Another rescue attempt on a WP 4015

[Greybeard]

Thanks Gary.
Now why didn't I think of that !!

John

[Greybeard]

Mmm !
Cantankerous printer demands thicker paper if I change the setting to photo, and wants it fed single sheet through the rear feed slot . Or so it seems.
Well it's not going to have 20 sheets of photo paper that's for sure.
John

[Greybeard]

Earlier in this thread, I noticed that there had been some ink injected back into the flushing solution carts through the outlet valve.
(I seem to remember that this is part of the normal behaviour).
However, I now see that most of that colour has gone from the black, magenta and yellow carts, but has increased in the blue one.
I'm sure this is significant, if only confirming that the cyan inkline/head is blocked.
After my last attempt to print a solid cyan print in the photo setting, the printer produced a faint yellow print, with no sign of any cyan at all !

Doing a test print with the 'plain paper' setting after a nozzle clean, the cyan partially reappears, as does the black, but magenta and yellow continue to fade.
I fear that the prospect of having to remove the head is growing in my mind
Otherwise I will have no idea of the condition of the cyan nozzles when all the other colours have been replaced by the flushing solution.

John

[mags1892]

Hi mags1892, and welcome.
You ought to be a little more precise when recommending a recipe.
To my mind, 33% Ammonia is rather more than 'in small quantities', or do you mean that the ammonia that you have is 'household ammonia' (as bought from your High Street chemist)which is diluted with 66% water, then you only use a small(?) quantity of that ?
Do you see what I mean ?

Regards
John

Im not reccomending a recipe this is something ive developed over time and provide to my clients who use my inks. the ammonia at 33% refers to The maximum concentration of ammonia in water (giving a saturated solution) is 33% ammonia, with a density of 0.88 g/cm 3. This is known as 0.88 SG.
You cannot buy 100% pure ammonia

CHeers

Ken

[GoonerGary]

I should have chimed in here regarding the ammonia, my bottle is also 33%. I think my dilution is about half a percent which should be reasonably safe. Very nasty stuff, keep it away from bleach!

[Greybeard]

880 ammonia (and that is what it was called when I worked in the labs at ICI) was always kept in a fume cupboard. Bench ammonia would be 20% of that, and that is nasty enough !

John

[mags1892]

I should have chimed in here regarding the ammonia, my bottle is also 33%. I think my dilution is about half a percent which should be reasonably safe. Very nasty stuff, keep it away from bleach!

Basically you want to end up with no more than 1% ammonia by volume any more can damage the heads typically I use about 0.5% but some third party inks require as much as 1% , I have found in the UK a popular brand colormagic has a particularly dense MATTE black ink and I had to use a more concentrated solution.


Ken

[Greybeard]

Having decided that I'm going to need to remove the head, I've now acquired a second 4015, this time in working order (!) but with non-oem inks.
I'll flush these out and set it up as my first printer, with the previous one as a back up.
Gives me more time and no pressure to do the job.

I'll continue with this thread as I do so, but it may be a slow process, which hopefully, I'll photo as I go.
John

[Greybeard]

Started to flush out the 2nd 4015, so that I can at least have one up and running.
Started a print run of my 4 colour stripes, so that I can see how each cartridge is emptying.
Printed 25 pages OK, then disaster.
Yellow ink leaking onto paper, so it looks like the dreaded split in that delivery gasket thingy at the back of the feed system.
Now have to put everything on hold, and strip the machine to confirm (((((

EDIT Yes, that's the problem.
I'm now stuck between the rock and the hard place, with printer 1 having blocked blue nozzles, seemingly requiring to remove the head , and printer 2 with a leak on the plastic film between the cartridge housing and the pump unit, needing the whole shebang pump, pipes and print head taken off.
Perhaps the way to go is to take the head off printer 1, first, and see what possibilities there are.
If removal works, but cleaning doesn't, repeat with no. 2, and try substituting onto no.1. ?????

John

[Greybeard]

As the no.2 machine looks likely to be scrapped, I have used it to find out how to remove the head. Quite easy, if you keep all the pipe work connected.
I followed a YouTube video for dissembling a 4020, much the same, which I can now do in about 3 minutes, but the next step of removing the head was even easier.
You definitely need a 2mm spacer to go under the front of the carriage, so that when you apply some pressure to get the four small screws out with a tiny cross point screwdriver, you don't distort the guide rail at the rear of the head.

When I start on the no.1 machine, I'll add some photos.
What I'm planning is to remove the blue clogged head, then placing it in a shallow trough of flushing solution, and leaving it soak for 24 hours minimum, before re-building and trying it out.
If that doesn't improve matters, I'll continue the same process, either until it does, or until I get bored.

Meanwhile, I'm looking at my two Ricohs, a 2500 and a 3000, and contemplating put dye sub ink in them !

John