VM Channel clogs if not used within 24hrs, partial blocked within 10hrs Epson R3000

Good Morning

I am having some trouble with the VM channel on my Epson R3000. I am able to clear the clog if I run a head cleaning, however if I wait more then 20-24 hrs it becomes clogged again. It will have a partial clog anything above 8 hours…Approximately :slight_smile: I ve never let the cartridge run dry and the exit chamber is more then half full. I tried the maintenance tips others have suggested on other posts, cleaning the cap station, wiper blade and soaking a bounty towel with piezoflush and putting that in the channel below the printhead and trying the shoe shine method. In your experience what do you suggest? Get another VM Cart filled piezoflush and try to flush out the line?

Thank in advance

Christopher

Bueller?..Bueller?..Bueller?

Hi Christopher~

Sorry for not responding sooner, I was out of the office for a few days after getting married last weekend, so am now catching up on emails.

After reviewing your order history, I see you purchased the carts and ink in Feb, so have only been using the ConeColor refill carts for a few months. How old is the printer, and what inks did you use in it prior to installing ConeColor? About how many nozzles, or what percentage of the VM channel is missing when it gets clogged? You say one regular cleaning cycle brings it back again? How often is the printer used vs. how long does it sit unused? What are the temperature and humidity levels in your printing environment? How often do you agitate ink cartridges? Does the VM ink flow remain good during printing, but you experience missing nozzles after the printer has sat unused for several hours or more?

Please let me know so I can try to help.
Thanks and best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

Hi Dana

First Congrats and…

The Printer I purchased at the end of Jan 2014 from the epson store online, charged the printer with the epson starter inks that came with it. The VM channel will be a 100% percent blocked but all other channels are perfect if unused for about a day. Before the issue I would print every 2 or 3 days but since the issue I am paranoid and I will test print daily. Right now what happens if I don’t print within 24 hours…aprox of course… all of the VM channel will be blocked on a print of nozzle check, a single cleaning will bring back the VM Channel perfectly. If I wait lets say 8, 10 hours the VM channel probably gets about half blocked. I have pictures of the nozzle pattern check but I cant upload em here? I live in vegas so its about 98 to 110 and humidity is 10% to 18%. Inside the temperature is set to 78 degrees always. I’m paranoid about ink running out so I check about every 2 weeks and shake then. After the Head cleaning the VM ink flow is perfect. One thing I did notice is that if i do a nozzle check after 8 or 10 hours like I said its about half blocked a 2nd or 3rd check will bring back some of the nozzles but only to about 70 or 80%. How can i upload the pictures for you to take alook at them. I try to upload however it will put a red exclamation mark next to the jpeg im trying to upload.

Thanks in advance Dana

Christopher

Thanks for the additional information Christopher. Instructions for uploading images to this forum can be found here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?152-How-to-attach-images-to-this-forum

A channel should not be completely blank after just a day without use, so I suspect something with the printer or cartridge isn’t providing a tight connection, which is causing the channel to lose pressure and/or ink prime, resulting in the blank channel. How long did you use the printer with Epson inks? Did all channels work well/consistently with the Epson carts?

Your humidity levels are very low, and the combination of hot/dry conditions (especially dry) will cause drying and issues with your printer, ink and papers. Other than low humidity and high temperature, it sounds like you are doing everything right and haven’t done anything like run the cart dry or left the vent plug in the cart that would cause obvious issues. Although it sounds like the cartridge is working normally (no obvious leaking, ink in the exit chamber, and ink flow returns after a cleaning cycle, then remains during printing), it may be worth trying a new VM cartridge to see if that helps (with ink, I don’t see the need for PiezoFlush at this point since the flow returns easily, and the printer is still fairly new). Other than that, I recommend increasing the humidity in your printing environment by using a humidifier (to counter act the results of using an AC, which is sucking the moisture out of the air). In our print studio, we run ACs’ in the hot/humid summer months, and humidifiers’ in the dry winter months, but monitor the levels daily, and maintain proper levels by balancing the AC/humidifier use (especially in the spring and fall, when it’s in between moist/dry and cool/warm, depending on the day or even time of day).

Please keep me posted, let me know if you have further questions or there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

Hi Dana and Christopher,

(Dana… congratulations and best wishes!)

Thought I would chime in with a suggestion re humidification. Sounds like inkjet printers are similar to guitars in their need for moderate humidity levels. To keep guitars from cracking in dry climates, case humidifiers are used. They are commercially available, but you can make one yourself as shown here. I haven’t tried this yet myself but I will soon, by placing 1 or 2 humidifiers–or at least damp sponges in one-side-perforated ziplocs–under or next to my printer and covering all with a trash bag. This should allow me to humidify the printer without making my whole open workspace unnecessarily muggy. I’m thinking a similar method could also keep paper at a more ideal humidity level here in arid Colorado. Now if I could just find time to do some printing and keep ink flowing that way! Cheers!.. -Don

Morning Dana

I used the Epson inks for about a week before switching and the refill carts works flawlessly since Feb. If the cart is faulty somehow I should be able to diagnose that real quick using the VM OEM starter cartridge. If its the humidity also a quick fix, I will post the results just incase anybody has any similar problems in the future.

Thanks for the help Dana and to Don for the youtube video link.

Thanks for the additional information Don and Christopher, please keep me posted and let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.

Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile: