Digital BW, The Print

Hi John and Steve,

When you're just testing to see if the lines between the carts and the
dampers are clear, you can use just about any non-caustic fluid from
distilled water to various (more expensive) "cleaning carts". At the
early stages, I tend to use the least expensive fluids and work
towards my ink of choice.

If you use Windex (and it does work fine) just make sure you use the
"original formula" with ammonia and work in a well ventilated area.
Distilled water also works well, and/or you can mix it with a very
mild dilution of ammonia if there are clogs to break -- but in any
event, work in an area with fresh air flow and don't let the system
sit too long without ink once you know the lines, dampers and heads
are clear. (Windex is also great for cleaning up ink splatters)

Ernst has also given you some very good advice, and I've learned a lot
from previous conversations with him. My suggestion about using the
syringe was in response to the question about checking the lines
between the carts and the dampers. Ernst has pointed out some good
techniques to take things to the next step to make sure your capping
stations, pumps and lines are all clear, primed, aligned and
functioning properly. If you know the lines are clear all the way to
to the heads, you can take the next steps as Ernst suggested. 

However, once you see the dampers are filling normally, you can also
just run through a cleaning cycle using your cleaning fluid and
observing its flow into the waste tank. Of course, you have to have
the covers removed to be able to observe this process, but if you're
that far into your printer it's not a bad idea to be looking at the
system "end to end".

The plans for the waste collection system that Ernst mentioned for the
9000 are definitely in the Epson Wide Format Files area, among other
places. They're a good modification for your system, especially if
you're doing a lot of printing. If you're uncomfortable with those
modifications, you can always just refill your waste tank with fresh 
absorbent material -- again, I've heard of people using everything
from "huggies" to feminine pads trimmed to fit. There's really no need
to spend the money Epson charges for their waste tanks.    

If you work with Compass Micro, they understand the Epson wide-format
machines fairly well. You can feel confident that the parts they sell
you will be "as advertised", and not refurbs when they say they're
new. From my perspective, I'd just stay with the parts designed for
your particular printer (dampers, etc.) -- but I know the part numbers
for the 5000 and 9000 heads are the same and there may be other
"cross-over" part numbers as well.

Jon Cone just posted his recommended procedure for priming and
flushing the system in the Piezography group, so that's definitely
worth a read. I've had pretty good luck without investing in expensive
flush carts, but that's one area I'm cautious about offering advice --
when you're doing the "brute force" cleaning and maintenance steps, I
don't think it matters much. But when you get ready to push your
expensive inks into those feed tubes, you're making a significant
investment. If Jon says to use his cleaning carts at that point, I'd
defer to his advice. 

I've done otherwise with both Piezotone and MIS inks, but I'd rather
not have anyone be mad at me if they have a problem when charging
their freshly repaired system with good, expensive inks ;>)

In terms of anything else you should know -- there's always something
more we learn as we go ;>) You might mark the position of the
adjustment levers on the heads before you pull the old ones so you
have a starting point after you reassemble them. But then again, after
you've done all those other cleaning, flushing and capping station
alignments, you may find out the heads are just fine!

Hope you enjoy the fruits of your efforts. It sure is nice to be able
to maintain these machines yourself, yes? 

Cheers!
Richard 



--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "john dean"
<deanwork2003@y...> wrote:
> 
> Hey Steve,
> 
> John Vitolo and I are flushing the 7000's out and replacing the
heads and dampers this 
> week. That was very good to know  guys about cleaning the lines with
a syringe . I didn't 
> know about that. You just use the Media Street fluid, or some
cleaning fluid like Windex. 
> Would Windex hurt the lines?
> 
> If there is ANYTHING else that I need to know I would love to hear
it.
> 
> My big issue tomorrow is ordering parts. I plan to order the 7500
dampers and the 7000 
> heads for my 7000 converted to Piezzotone. I found my dampers all
clogged.
> 
> A 7500 head wouldn't work on a 7000 would it because of the chip
differences?
> 
> John Dean
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, sdmey4@a...
wrote:
> > In a message dated 10/24/2004 10:10:36 PM Pacific Daylight Time, 
> > richardh@j... writes:
> > 
> > > You can pull fluid down through the feed tube with a large
syringe. On
> > > the 9000, I prefer to push fluid down the line (with a syringe)
from
> > > the cartridge end, but it's a bit easier to get to on that
printer...
> > > 
> > > Richard
> > > 
> > Great Richard, I got the dampers filled(syringe) on the 7000 and
doing nozzel 
> > checks now.
> > This is my practice machine, my 9000 is next. Really learned alot
taking 
> > apart the 7000, next time it will be a breeze. The 9000 is running
so good I won't 
> > touch it for awhile ;0)
> > Steve M.
> > 
> > 
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]