It stopped working and now I was able to get it to print some. I have the adjustment utility and used it to “Charge” the ink. I have run it though a few cleaning cycles and no usable improvement.
Can I please get some help?
Hi dstobel~
Sorry for not responding sooner, I was working with a client in the studio all last week, so wasn’t at my computer as much as normal.
After reviewing your order history, I see you originally got a set of R3000 refillable carts and 4oz ConeColor ink in 2/2012, then got a set of 110ml bottles between 8/13 and 12/13, along with a second set of refillable carts earlier this month.
I see we worked together when you originally installed the carts and the black channel wasn’t working, but got that working and I assumed you were happily printing.
Since I’m not there with your printer, I have some questions to get a better understanding of your situation in order to determine the cause and solution.
Please tell me, are you still using the first set of carts, or are you now using the second set of carts?
Have you begun using the 110ml ink bottles you most recently purchased, or are you suing ink from the 110ml bottles?
How often do you use your printer vs. how long does it sit unused?
What is the humidity and temperature in your printing environment?
When did the VM stop printing?
Are any VM nozzles printing, or is the entire channel completely blank?
Did the VM nozzles gradually drop out, or stop suddenly?
What happened before the VM stopped- had the printer sat unused for a while, had you been doing a lot of printing, had the cartridge run totally dry, had the cartridge been refilled with ink?
When was this cartridge last refilled with ink?
When it was refilled, what was the remaining ink level in both the main body and exit chamber?
Did you refill the cartridge using the injection or vacuum method?
Please check your cartridges, especially the VM that you’re having issues with: The exit chamber must be at least 1/2 filled with ink, and air vent hole must be open for proper ink flow.
Let me know so I can help you resolve this and get back to happily printing.
Best regards~ Dana 
I have not received the new set of cartridges and bought them to use to clean my printer. I am for the most part using the new 110 ml bottles. I have not used my printer that regularly.
I am in Los Angeles area so humidity should not be an issue not temperature as the room is air-conditioned and I have not used the heater much at all so far.
I tried to do some printing and did cleaning cycles. Initially, the VM was blank. I did a couple cleaning cycles and then used the service utility to charge the ink. I now have some VM nozzles printing.
I can not tell you if the VM ran dry or not. All cartridges have been refilled and I used the Vacuum method on any that needed it. All exit chambers are now fully filled with the air vent open. All cartridges are full. Is there a way to only clean or charge the one cartridge?
The Instructions should have in bold highlighted somewhere on top NOT to RUN the Cartridges Dry! I know it has it in the instructions but I initially missed it. I am good about reading and did not realize the consequences of letting ink run dry.
Thanks for the additional information, this is all helpful.
Based on what you say, it sounds possible that this cartridge ran dry and you’re dealing with air in the line, though infrequent use can also cause flow related issues such as particle build up in the dampers and/or drying of the print head, etc…
If the VM channel was totally blank, but some nozzles are now printing after a few cleaning cycles, then that’s a good sign. When you say “some” VM nozzles are now printing, is that 1-2 individual nozzles, 10-20, 50%, etc? Do more nozzles come back if you do a few more regular cleaning cycles? One initial fill should be enough.
I would not say because you live in Los Angeles that humidity isn’t an issue- it’s an issue all over the world, and changes thru out the year. For example, here in Vermont the weather channel says humidity is over 80% today, but in our studio it’s less than 10% if we don’t have the humidifiers running 24/7 (we use about 10 gallons a day, between the two humidifiers we use in our studio). I just checked the humidity for Los Angeles today, and it says 21%, so I certainly recommend you get a hygrometer and monitor the humidity levels in your printing environment. Low humidity combined with infrequent use is even worse for the printer. You can get a decent digital temperature and hygrometer device for about $20.
We include a lot of helpful information in our video and written instructions. These are three places in the cartridge instructions where it says the exit chamber has to be at least 1/2 full for proper flow, and the first line of the refill procedure says “Keep track of the ink level and do not allow cartridges to run dry”.
