Cleaning the wipers on a 3800 / 3880

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

Hello,
I am cleaning a 3800 today, and wonder if there’s a way to pull the wiper assembly forward into its head-wiping position so that I can see and clean it easily. I have the covers off the machine, BTW, as I find that cleaning these machines through the access slot at the top is a PITA. Having had my consciousness raised recently by Dana (!awesome!) about routine maintenance, I can’t remember if there’s a simple way to get the wiper to come out from its hidey-hole, and expose it while getting the gunk off it.

BTW, The first disassembly or to of all the printer covers is kind of laborious, and I believe Epson constructs its service manual in a way that implies that you need to remove more parts than is actually necessary. But once the covers are off, the actual cleaning tasks are so much easier to see and do. I hope to find that I need not lock down every cover piece with its screws, so that getting inside to clean something quickly will be easier. I have four printers to keep running, after all, and Dana has many times that…

2

I know on the right side of the 3880 there is a small cover over a white gear that you can manually turn that lowers the capping station and also moves the wiper blade to the front of the machine to make for easier cleaning. If you have the covers off it, you should be able to see that gear that sticks out and turn it. I think once you turn it the head can also be pushed to the left side once out of the capping station area.

It might be that Epson allows you to leave that small cover off if you plan to get in there a lot on the 3880. It does seem odd the way it’s located there, and much easier to take off once the covers are off it.

Mack

3

Great! Saw the gear, and for the first time, noticed the word “release” next to it! Dunno why I missed that, but it tells me that turning the gear by hand won’t screw something up. As promised, the wiper moves into wiping position and cleaning is easy. Thanks!

4

When you turn the printer back on after cleaning, early on as it sorts itself out, the wiper blade moves into position. I pull the cord then and clean away.

5

How do you reset the wiper blade back to its starting position to turn the printer back on? Or can the nozzle head be on the other side of the blade when it turns on?