Replaced Epson 3800 Ink System Assembly still have blocked magenta

InkjetMall Customer Support General Discussion & Misc Support Questions
1

I’ve owned an Epson 3800 for a few years now and it’s worked most of that time. Recently I had a stubborn clogged magenta print head. I tried numerous fixes from power cleaning to using the old Windex paper towel trick to Piezo flush. The clog still remained. In fact it got worse and became completely clogged. On a test print no magenta prints at all. Eventually I went the more drastic route and replaced the dampers. Still completely clogged. All other colors were printing fine. Finally I replaced the entire ink system assembly and hoped it would solve the problem. Well lo and behold the ink clog still remains. Does anyone out there have any idea what the culprit could be here? I’m at a total loss here. I’m hoping I missed some small simple solution. Help!

2

I’m sorry to hear your magenta channel still isn’t working after replacing the ink assembly. When did the clog start- while printing on a regular basis, or after the printer had sat unused for a while? Is the M channel still completely blank after replacing the ink system? Did you run an Initial Fill cycle after replacing the ink system, to get ink thru the lines and to the head?
What ink have you been using? I see you’ve bought a M refill cart and PiezoFlush from us in attempt to get your M channel working well again.
Another thing you could try is manually flushing the print head channel, using our PiezoFlush print head cleaning kit- but you will need to disconnect the dampers to flush the head directly. If all your other channels are working well, then I recommend only flushing the M channel. The M channel is the top/left in the print head, as shown in the photos below.

I wish you the best~ Dana



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Hey Mark, What ever happened to your printer? Did you get it working?
I am going right down your same path. I also have a few stubborn clogged/blocked positions in my 3800. Spent the better part of a month getting flush/supplies and that’s amounted to a paper weight. I’ve been told conflicting things - that either I have an issue with my print head or I have a funky damper.

I’ve done everything you described up to but not including changing said dampers / ink system assembly. I just read the service manual for replacing the ink system and it looks pitted with ways that will let me break the printer even further. Likely a few hour job for a local tech. Add on the cost of the part and I’m looking at $300-400. If it’s not even a sure bet to fix the problem I may just go write a song called “Funky Damper” instead and mothball this attempt at making digital negs. Any insight / inspiration would be appreciated.

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This is relevant: How the 38xx Ink System Works