I was gifted a 7800 that had sat for many years unused, so I figure it may or may not be able to be rescued. The guy who gave it to me bought a full set of Piezo Flush carts and ran one init fill in the printer and he said some of the lines cleared but not all. Looking at the ink lines I can see that the five lines furthest to the back of the printer are all full with Piezo starting from where they attach to the printhead. I just got it last week and I ran another init fill after filling all the carts with enough Piezoflush so they would not run dry, and piezo ran into those five lines and into the maintenance tank which I had switched out for a new one. The other three lines, which are the three lines furthest to the right end of the printhead and going by the ink color in the lines they are the yellow, magenta, and cyan, those lines appear clogged at the printhead, or at least no piezo is in them. I am waiting on an order I just put in for an MK cleaning cart (the set that came with the printer was the PK set) and there was also no adapter for the syringe or o-rings for the air pressure inlet so I’m not sure those three lines that are clogged got good pressure in them during the init fill. So I’m waiting on the MK cart and a gallon of Piezo to do anything else with the machine. My question has to do with the Cyan cart. In all the other cleaning carts the piezo flush liquid is the same color as in the 700ml bottles, a semi transparent pink/red, but in the cyan cart it is dark dark red, cannot see thru it at all even with a bright flashlight behind it. I’m wondering if somehow cyan ink was sucked up into that cart - I can’t figure out why the piezo flush in that cart is a different color than all the others. I tried sucking it out with just the syringe but nothing would come out, did not seem like it got a good seal so I am waiting on the adapter that is coming with my MK cart and plan to drain that cart and refill from the gallon. I am also wondering what is the best way to get the fluid out of that cart. Can I pour it out the fill plug, or do I need to suck it all out using the syringe with the adapter? And then should I clean the cart with distilled water or something before putting in new piezo? I realize the printer may not be salvageable and I have a 9800 that I have printed on for going on 20 years so this would just be a backup printer for me, hoping maybe with patience and piezo flush maybe I can bring it back from the dead.
Hi William,
Thanks for reaching out. Yes, the Epson 7800 is quite an older model.
I’ve reviewed your order history. I see you purchased a gallon of PiezoFlush and an MK cartridge, but unfortunately, a filling kit was not ordered. This means you won’t have the necessary priming syringe or tips. The priming tips are quite small and are crucial for proper cartridge priming. It’s possible the previous owner misplaced them.
Regarding the PiezoFlush color, it can vary due to recent changes in the red dye component sourcing. This is normal.
You’ll need to empty the cartridge through the fill hole. A thorough rinse with distilled water only is recommended.
However, I’m concerned that without the priming tips, you won’t be able to properly prime the cartridges. Priming is essential for getting the ink flowing correctly.
Here’s a link to the priming tips so you can see what they look like:
https://shop.inkjetmall.com/Priming-Tips-x4.html
I can send you a set of priming tips and some replacement o-rings from the office on Monday. I usually work remotely, but I’ll be in for a team meeting.
Please let me know if you have any further questions.
Rachel - IJM Tech Support
Hi Rachel - thanks for the quick reply. Yes please send me a set of the priming tips and o-rings. I sure did not see that when I ordered or I would have ordered that as well. I looked under the product description tab in that link you sent me and it says you now include these tips with all your large format refillable cartridges but I guess that is not the case. I contacted Tom Petersen who is the one who gave me the printer and who purchased the PK Piezoflush kit from you in January of this year and he said there were no priming tips or o-rings included. He said he primed the carts just using the syringe and said it seemed to not work real well but he was able to get the piezo to flow into the outlet hole on all of them so he thought he had done it right. He gave me the box it shipped in and all the bags, boxes, bottles of piezo etc even the empty bottles in their bags and he says there was nothing else in the kit so I’m thinking it was possibly an oversight and that wasn’t included. In any case I won’t do anything further on the printer till I get those. My credit card is on file with my account if you need to bill me for those. Thanks so much. - Bill Lesch
Hi Bill,
We certainly include a filling kit with our ink bottle and cartridge combinations. On empty cartridges we do not and if you can point me to where you read that I will have it changed. When I go to the product:
https://shop.inkjetmall.com/ReUsable-Cart-with-Reset-Chip-7800-9800-Matte-Black.html
I see this:
What’s Included:
You get one empty refillable cartridge. If you are buying this cartridge outside of a set - then you should order the filling kit which includes o-rings for older printers. That way it insures the best fit. Search for sku# ACC-OBAG or look at related items.
I found Tom’s order from February 2022 and the delivery indicates an ACC-BAG instead of ACC-OBAGS, so the O-rings not included but the tips should have. I will send you out on Monday.
Have a great rest of your Sunday!
