Changing Ink Selector on 9890

Open Discussion
1

I am getting ready to change the ink selector on my 9890 and am finding that the Field repair guide does not make mention of draining the ink but the service manual does. What is the proper procedure to replace this part?

If draining the ink is the appropriate method, how can it be done without the Epson draining cartridges?

Lastly, I failed to order the 2 gaskets that are part of this part replacement, can I clean up the current gaskets and use them or must I replace them?

Thanks

beng
KCMO

2

This is not required and is not done in the field generally.

You NEED new gaskets. These are very important (and cheap little parts). They used to come with the ink selector unit but for some stupid reason now they don’t.

best,
Walker

3

Thanks Walker.

What prevents the ink from leaking all over the place?

My understanding is that after replacement of the ink selector I need to perform a power clean in order to prime the dampers, is this correct?

BenG
KCMO

4

The o-rings.

Yes. You need to perform a power cleaning.

5

I think you misunderstood me. When the ink lines are removed from the selector, what prevents them from leaking?

6

The instructions indicate you need to turn off (de-pressurize) the printer. I also take the carts out before disconnecting the lines.

There will still be a few small leaks. I simply wrap some paper town around the ends of the ink lines while working on the rest of the printer.

best,
Walker

7

I have gotten the ink selector replaced and am curious how many power cleans I can safely run to flush out the old ink and have the new ink completely in the system.

Or, is there a better way to do this?

8

Please ignore the above question, I just did an init fill and that seems to have worked properly.

9

It seems like the initial fill is a very effective way to prime up the ink selector and the head after the installation but it does use unnecessarily large quantities of ink. Especially when the lines are filled with ink and you only need a small quantity to prime the dampers and the head. Is it safe to cut the power to the printer in the middle of the init fill process to curb the waste?

10

This will not cancel the init fill process. There is no way to do it until it is complete. IF you cut the power, it will do a full initial fill the next time it’s powered on. I learned this the hard way,

-Walker

11

Way to make a few extra bucks for Epson :slight_smile: Anyway, I have had installed a new printhead and had a persistent blank color pair after that. No cleaning cycle could take care of it. The problem was solved with manual priming of the damper with a syringe. First I made sure the cartridges were pressurized to avoid creating a vacuum in the dampers.
Then I have inserted a fitting connected to a syringe via a flexible capillary tube and drew about one cubic centimeter of ink. Then I have disconnected from the damper and drew a bit of air into the syringe to have a cushion above the fluid level.
After that, I have primed the tube with the ink by pushing on the plunger and then connected the tube to the print head connector for the same color and injected some of the ink. The air cushion was helping to avoid applying excessive hydraulic pressure to the print head. Having a soft towel under the head helps to avoid the mess as ink leaves come out from the nozzles.
After that, I have re-attached the ink selector to the print head and ran the power clean cycle. All channels came back and were firing at 100%.

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