Homebrew PCBs

> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "lcdpublishing" 
> <lcdpublishing@> wrote:
>
> I finally got the R220 today and un-boxed it.  Based on a quick 
> "Look-
> over", it appears as though it is mechanically good for PCB 
> printing.  
> As typical, there is a lot of plastic in the way, but a little 
> cutting 
> here, and little there should clear the path.
> 
> As this thing is designed for CD printing and paper printing, there 
> appears to be a few more switches to detect various things.  I am 
> going to need to study that all very carefully before I start 
> cutting 
> it apart though.  So, with a bit of luck, this coming weekend will 
> provide me with some time to get to work on it.
> 
> Chris

Check your CD printing tray. If the end that feeds into the printer 
has a thin clear mylar strip attatched to it, then you have the proper 
one. If it has no mylar strip, but instead has a straight black edge, 
with two small semicircles, then you have an 'old version' which is 
what I believe destroyed my R340 (the feed rollers for the CD printing 
broke). Call Epson and see if they will change it out for you, though 
I believe they're denying the problem exists (and quietly replacing 
the printers that break).

There's a sensor on the printhead that checks the alignment of the 
three white patches on the tray before it will start printing 
(otherwise it just spits it out). I also know that I could /not/ 
get the OEM ink to work on copper or brass, I've tried it on thin 
sheets fed through the paper path, and it completely beads up or 
smears away. With /very/ careful prep I was able to reduce the beading 
and get a 'decent' enough print to heat-set, but heat setting it made 
the ink mostly evaporate, nearly nothing left to protect the metal at 
all. The R220 uses a completely different type of ink than the C88