Epson 9880, replacing wiper blade and or capping station

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

Hello everyone, I’ve recently gone through converting a used 9880 to k7 inks, and it was sort of a difficult conversion, having to replace the dampers while I was at it (the magenta was completely clogged upon my printers arrival). Dana here held my hand graciously through the process, even though I was, well, tense. All lines are firing now, perfect nozzle checks. Phew.

The catch is, in the process I really messed around with the wiper blade…trying to replace it, but finding the replacement I ordered was more like plywood opposed to rubber, so ending up having to put the original one back in.

So here’s the point to the story, I’m getting head clogs, minor, but still clogs, way too often (like after 2 days of the printer sitting). My guess is that my wiper blade hack probably damaged the original so much that it should be replaced.

Has anyone here ever replaced that part successfully? And is it possible to do without removing the right side of the printer? (I removed it when I was getting to it, but would love to not go down that road again.)

Or, if it is the case that the right side of the printer must be removed to get to it, would has anyone ever replaced the entire capping/pump unit and wiper blade? And how much more difficult is that? My if I take the whole side of the printer off again to get to the wiper blade maybe I should just replace that entire capping unit while in there.

FYI, I do have the service manual for the printer, and it’s very good, but I’m not a tech repair guy so it’s also at times overwhelming for me and hearing how other people did or didn’t succeed at it is very very helpful.

I appreciate any and all thoughts.

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Nothing?

Was hoping someone here would have done this.

I’m getting a head clog about daily at this point, which I think is out of the norm (hope so anyway!).

I am willing to dig into the printer, and have the service manual here, but the instructions on the capping station replacement and wiper blade replacement leave something to be desired (I think they presume you have the entire printer disassembled, b/c when I pulled the right side of the printer off, there these parts were still not easy to get to.)

The other option would be to find a NYC service tech…but I gather that will be prohibitively expensive.

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I am glad to hear your printer is back together after replacing the dampers, and it was a learning experience, a bit scary at points, but in the end I hope you feel empowered that you fixed your own printer! The first time is the hardest, but each time gets easier, and builds your confidence/knowledge.

It is MUCH easier to access and work on parts on the right side of the printer by removing the cover. I have worked on and maintained our 9800 for many years, and have replaced the pump cap assembly, wiper blade, flushing box, dampers, print head, pump and ink cartridge bay over that time. I always take photos when I work on printers, and have attached a few to show the procedure for replacing the wiper bade.
I may not be the best to judge how easy/difficult it is to replace the pump cap assembly, since I have so much experience working on printers- but I do feel it’s fairly easy, and is literally just a few screws and tubes (after removing the right cover). I found the repair manual very easy and helpful to follow each step (I also have photos of this procedure if you’d like me to share them).

I hope this helps!
Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

Move the gear UP to move the wiper blade down, then down to move the blade back up






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More photos, showing holes on wiper blade being pushed down so plastic tabs stick thru (push capping station to far right to see/access blade easier):





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Dana, I love that you take photographs of this stuff! Getting those dampers replaced was in the end very easy, there was just the nerve racking part of nothing happening until I charged the inks again!

I feel better just seeing these pics. I’d pulled off the right side of the printer, as in the right plastic covering, but stopped there, since I began to get overwhelmed. I will give it another go though after ordering these parts. THe manual is relatively easy to read, but I get a bit lost in finding sometimes clear instructions on how to dismantle everything to get to the parts. For instance, for the capping station I pulled the right plastic cover off, easy enough, but there was still the frame and the rest of the stuff blocking access, and the service manual wasn’t clear on that part.

I’m going to go for it again here.

BTW, just in your opinion given the issue of the clogs, would you suggest I do the capping station+pump and flushing station too? Or do you think I should just do the wiper blade. It’s $4 in parts vs $100+…???

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I reviewed the repair manual, and it doesn’t give instructions for replacing just the capping station (only the pump cap assembly as a whole)- it can be done fairly easy, though as you have already purchased the pump cap assembly, I recommend going ahead and replacing the whole part, which is recommended every +/- 3 years.

Back of old pump cap assembly and flushing box tube (the ink mess you see on top of the waste tank is due to the hole where the waste tube goes into the top of the waste ink tank became clogged with dried ink gunk over the years, and caused ink to overflow instead of going into the waste tank, I fixed it by poking a screwdriver thru the hole to open again, plus the new tubes attached to the new pump cap assembly provided good ink flow again):

Back after removing old pump cap assembly:

Front after removing old pump cap assembly and flushing box:

Front after installing new flushing box and pump cap assembly:

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I am hoping Dana is still looking at this thread as she has saved me before. I have a 7890 that as clean nozzle checks but is printing muddy. When I print a magenta square it comes out rust color. By talking to a repair guy in NYC 100 miles from me he thinks I need to replace the pump and capping station, blade too. As i have to pay transit as well as repairs and parts I would love another opinion. Also if anyone knows a closer repair man or someone who will talk me through the repair, I live near Rhinebeck NY. Thanks In advance all