Rachel - IJM Tech Support
Hi Rachel - this is what I ordered. https://shop.inkjetmall.com/PiezoFlush-cartridge-combo-for-Epson-7800-9800-MK.html?page=3&category=46&attrib=42-147
I used the search by printer tab in the shop section then searched by printer model for the 7800 to find the MK cart. It says it comes with a 220ml bottle of piezo so it seems strange to me that you would include the filling kit if I bought an MK cart ink combo but not if I buy an MK cart piezoflush combo. What I bought didnt have that explanation about the fill kit you just sent, here is what it said.
PiezoFlush® cartridge combo, Epson Epson 7800 / 9800, printers MK position
SKU: PZFK-7800-220-MK
0.0 / 5
$ 70.38 $ 63.34
You save 10.0%
4 Unit(s) available.
One refillable cart with funnel, priming syringe, and 220ml bottle of PiezoFlush.
Since it said priming syringe and funnel I assumed it was including what I needed to put the 220ml of piezo it includes into the cart. Looks like there is more than one way of buying it and the link you just sent is for the cart only with no piezo.
Oh my mistake!
Still, it is shipping still with the regular ACC-BAG instead of ACC-OBAG. These 7800 and 9800 items are rarely ordered. I will request that the items be changed to the ACC-OBAGs. But in meantime we will send separately on Monday what you need!
Rachel - IJM Tech Support
Rachel
Sorry to bother so much with this on Sunday, no need to reply, the filling tips and o-rings will fix me up. That link I just sent shows how I ordered it. I had been looking at a print out Tom gave me of some texting he had done with Jon about running the init fill in Jan of this year so I guess I just assumed that was when he bought the carts and piezo but I just looked in what he gave me now and I see the receipt from 2022 and it looks like he just bought the separate carts and the piezo so not as a kit - which explains why he didn’t get the right filling stuff - my mistake for assuming he bought the kit, my apologies. Also apologize about getting the date wrong of when he bought it - guess he sat on it all for three years. I should have got more of the history from him. I only met him through a friend of his who bought some large prints of mine and he offered me his 7800 if I wanted it, said he was clearing out his house of stuff he didn’t use anymore, said he didn’t know if it could be rescued or not. So I didn’t really get the whole history of the printer other than when I told him I had used inkjetmall piezo flush to maintain and clean my 9800 and suggested he get that for his 7800. Glad we are on the right track now and when I am buying the inks and carts for switching my 9800 to ConeColor inks I will make sure I get everything I need. Regarding that, I was wondering if you could give me any kind of price break if I were to buy a set of 9 carts with both new blacks and the set of 9 in 700ml size instead of the 220ml kit you have on the site. I see this kit - https://shop.inkjetmall.com/ConeColor-HD-220ml-ReUsable-Cart-7800-9800-set9.html?page=3&category=64#attr=23554,53007,56385,35719,13634,14395,17265,47777,15627
but I don’t see that same kit with either 350ml or 700ml size inks. I see that you sell 350ml and 700ml kits for some of the newer printers but all I see is 220ml for the 7800 / 9800. Maybe that is because those printers are so old there is not much call for it but my 9800 is still printing away and with the recent price hikes for Epson inks I would like to switch it over and since I go thru a fair amount of ink it would make the most sense for me to buy 700’s instead of 220’s, esp if I can get the 7800 working as well. - thanks again, will look forward to getting those tips and o-rings, and you have a great Sunday as well and a good first week of April. - Bill
Hi Rachel
Just got the piezo flush and the o-rings and adapters, both arrived yesterday evening. Thanks so much for the quick shipping. Going to get them set up later today, will let you know how it goes.
Bill
Hi Rachel
So I ran another init fill last night after putting o-rings on all the cleaning carts and filling, priming and resetting the chips on all of them and also emptying and replacing the absorbing material in the maintenance tank, also resetting it’s chip. I’ve been using a technique of folded paper towels in those tanks for over ten years with my 9800, works great, so I did that with the 7800’s tank, works the same. There seems to be a problem with the LLB cart. The first time I ran the init fill it had got up to 70% or so, me doing the right lever left lever up and down as directed, and suddenly it came up with an error message for the LLB cart, said it needed to be replaced even though it had been showing 100% right before that. So I put up the left lever, took out the LLB cart, reset the chip, replaced it, and it started back up but went back to 0% and started the whole init fill over again. That time it completed it, got to 100%. So then, based on the pdf for the second init fill, it suggested I run a nozzle test. I am using Epson printer utility 4 so I hit the button that says print that prints a nozzle check pattern, which showed what looked like relatively good patterns in five channels, and nothing in the cyan, magenta and yellow channels. So then to verify that nothing was coming thru those channels I printed an 8.5 x 11 file I have of strips of all 8 channels, ( this is with the PK cart installed, and I printed it using the luster setting which is how I do that test on my 9800). That test printed strips on everything but the yellow channel, which printed very very faint pink, and of the rest of the channels most printed what looked like good density except for two strips which printed at about half the density of the others, but they were not the magenta and cyan strips as I expected, but instead were the LLB and LC strips. The Y strip printed at what looks like less than 5%, and the C and LM strips printed at maybe 80% of the others. The M strip was actually the darkest of all of them. So then I decided to print some full 8x11 sheets of just single colors, these are all from purge files I downloaded off the internet and have been using with my 9800. Those all printed pretty much the same percentages as the 8 channel test strips just described above. I then decided to try running an auto nozzle check using the print utility. That tried five times to print the first half of the pattern, the PK, C, M, and Y. It printed good patterns for the black each of the five times, cleaning in between each successive test pattern. On the first one nothing printed in the C, M and Y spaces, by the third one there were a few marks in each but very few, and then it came up with an error message on the LLB cart again, so at that point I shut the machine down. Not sure how to proceed at this point. I have a spare LLB chip that Tom had, thought of replacing the chip even though I reset it again before shutting it down and it now shows 100% with no error, but something must be wrong with that cart or chip. Looking at it I can’t see anything wrong. The parts of the lines I can see still show Y, M and C and those three lines, all the others that I can see show Piezo in them. I can take pics of the printouts and or the lines going into the printhead, or whatever else might be of help. Thanks for any advice you can give.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Regarding the ink flow issue you’re experiencing, have you recently replaced the dampers on your printer? On older models like yours, the dampers can become clogged over time, preventing ink from moving through the lines. These dampers contain small stainless steel filters that can get blocked.
If you do replace the dampers, it’s crucial to first flush PiezoFlush through the ink lines before installing the new dampers. This will help remove any dried ink pigment within the lines that could potentially clog the new dampers.
Even if you are seeing flow from some of the other ink positions, we strongly recommend replacing all the dampers and flushing all the ink lines with PiezoFlush before installing the new dampers. This proactive step can prevent future issues.
When you reconnect the ink lines to the new dampers, please ensure you only tighten them finger-tight. Over-tightening can squish the small o-rings, which can actually expand and cut off the ink flow.
Addressing the dampers and flushing the lines will help rule out any potential blockages or restrictions before the print head. We’re also assuming that the cartridge vents are clear and the cartridges are properly primed, especially since you mentioned using new cartridges.
If, after replacing the dampers and flushing, you are still unable to draw ink by performing power cleanings, the next step would be to carefully remove the print head. Once removed, you can attempt direct injection of PiezoFlush into the head. Apply very gentle pressure to see if PiezoFlush is emitted from all the nozzles. If not, this would indicate a potential print head clog.
There is a current discount code which is FORUM21 you can apply to purchasing 350ml or 700ml bottles.
Rachel - IJM Tech Support
Rachel
Thanks for the quick reply, that sounds exactly like what I need to do, and no, the dampers have not been replaced. Do you have any pdf’s on how to flush Piezo through the lines before I install new dampers? I have a Service Manual I downloaded last year for my 9800, used it to replace the chip reader for the right side maintenance tank so I had a lot of that section apart. It also covers the 7800 so I expect it tells how to replace the dampers and I will be sure not to overtighten. Would you know if the service manual tells how to flush the lines or if there are instructions somewhere I could download about how to do that? I have a gallon of Piezo I just bought with the MK cart so I have plenty of Piezo. Thanks again for all your help.
Bill
Hi Bill,
I do not think the Field Service Manual will indicate how to flush lines but will how to replace them with the latter being a profit center for EPSON.
You would need push PiezoFlush through one end and out the other with a syringe and hopefully some amount of tubing unless the priming tip is perfect. The easiest place to push PiezoFlush is through the ink line once it is disconnected but it will dribble out the ink stem that goes into the ink cartridge. So you will need devise some way of collecting that. These are very old printers literally before my time. I have no experience with them directly. But Jon mentioned that you may need to access the ink bays in order to attach something to the ink stems or to catch the flow or to push from that direction.
Rachel - IJM Tech Support
Yikes, sounds like this printer I was gifted is going to be a fair amount of work. Flushing the lines is not something I have ever done on my 9800 so I am going to have to search YouTube videos to see if I can find any good ones for how to do that. The Manual will probably tell me how to take the printer apart enough to get at the lines, I had my 9800 stripped down to get at the maintenance tank chip readers and in that process I accessed the ink bays. I guess the other end of the lines is where they connect to the dampers which I will also be replacing. I expect I can rig up something with tubing and the syringes I have from you, maybe some tiny clamps or other means of making sure the syringe to tube connection is secure and airtight.
Tom Peterson, the guy who gave me the printer, also gave me some stuff called Magic Bullet that is supposed to be used to clear clogged lines but I don’t want to use stuff like that in it, concerned it might ruin the print heads or nozzles. I guess those may be messed up anyway from non-use, but since I have the piezo and the dampers are pretty inexpensive flushing the lines is primarily just an investment of my time so that is ok.
If the printer becomes a big investment of money to get it going I’m giving it to my son. He likes taking things apart and getting them going again much more than I do so he would see it as a challenge.
Thanks for your help, really appreciate it. If Jon knows of a good tutorial on YouTube or elsewhere on flushing the lines and replacing the dampers ask if he or you could send a link. I did a cursory search the other day and it looked like there were several so I expect I can find what I need. Hopefully I can get it going and will be buying a set of inks and carts from you.
Bill
Hi Rachel
I had a couple of questions for you re: using the MK cart I bought from you and using the piezo flush to flush the ink lines.
I did some research on flushing the ink lines. There is not much on YouTube in the way of videos, 3 that I could find and none were near as good as the video you all made years ago on how to clean the 9800. I also found a relatively detailed written tutorial on flushing the ink lines on DP review’s website that was the best of the bunch. They suggested pulling piezo flush through the lines using a syringe attached to the lines at the damper end of the lines after disconnecting them from the dampers, so pulling the ink and piezo flush from the carts to the ends of the lines where they attach to the dampers before the ink gets to the printhead rather than pushing the piezo through the lines as you said Jon suggested.
This seems the easiest for me to do just from a physical standpoint since I would not need to take apart the ink bays since I would be pulling the piezo flush through the lines from the other end.
You wrote that Jon mentioned I may need to access the ink bays if I needed to push from that direction. Would that be if it does not work to pull from the other end, or does he think there is a reason why it would be better to push with the syringe from the damper end of the line to the ink bays as opposed to pulling from the bays to the damper end?
If I understand things correctly, what I should be hoping for is that the damper filters have caught any plugs of ink and stopped them from getting to the print head and the nozzles and that once I clean all the lines of ink I can then run the init fill again with piezo and hopefully it will then clean the print head.
My other question re: the MK cart I bought from you is when do I need to put that in? I count 8 lines at the dampers and there are only eight carts at the other end. Right now the PK cart is in place and I have not used the MK cart. The printer is turned off, and I will be unplugging it when I disconnect the dampers and try to flush the lines whichever direction I do that, pushing or pulling, and so one of the lines I will be doing that with is the line connected to the PK cart. Do I then install the MK cart and do it using that one as well? Wouldn’t I need to turn the printer back on to get it to see the MK cart and make whatever change it does in the lines for it to clear the MK section of that line?
I guess I don’t understand where that line goes, if I goes somewhere first that I need to access before it goes to the line that connects to the black damper, since there is only one black damper not two. Please let me know how I should handle cleaning with the MK cart, at what point and in what order I should do that?
Finally, from searching for the dampers it looks like I should be also installing new o-rings on all of them and possibly new nuts as well. Are the o-rings you sent me for the carts the same size as the o-rings I need for the dampers? If so, could I purchase more of those from you or do you sell a set of o-rings specifically for the dampers?
Thanks again for all your help.
Bill
Hi Bill,
You could put PiezoFlush into cartridges. Install the cartridges. Remove the ink lines from the dampers and pull the PiezoFlush through. Without filled cartridges you would need push the PiezoFlush through the ink lines and have some way of collecting from the ink bays. So Jon was thinking about your doing it without the expense of PiezoFlush filled cartridges. Although the cartridges will make it much easier.
After you have confirmed that PiezoFlush can be easily pulled through the ink lines you may consider to replace the dampers at that point. You will have clean ink lines and clean filters in the ink dampers.
I believe that the 7800 requires a black ink change dummy cart in order to change black ink modes so that you can use your MK cart. That dummy cart as I remember has a special chip that initiates removing black ink from the ink line and then replacing it with black ink from the alternative cart. My understanding is that you can not just put in a MK chipped cart if the printer is in PK mode. But you can read that in the manual.
I do not know o-ring sizes. You are in very old printer territory!
Rachel IJM - Tech Support
Hi Bill,
I came upon this posting today on the QTR List and it shows one of our filling syringes being used to directly pull fluid through the ink lines.
Rachel - IJM TechSupport
Thanks Rachel, that is a great help. I have the same syringe and metal nozzle with the cleaning kit for my 9800 I bought from you way back, looks like that fits right in the lines. I am waiting right now on new dampers and an o-ring set I bought from Sdott, so things are on hold with the printer till I get those. Sounds like Jeff Kew on that group was able to rescue his 7880 that had sat for about as long as my 7800, so hopefully I can get mine going too. Thanks for keeping me in mind.
Bill
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