Instructions must be clear and easy to follow, provide lots of helpful information, and be read/followed for the best results. We try to include as much important information as possible, but can not elaborate with all the possible things that could go wrong if you don’t do as we advise- then the instruction document would become a book, and fewer people would read them (which unfortunately happens too often as it is). We always welcome feedback from customers regarding our products, as well as the instructions/documents we provide, and certainly want things to be as smooth as possible for our customers.
Have you cleaned the printer’s capping station, wiper blade and/or bottom of the print head? If not, you can find there cleaning procedures here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?133-Printer-Cleaning-and-Preventative-Maintenance
Please let me know your reults, if you have further questions, or there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regard~ Dana
I have not cleaned my printer’s capping station. IS this something that would help? I need to know what my next course of action should be.
It is my understanding that doing too many cleanings can mess up a R3000. What cleaning utility should I use? I have the built in one and the one that is in the service utility I have from 2manuals.com. or should I do another ink charge?
Yes, I recommend you clean the capping station, wiper blade and bottom of the print head if you haven’t already.
You shouldn’t do too many cleaning cycles in a row with any printer, but this depends on the type of cleaning cycle you do, time between cleaning cycles, and what printer you’re using. For a pro model printer with ink lines and dampers, such as the R3000, I would say it’s safe to do 3-5 regular cleaning cycles in a row, but don’t think you need to do any more ink change/initial fill cycles, and too many powerful cleaning cycles in a row can cause back-suction, which will make the nozzle check look worse than before cleaning, and can even make channels suck ink from neighboring channels, causing inks to print to the wrong positions.
Please keep me posted. I will be working with a client in our studio tomorrow, but will try to check my email any chance I get and will be on tech support as normal on Wed.
Best regards~ Dana
I tried to clean per the video, but there are major differences between the R3000 and other desktops. I found another video on youtube about cleaning the wastepad and wiper on a 3800.
The part on cleaning the cartridge points dont’t really exist on the r3000. I have the small format kit with the syringe and cleaner cartridge but could not use it. I still have a partially clogged nozzle. I received my new catridges and piazzleflush. What should I do next?
I think since this printer is fairly unique, you should do a full video on how to unclog this printer.
[QUOTE=dtsobel;2551]I tried to clean per the video, but there are major differences between the R3000 and other desktops. I found another video on youtube about cleaning the wastepad and wiper on a 3800.
The part on cleaning the cartridge points dont’t really exist on the r3000. I have the small format kit with the syringe and cleaner cartridge but could not use it. I still have a partially clogged nozzle. I received my new catridges and piazzleflush. What should I do next?
I think since this printer is fairly unique, you should do a full video on how to unclog this printer.[/QUOTE]
Read the instructions for cleaning the printer on the instructions tab of the PiezoFlush here: http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/it.A/id.5756/.f
It will lead you back here to the tech site instructions and manuals area, but I wanted you to see that most of our products have instructions on the instructions tab.
I was able to use the PiezoFlush kit and use it on the VM and now I am getting a full pattern printed. How many cleanings will it take to flush out all the PiezoFlush solution so my VM will print?
You run the same operation again. It takes about 8 minutes. Otherwise it will take something like 70 head cleanings and that will NOT be good for your printer. Please use the INITIAL CHARGE to push out the PiezoFlush are replace with ink rather than head cleanings. Alternatively, if you know how to use QuadTone RIP it is possible to push ink out only of the VM channel by printing two to three sheets of pure VM. Or you can print pure Magenta with the Epson driver, it will print mostly magenta but not just magenta - and it will take just a few sheets.
how can I use the driver to do this?
On Page 28 of the NEW Piezography Manual is a section on using a purge image and how to purge. This is not an effective way of cleaning a print head, but it is an effective way of moving ink back into the cleaned print head. You will need to make a full page image from the inkseparation.psd file by selecting the magenta 100 cell and expanding it over the entire image. You will need to read more of the manual to understand the workflow and how to print with QTR in Calibration Mode. I would not attempt this unless you are somewhat familiar with QTR. Otherwise you will need to read enough of the manual to understand how to install and operate QuadTone RIP, etc.
