I am using refillable cartridges and due to me not paying attention, the black ink line on my Epson R3000 is empty. I have run several cleaning cycles and PK/MK ink swaps, but I cannot get the black in line to refill. I have ordered the flush kit and am wondering if the cleaning cartridge and syringe can be used to refill the empty ink line. Or am I risking damage to the my R3000? What is the best way to get the ink line refilled.
Unfortunately, Epson does not include any power clean functions on this printer. The best way is to use the Epson Service Adjustment Software. This software may be available from many sources, but we find it convenient that the 2manuals.com website offers these software utilities and also Epson printer Service Manuals. The cost is reasonable. It runs only on PC or on Windows running on Parallels for Mac (or similar). It has an ink initialize function that will pull the ink to the print head. It will take you a month of sundays to push 15ml of ink to the print head by doing regular head cleans. There is a section on how to use this utility on the Piezography R3000 install page: http://www.piezography.com/PiezoPress/technical-support/epson_r3000_installation/
I have the same problem with my R3000, but with the Cyan AND Black inks. But I only have Macs, and am not running Parallels. Is there any other way to accomplish this? Is there an Epson Software fix that works on Macs? Is there anything else I can try?
Do you have a friend with a PC laptop that you could borrow? The Adjustment Program is only Windows compatible. In the future, don’t allow your carts to run dry to prevent getting air in your ink lines.
I do not know why Epson removed the maintenance options from the printer. No Power Clean seems a bit extreme in my opinion. You will need to do 50+ regular cleanings to imitate what two Power Clean operations do. I do not know who 2manuals.com are - but they make available service field guides and technician software for do-it-yourself repair. In this case, the Epson service software is PC based only.
There is a way to print out ink from only one or two channels and that is to modify the Calibration mode target from the QuadTone RIP download so that the 100% patch of the channel you are trying to purge is replicated to fill the entire target. Then using QTR Calibration mode, printing that target will result in printing occurring only in that channel. The problem is that you NEVER want to print air in the lines. It can damage the print head. The INIT operation in the Epson Service Utility sucks the air or ink out of the line via the pump and capping station.
Seldom ever to manufacturers send technicians out in the field with a Mac. So all of this is PC based. You can maybe borrow a PC Laptop?
I saturated the ink pad with windex and cleaned it a few times. After getting most of the ink in teh pad sopped up with paper towels, I resoaked the sponge pad with Windex and let the heads rest on it overnight. This morning, the black head is printing just fine, so now my only issue is with the Cyan head. I am letting that soak in windex again and will see what happens later.
We do not recommend ammonia based products like Windex any longer. Epson’s print heads are now extremely sophisticated and there is copper involved at a very small size - and ammonia can form a compound if it contacts copper. There are safer homemade solutions to make that you should research. Or use a safe professional strength chemical system which we supply called PiezoFlush. It is not clear ink base. It is an actual formulation we invented that is safe for long term storage in print heads, but also highly solvent to dissolve dried ink, while remaining compatible with the OEM and all of the inks we manufacture.
PiezoFlush can be applied from refillable carts for the R3000 - otherwise dissasembly of the printer is required to get to the print head stems.
[QUOTE=jon;241]I do not know why Epson removed the maintenance options from the printer. No Power Clean seems a bit extreme in my opinion. You will need to do 50+ regular cleanings to imitate what two Power Clean operations do. I do not know who 2manuals.com are - but they make available service field guides and technician software for do-it-yourself repair. In this case, the Epson service software is PC based only.
[/QUOTE]
My speculation: I think the Power Clean was removed because the 3000 was designed for gravity flow carts rather than the pressurized carts of 3880. With gravity flow, there is noting to drive the ink for cleaning purposes other than gravity and the wimpy ink pumping action of the piezo chips. Why they designed it for gravity flow - don’t know but would be interested in the reason. Perhaps to reduce costs?
I recently had an LK refillable cart that suddenly was blocked about 98% perhaps. I cleaned twice but no improvement. I tried the Epson Service Adjustment but found it inconvenient since it won’t work on printers that are set up with WIFI - this is specified with the instructions that come with the manual. The WIFI has to be disabled before using the Adjustment procedures which is problematic when reconnecting. In addition, when i tried to used the Ink Fill procedure, the Adjustment software told me i had 4 incompatible carts (i use all cone supplied carts for my printer for the last 8 months). Dana speculated elsewhere that this might be due to low ink levels because a fill process would require more ink than usual.
