be used as a flush as it's directly compatible with the inks. If you go third party with the solution you usually want to make sure it says flush on it specifically. Not all cleaning solutions from 3rd parties are also flushes.

The main thing is that some solvents when mixed certain inks will coagulate and cause clogs etc. So they can still be used as a cleaner but can clog a head if used to flush. That's why I usually only use the name brand or the flush from Bordeaux.

 

[geckophoto]

Ok, I put new damper O ring on Magenta line, put in new wipers and the other scraper thing for the wipers, forget what its called. Did a maintenance cleaning on the heads, ran a test print and M was barely printing, then did a power cleaning and it came back almost perfect. Ran a test print pattern and it had print head lines but printed ink well, then right after that did another nozzle check and the M dropped out 50% or so like it has been doing in the past.

Have new caps on it too. So now at a loss as to what can cause this drop out on M? Any chance it is the ribbon cable going to the print head? Seems like I get good ink spray at times then not good. Kind of at a loss here besides putting new heads in it? I'll pull heads off and do a 24 hour cleaning soak in a tray just up to the silver edge on them. Should I also very gently push some flush in the heads from the damper side while doing this, I know possible damage if you force it too hard but if heads are bad what do I got to loose? I remember one time there was a company that you could ship them to and do a ultra sonic cleaning/flush to try to bring them back?

Besides ordering new inks and starting on that end of the machine I got about all maintenance components replaced. Could the head be clogged up from the inside for lack of use? Will let them do a soak tonight with cleaner in the caps once I clamp them off so it doesnt drain out then do a power flush again tomorrow but I don't have my hopes up, cleanings get the heads back in printable use but after a small print the M drops out again and the K has a slight problem that seem to matter what I do with cleaning/power or even medium.