Pro4800 maintenance and ink changing sequence

[Mjm6]

I purchased a set of inks and the piezowash a few weeks ago for my old 4800 printer, which I currently have using an all-black Epson ink blend for digital negatives, so I’m already using refillable inks and have a spare set of flush carts.

I also looked into getting parts to refresh the printer while I make the change to the IJM inks. To that end, I bought new dampers, wipers, capping unit, and ink sponge to replace. I also got a cutter blade, but won’t replace that yet as mine is still working well (I rarely use the built-in cutter).

SO… I’m looking for advice on the best sequence for making the parts switch. My thought is that I should pull the current inks and run some wash to clean the lines before I replace the damper, ink sponge, and capping unit.

Then, do all the maintenance to the printer.

Then, install the new inks and get them charged and running.

Alternatively, I could just do the maintenance first, but I would then have to push the old ink through the new dampers and sponges which seems like a bad idea.

I don’t think I see a specific article that addresses when the parts maintenance should occur as part of an ink change-out, but maybe I missed a mention to this somewhere.

Thanks,

—Michael

[Mjm6]

No specific advice on this?

[Mjm6]

OK, thanks…

I do occasionally get clogs in the channels, but overall, nothing strongly persistent.

I will do the maintenance since I haven’t done any of that since I got the printer all those years ago, and I think it cant hurt, right? I’m careful and mechanically inclined, so I think I can do that without too much hassle.

I’ll flush and let sit, do the maintenance, and then make the change. Still waiting on the wiper blades, but hopefully, I’ll do it this weekend.

[walkerblackwell]

If you have had an all black/grey ink in there for a while, I think you are probably ok to just do a piezoflush, let is sit for 48hrs, then do a few cleanings, check nozzles, and you should be good.

Dampers switches are not a must if you haven’t had lots of nozzles problems. If your nozzles are funky, then you probably should replace dampers, clean flush pad, etc, and THEN do piezoflush.

best
Walker

[Mjm6]

Walker,

I replaced the dampers, the capping station, and the absorbent sponge on the printer and cleaned the wiping blade.

After that, I wen to fill the printer with PF fluid, and none of the inks would draw into the tubes… It occurred to me that the nuts on the damper lines may be too tight, so I backed them off, but that didn’t help.

Finally, I looked at the capping station because that is where it draws ink into the lines through, and it seemed fine, but I swapped out the new one with the old one (that has been in there since new in 2005) and it started working.

I looked at the difference between them and other than a subtle difference in the depth of the rubber gasket around the perimeter, functionally they appear identical, but clearly, the one works properly and the other doesn’t.

I’m not sure how to determine what the problem was with the new one, but the old one is working, so I’ll go with that for now. Do you have any specific information or advice on how to suss out the issue with the other capping station? I presume it wasn’t sitting on the printer head correctly, but there is no way to see that down there in the confined space, even with the right cover off.

Tonight, I’m going to do a final nozzle test with the PF solution and then load the inks into the printer.

[Mjm6]

Walker,

Yes,I figured. I may search out a product that looks more closely to the original Epson part. This one has subtle differences, but dimentionally, it appeared to be a complete completely compatible. Maybe it was not sitting correctly for some reason.

Thanks for the help.

[walkerblackwell]

It’s hard to tell on these things. Generally cleaning problems (where nothing draws) is exactly that: it’s sucking air and not making contact with the head. I can’t tell you more without being there sadly.

best regards,
Walker

[Mjm6]

Walker,

I’m having spotty dropped jets in my test prints, and they seem to move around, and get worse the more I run the print test. I have only run one of these per day since last weekend, figuring that it may clear if the solvent can work a little longer, but I don’t think that is going to happen. The results have been similar each time. Mostly clean at the first test, and getting a bit worse in the subsequent tests.

Google Photos

Any suggestions on what to check? I haven’t run more than one of these a day since I completed the damper change and the other parts, but it doesn’t seem to have improved.

A few possible thoughts…

1. The wiper is mucking the head as it wipes. I haven’t replaced it, but I did swab it down as best I could without pulling the entire assembly to replace it (the new wipers haven’t arrived yet).
2. There is a little air bleeding in the lines (I made the lines finger tight on the dampers to avoid overtightening).
3. Too tight on the lines? This should be very unlikely.
4. Still having suction issues. (but this shouldn’t show up if the jets are all working well, as the suction only happens during the cleaning step).

Am I going to need to pull the head and do a direct clean on the channels?

EDIT Not sure why the image linking isn’t working… I’ll try another approach…
Well, that put it in as a link… should be available.

[walkerblackwell]

@Mjm6

The wiper is mucking the head as it wipes. I haven’t replaced it, but I did swab it down as best I could without pulling the entire assembly to replace it (the new wipers haven’t arrived yet).

It could be. This head does not have the TFT coating of the newer generation heads so it is susceptible to smear problems.

@Mjm6

There is a little air bleeding in the lines (I made the lines finger tight on the dampers to avoid overtightening).

Most likely totally fine and not related to your random nozzle drops. If you had air in there you would see half a channel go at once.
’

@Mjm6

Still having suction issues. (but this shouldn’t show up if the jets are all working well, as the suction only happens during the cleaning step).

This is probably the issue right there in all likelihood. Possibly in combo with the wiper. The whole “cleaning assembly” (wiper, flush box, vacuum, etc) is an important part to replace.

-W

[Mjm6]

Walker, OK, thanks.

Should I go and purchase a capping assembly as the first action? I presume this is safer than pulling the head and doing a direct head clean…

I’ll need to order some more Piezoflush, so I may also order a head cleaning plunger and tube as well just to have on hand.