I finally bought and used the “I remove” flushing kit from InkRepublic. I would have bought the comparable kit from Inkjetmall, but the description on your site says its not compatible with the R3000 while the InkRepublic says its flushing kit is. I injected 3cc of cleaning solution into my LK channel after removing the LK cartrige. I let that stand for over 30 minutes, reinstalled the Cone cart, did 2 cleanings and had 100% LK channel back. To me, the lack of a power clean on the 3000 can be compensated for by the use of a syringe flushing kit. In some ways its better than a power clean, e.g. because the syringe can be used to push with the cleaning solution as well as pull with backpull of the syringe plunger, far more effective than merely cleaning by pumping ink at low pressure. Without power clean, the 3000 seems handicapped when clogs occur.
Did a nozzle check the second day in a row, and the LK channel continues to print at 100%. I’d like to see inkjetmall check out their flushing kit for the R3000 and note that on your website - if appropriate.
Hi Phil~
I have been meaning to respond to this since you posted it, but haven’t had a chance until now.
Thank you for your input, and we have also received successful reports from customers who have done this one their own. It’s great to resolve a stubborn clog/blockage, and get the channel printing fully again, but I have a few concerns I’d like to explain.
If you have ink installed in a pro model printer (with internal ink lines and dampers between the cartridges and print head), and experience a stubborn blockage that isn’t fixed by following our manual cleaning procedures or cleaning thru the Epson utilities, flushing the channel is often the next thing to try, followed by replacement of the dampers and other parts. Due to the absence of power clean cycles with the R3000 printer model, cleaning is a little different than other models that do have this cleaning feature. Desktop printer models that don’t have ink lines and dampers that connect to the print head, can often be cleaned and saved from serious clogging using our PiezoFlush solution and print head cleaning kit. The print head cleaning kit can also be used to flush a pro model print head- but the dampers and ink lines should be disconnected first, and cleaning kit connected/used directly on the print head channels.
Dampers have very thin plastic membranes, which are fragile and necessary for proper function. If a damper membrane is damaged, it will effect ink flow and must be replaced (can not be repaired, and won’t work if broken). Excessive pressure can damage a damper, or blow out a connection seal somewhere in the internal ink system. Even if you don’t cause physical damage to the printer, if you inject PiezoFlush into the ink line of a printer with ink installed to try clearing a clog, then reinstall the cartridge and discover the clog is freed/fixed- then that is awesome, but you need to keep in mind that you now have a few ml of pink PiezoFlush mixed with ink in the line, which will make it’s way to the print head and effect your output. There’s no way of knowing exactly when the pink PiezoFlush will make it’s way to the print head, or how long it will take to be fully out, so I would suggest wasting some ink and doing a few power clean cycles or printing pure sheets of that channel to ensure pure ink for accurate/consistent output.
Just wanted to share the risks involved. We always have a long to do list and have a lot going on, but a big and important item on our list is to make MANY more videos, including more extensive printer cleaning and possibly even some basic repair- so be sure to keep an eye on our newsletters, forum and website for lots of new and cool things on the way!
Best regards and happy printing~ Dana 
Hello,
I think I have the same problem but I am not sure to use the correct way to resolve it.
I made a print with an empty cartridge (Vivid Magenta) with a R3000 printer.
Before I realized my mistake,I have run several cleaning cycles and made some prints tests.
When finally, the last print test was completely blank, I understood the problem.
I think there is probably some air inside all the ink’s channels.
Since, I used the Epson Service Adjustment Software according to your explanations : “Ink Charge” and “Head Cleaning”.
I did it several times but the print test are still blank.
May be the other solution, with the “I remove” flushing kit from InkRepublic" is more appropriate…
Many thanks for your help,
Lafo
Hi Lafo~
Yes, it sounds like you are dealing with air in your ink line after running the magenta cartridge empty.
InkRepublic’s “iRemove” cleaning kit uses the same dummy cart and syringe as our print head cleaning kit, but we use different cleaning solutions.
Although they list the R3000 as a compatible printer, what they don’t clarify is this cleaning kit is designed to be used directly on the print head, so to flush a R3000, the ink dampers and ink lines would have to be disconnected to access the print head (as I explained to Phil in the post above yours). I don’t believe the problem is in the print head, but is likely air in the ink line and damper that needs to be purged to fill the line with ink again. You would not want to inject cleaning fluid into the ink line, because it will mix with ink, and effect your print output.
