DSF

You could try cleaning fluid instead of meths.

gorgall2;54841 wrote:You could try cleaning fluid instead of meths.

This is the stuff I'm using at the moment:

http://www.printheadhospital.co.uk/index.html

Don't use any form of alcohol. Meths falls into this category. It will just dry out the heads and make them worse. These are water based inks.....

So - update.

On Friday I started to run cleaner through the print heads of the '2' epson b1100 printers I have that are 'both' suffering the same problem (as explained in previous posts).

I didn't rush this and only pushed through a few mm's at a time (as recommended in many print head cleaning guides) and it took me all weekend (off and on) to go back to each colour after a few hourse.

I made sure the fluid was also warm by letting the bottle stand in a cup of how water before flushing it through - when you think about it, it's probably going to have more effect being warm for stubborn ink blockages.

Each evening when I eventually finished I left the print head sitting over a piece of kitchen roll that had cleaning solution on it (both printers).

By Sunday afternoon both printers were running clear, and when I mean clear I mean PERFECTLY CLEAR so there was no ink in the head or on the bottom of the head unit.

I then decided to filter the ink I 'was' using through a hi-tech piece of ink filter gauze (a pair of tights freshly bought from New Look ............ that was an experience in itself!).

Below is the images of the inks after filtering (a waste of time showing the black as it wouldn't photograph well enough).



As you can see from above, the yellow shows a lot of sediment that was left - the blue also left sediment but doesn't show as well in the photograph. As blue was my problem I thought the nail had been hit on the head in a previous post mentioning the inks.

Now lead onto Monday and I decided to give it 1 last flush through and fully dry before putting in the ink cartridges.

Now, I didn't re-insert the sublimation cartridges but the genuine epson cartridges. My view was that this was 'pucca' ink and if it printed no problem I just had to give it a quick flush out and change back to sublimation.

So - low and behold ................... NO CHANGE!

The nozzle check and print out's were EXACTLY the same as below the major flushing (i.e Friday) and I can say that there was no ink left in the heads over the weekend.

So - what now?

I only tested 1 of the printers (the one that's only 2 months old) and then I had an accident with some blue ink so after having hands like a Smurf I decided enough was enough and went home.

Tomorrow I will call Epson and ask then how I can move forward - everything that could have been done has been done - I have been patient and to be honest I have gone way beyond being upset about this. Some competition has opened up the road from us and we can't even compete now as we have no working sublimation printer! (hey, ho - that's life I suppose).

I just thought that it would be nice to update this thread as it may prove useful for fault finding in the future?

this is more likely air bubble
it will go one day....

Paul;55051 wrote:this is more likely air bubble (

and where would the air bubble be Paul? (like I said the printer has been stripped and I'm not running a ciss system

Paul;55051 wrote:it will go one day....

I can't wait for that day Paul - I need it fixed and not 'wait' for the problem to resolve itself - and it won't fix itself as I can't use it!

maybe onfe the nozzles are damaged? if so there is no "fix" for that as far as i know...

Paul;55053 wrote:maybe onfe the nozzles are damaged? if so there is no "fix" for that as far as i know...

Thing is, 2 printers with exactly the same problem ................ that's why (as suggested) I thought the ink was the problem?

I'll see what Epson say tomorrow - should be interesting!

AdamB;55055 wrote:Thing is, 2 printers with exactly the same problem ................ that's why (as suggested) I thought the ink was the problem?

I'll see what Epson say tomorrow - should be interesting!

i suspect they'll say... 'Take it to an authorised service centre for them to have a look at' or they will offer to replace it (but with what... as the B1100 has been discontinued...).

bms;55057 wrote:i suspect they'll say... 'Take it to an authorised service centre for them to have a look at' or they will offer to replace it (but with what... as the B1100 has been discontinued...).

I know Martin - it's annoying but I have the nearest service centres details just in case.

Out of interest - which printer has replaced the b1100? (a3+ model)