4880 Cart Problem

First, a quick background. I purchased two carts, piezoflush and GO for my 4880 – my goal right now is GO overcoats for gloss prints.

I had no problem with the flush cart. The GO cart worked fine, then stopped printing. While the GO level was not below the minimum line, I purchased more GO and filled the cart to the max line. I purged the cart and it printed fine for a few prints, then stopped printing. I purged it again, same result. I purged it a third time, same result. I think the cart might be defective.

You could certainly received a faulty cartridge, but lets rule out other variables first.

When is the last time you replaced the dampers, cleaned the Capping Station, Flushing box & Wiper Blade in this machine?

[QUOTE=KellyC;4627]You could certainly received a faulty cartridge, but lets rule out other variables first.

When is the last time you replaced the dampers, cleaned the Capping Station, Flushing box & Wiper Blade in this machine?[/QUOTE]

Did all of the above save for replacing the dampers. Right before the conversion, I did an alignment print and a 17x22 print that was perfect.

In addition, if I do an alignment print now, all the other channels are fine, but nothing comes out of GO.

And if I purge it again, I will get a few prints.

Of course the vent cap is open and clean.

and the maintenance tank is relatively new.

I am now 100% certain the cart is defective – I looked at my cart that is half-full with piezoflush and no air bubbles are present in the valve or feed tube. However, the GO cart has bubbles in the valve; looks like a level bubble. I tried tilting the cart and the bubbles do not dissipate.

We will send you a new replacement LLK cartridge in the mail today, thanks for all your detailed information & diagnostics! Let me know when it arrives and that it solved your issue.

Kindly,
Kelly

What about the GO? The cart is almost full.

You can simply pour it into the new cart using your funnel, pour in out of the fill hole of the faulty cart into the new cart.

Is that safe to do? I am a stickler for cleanliness. For example, after I clean with warm tap water, I then wash syringes with distilled water.

Yes, it is perfectly fine/safe to pour your GO out of one cart and into another cart, no contamination because you are pouring the GO into a brand new cartridge that has had nothing in it previously, it will be just like pouring ink out of a bottle in the cartridge.

That is true, thanks.

The replacement cart arrived today. I filled it with GO from the other cart, primed it and only managed 2 pages of printing before the GO stopped flowing. I tried an experiment which I now regret. I put my flush cart in and tried to print a few pages – nothing printed. When I put the GO cart back in, it became contaminated with Piezoflush.

Let me summarize:

  1. Piezoflush worked fine: 3 power clean cycles flushed the line.

  2. Installed the first GO cart and performed one power clean. There was residual GO in the line so I just started printing on a blank 11x17 matte sheet. After about a dozen prints, the GO was mostly flushed, so I started printing on some test prints. After about a half-dozen test prints, the GO cart first started to show banding, then stopped printing.

  3. I re-primed the GO cart and it printed a few pages, then stopped printing.

  4. The replacement GO cart worked for only 2 pages, the stopped working.

  5. As a test (that I know regret, see above), I put the flush cart in and tried one print. Nothing printed.

  6. I re-primed the replacement GO cart and nothing printed; in addition, Piezoflush contaminated the GO.

Hi John,

It sounds like you have a faulty damper or severely clogged head, or both, there is a restriction in the line, the damper or the head that is not allowing for flow.

Please answer the following:
-How old is this printer?
-When was the last time you replaced the Dampers?
-When was the last time you cleaned the Capping Station, Flushing Box, Wiper Blade & bottom of the print head?

[QUOTE=KellyC;4668]Hi John,

It sounds like you have a faulty damper or severely clogged head, or both, there is a restriction in the line, the damper or the head that is not allowing for flow.

Please answer the following:
-How old is this printer?
-When was the last time you replaced the Dampers?
-When was the last time you cleaned the Capping Station, Flushing Box, Wiper Blade & bottom of the print head?[/QUOTE]

  1. I bought the printer used and it was meticulous maintained – looks band new. Before purchasing, I did a nozzle check, a 17x22 print and another nozzle check – all good. Nozzle check after the Piezoflush was still good. All other channels print fine.

  2. I have not replaced the Dampers.

  3. I did a complete cleaning before flushing, just to be safe.

No problems before filling with GO, now a nightmare. :frowning:

Can the line be back-flushed to rule out a line problem?

What was in GO channel previous to installing the flushing cartridge?

What was the reason for installing the flush carts? Where you trying to eliminate staining or where you getting missing nozzles?

[QUOTE=KellyC;4673]What was in GO channel previous to installing the flushing cartridge?

What was the reason for installing the flush carts? Where you trying to eliminate staining or where you getting missing nozzles?[/QUOTE]

First, I want to use GO over all my prints, including color. I find that GO over an Epson print provided the highest quality of any printing process. Later, I intend to fully convert this printer to one of the K7 Piezography inks.

Thus, no “problem” existed. I just wanted to start off printing a GO overcoat only.

The GO is in the Light Light Black position. Per conversion instructions, I primed a Flush Cart, installed it in the Light Light Black position, then performed 3 Power Cleans to fill the line with Flush. I let the Flush site 24 hours, then inserted the GO cart and did two Power Cleans and a few regular cleans. This cleared most of Flush, but some was remaining in the line. Then I simply started printing GO over an 11x17 sheet.

After about 20 prints, I began having problems. Interestingly, the problems began just as the Flush was nearly fully purged and the line filled with GO.