If you have done an Ink Charge cycle thru the Adjustment Program, but magenta ink still isn’t printing, I have a few questions and suggestions:
1. Did you refill the VM cartridge so the exit chamber is at least 1/2 filled with ink? If not, please plug the air vent hole and refill the cartridge using the vacuum method to get ink into the exit chamber. Ink will not be able to flow from the cartridge correctly without ink in the exit chamber. Make sure the air vent hole is OPEN before reinstalling the cartridge into your printer (or no ink will be able to flow from the cartridge).
2.If you refilled the VM cartridge to get ink in the exit chamber (and opened the air vent hole before reinstalling the cartridge into your printer), then did an Initial Fill/Ink Charge cycle, but still have no ink printing from the VM channel, then I think you might benefit from injecting 1-2ml of the same ink used in your VM cartridge using the print head cleaning cartridge and syringe in the VM cartridge chamber to help purge air. Our print head cleaning kit can be found here: http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/it.A/id.6605/.f?sc=18&category=68412
I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have questions, or there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regards~ Dana
I purchased the adjustment program from 2manuals.com and it would not instqall, missing a dot DLL. I contacted 2 manuals.com and first was informed that I needed to be running windows XP. Later they said that it was running on their windows 7 32 bit. Any solutions??
I ordered the adjustment program from 2manuals.com and it would not instqall on my Windows 7 64 bit desktop. Missing DLL issue. I contacted them and they said that I needed to run it on Windows XP. I reminded them that XP is no longer supported and that i had windows 7 64 bit. They rep[lied that it runs on their windows 7 32 bit? Any suggestions?
Hi Leheiner~
I’m sorry, we don’t support the Adjustment Program, though have used it on several Windows computers and printers to do Initial Fill cycles. I have also had some support issues with 2manuals, and ended up having to figure some things out for myself over the years, but haven’t found a better source for repair manuals and Adjustment Programs. I do know the AP needs to be run in compatibility mode, and the regular Epson print driver must be installed first. I have successfully used it with Windows XP, Vista and 7 (with various printers, I don’t know exactly what OS was used with what printers).
Best~ Dana
[QUOTE=Dana-IJM;3879]Hi Lafo~
Yes, it sounds like you are dealing with air in your ink line after running the magenta cartridge empty.
Best regards~ Dana :)[/QUOTE]
Hi Dana,
I think I am dealing with air in my in ink line as well. I am using R3000 with refillable ink cartridges and my LC ran out of ink while it was printing. When I perform a nozzle check the only ink missing completely is LC. I’ve tried numerous cleaning cycles with no luck.
I’m hoping the PiezoFlush will help bring life back to my LC so this is what I’ve done thus far:
1-I removed the LC cartridge from the printer and used the PiezoFlush syringe with accompanied dummy cartridge to push 2ml of the PiezoFlush-found no resistance.
2-After pushing the liquid I tried to draw back liquid with the syringe but it was not allowing me- it felt like a vacuum sucking the syringe.
3-I then reinserted the LC cartridge (added ink in the cartridge’s damper beforehand) and ran the head cleaning (from printer’s lcd interface) 2-3 times and still no LC on my nozzle test.
I did this for a total of 2 times and have had no luck I really hope you can help me out.
::mk
You absolutely do not want to push Piezoflush through the intake valve of the R3000 printer where the cartridges go in. Unlike small format-cartridge printers, the R3000 is a 13" wide printer built like a wide-format 17+ printer. It has a pump and pressure system between the cartridges and print-head (generally called the “Ink Supply Unit”). Forcing piezoflush through this unit when it’s turned off can damage various o-rings and valves and pumps. Drawing liquid back is even worse!! Also, printing anything but a nozzle check with an air-filled channel can burn nozzles out.
You need to download the program, fill all of your carts to the top, and run an “initial fill” to re-prime the ink supply unit and o-rings. I’m afraid you may have destroyed your LC channel though.
Please see Dana’s post on May 5th, 2014 on this thread talking about this.
-Walker
Thank you for your feedback.
I am trying to find the program, fill all of your carts to the top, but not having any luck is there a link you can share?
If the LC channel is destroyed is it reparable?
::mk
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