I used the qrt and printed a couple magenta pages. the first one printed good and the second one stopped. I then just ran a ink charge and now I only getting a few nozzles on the VM again. what is my next step? should do another charge and fill up the new VM cartridge with Piezoflush and if so, what should I do? I have the Epson service adjustment program.
maybe you can tell me exactly what you have done so far. it sounds to me that you went off our menu of recommended practices. Please answer yes / no or and elaborate on each question:
-
Did you completely fill up an R3000 cartridge in the VM position with PiezoFlush?
-
Did you download the service utility for Windows and run the Initial Ink Charge?
-
When you did this (if you did), was the R3000 cartridge filled with PiezoFlush installed in the VM position?
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After running the Initial Fill (if you did), did you then run a nozzle check confirmation? And what were the exact results of that nozzle check?
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What did you exactly do after this nozzle check?
- no, I used the small format kit with the syringe with papertowel below the hear and put piezoflush though.
- Yes, I have had the utility for a while. I did a initial ink charge on my system with.
- I did the inkcharge this morning but with the VM in.
- nozzle check had most nozzles blocked.
- I have not done anything since.
After I used the small format cleaning kit, the nozzle checks were good. I know that the piozoflush would eventually get to the head and I printed out Magenta using the qrt program. the first sheet was good and the second one only part printed and now my nozzle check is mostly clogged.
[QUOTE=dtsobel;2571]1. no, I used the small format kit with the syringe with papertowel below the hear and put piezoflush though.
2. Yes, I have had the utility for a while. I did a initial ink charge on my system with.
3. I did the inkcharge this morning but with the VM in.
4. nozzle check had most nozzles blocked.
5. I have not done anything since.
After I used the small format cleaning kit, the nozzle checks were good. I know that the piozoflush would eventually get to the head and I printed out Magenta using the qrt program. the first sheet was good and the second one only part printed and now my nozzle check is mostly clogged.[/QUOTE]
How did you use the small format kit on the Print Head? There is no access port to do that without removing the dampers. Where did you put the syringe and the syringe holder? I do not understand that part or how you did this without disassembling the head from the dampers, etc…
There is a kind of point that puntures the cartridge and I put the syringe holder over that.
So what should I do now? should I fill the VM with Piezoflush and run a cleaning cycle or ink charge?
[QUOTE=dtsobel;2573]There is a kind of point that puntures the cartridge and I put the syringe holder over that.
So what should I do now? should I fill the VM with Piezoflush and run a cleaning cycle or ink charge?[/QUOTE]
Ok. We certainly do not recommend the use of this desktop kit with an R3000. What we recommended was that you use the INITIAL CHARGE and a refillable cart filled with PiezoFlush. The desktop kit is not compatible with the R3000, though some of our customers have had success with using it. We do not believe it is compatible because it is not made for the R3000 and it is possible for you to blow out the membrane of the damper by forcing fluid into it. Hopefully nothing serious has happened and you may have only introduced air into the system - in which case it can not draw ink into the print head. And as I recall, we thought that you may have drawn air into the system when you initially asked for guidance.
What I recommend is what we initially told you to do. Fill up a cartridge with PiezoFlush and install it in that position and run the Initial Charge from the service utility. This will suck all the air as well as the remaining flush/ink mixture from the printer and clear the print head. This is the correct way to flush this printer model.
Then you can install the VM ink cartridge back and run the Initial Charge a second time to remove the flush and replace it with fresh ink. If you are not printing ink after this second charge, then you may have blown out the seal on the damper and you may have an air leak which will only be able to be remedied by replacing the damper or damper/assembly. That bit will require you to download the service manual and acquire the parts from Compass Micro.
So we may not be back at ground zero but dealing with a new issue that you may have inadvertently introduced.
So at this point we will revert back to your original issue and ask that you follow our recommendations and purge the system correctly.
Please let us know what happens!
I am now getting a message about the ink pads nearing end of life and to call service. I do have a waste tank for the printer.
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