johnson4

Nice, that’s a lot of film. Are you using the aftermarket carts with inline damper on this one?

Makes sense, figured I’d ask if there was a reason for not sealing it physically. I agree, it’s time consuming and this looks like an easy solution.

Is placing a bead of silicone not an option to protect head cable?

I buy them from China, they are like $0.20 cents each before shipping. Just look for in line dampers.

Some of mine are at 2 years without issue. If it’s cured, it’ll be fine.

No worries I hope it helps some, if you have anymore questions don’t hesitate to shoot ‘em over. I tend to rant a bit sometimes when it’s something that I care about, like this stuff. color accuracy and vibrancy- man oh man it’s a whole slew of things, very unlikely related to what you offer. Kind of goes hand in hand with my previous point though, it’s never their own fault so they don’t look for internal answers, rather pawn that off on someone/something else. quite possibly, who knows what the future holds for us, I appreciate the gesture. To those who try, to those who do, to those with curious minds and only look for a guided hand at times instead of simple answers will prevail.

There are suppliers who will help and truly give you all the answers and literally walk you through it without needing next to any knowledge on it, but they are much more expensive for that reason. Usually these people are rarely seen because they are always receiving the help they need. the people who try to skimp on cost or time…

Why is so much more important than how to me, because each scenario will truly have a variable outside of a typical procedure. Knowing why let’s you adjust to those variables in real time, instead of guessing or not knowing an outcome/reaction to each action you take. I think overall when you make a system more complicated, you are setting it up for more potential issues- no matter the benefit initially. While it could help, in the long run it comes down to maintenance. to me, the solution is rather simple in design if we are talking about ideas. most higher end machines utilize these design fixes. Low end machines, do not include them intentionally. when it comes to air in the lines, it’s easy to prevent that with nothing more than making sure all connections are sealed and set correctly. From here, just use a large syringe and suck from the damper until all air is removed. Push back a very small amount while holding the damper facing port up, just enough for the damper to close. Then wipe it with a paper towel and reinstall. No more air in this line unless there is a leak, or it’s ran out of ink. of course exterior issues like clogs, or poor ink flow can reintroduce air from the printhead. It’s unavoidable and simply a reaction to another issue caused by the user/ink. for the sediment, just install the ink port about 1” from the bottom. Install a mixer that runs in the bottom, like a magnetic mixer or some form of ultrasonic mixer. Then use a paddle in the main area above the bottom. or cover and shake daily manually. shaking will also introduce microscopic air bubbles into the ink but it’s minimal and unavoidable without using degassed cartridges. Just wait 10 minutes after shaking before proceeding. I do it end of day and beginning of day for all white ink. replace dampers regularly, once every 60-90 days- depending on ink maintenance and printer use to prevent the “sludge” from the white ink from getting into the printhead. it’s like owning a vehicle- knowing when to do basic maintenance is easy, beyond that, knowing when to clean it, rotate the tires, check the timing belt and change the differential fluid all come down to experience or following a well written owners guide- with variable options based on usage. it would also require people to be honest to themselves and to those who try to help and not be hard headed against ideas or being wrong- these people will keep running against the grain, until they go through the motions internally and find their own way at a much higher cost- if they make it. If you keep it clean, flush the lines/entire ink system on a regular basis BEFORE there is a problem, you’ll usually be fine. The longer it sits between heavy use, the more maintenance you’ll need sooner. it’s like any other thing really, experience is required. I can’t pick up a CNC machine and be perfect out of the gate, or become a wood worker. Running a 6 color screen-printing job and keeping alignment- etc. It takes skill and experience. 95 percent of people won’t even take the time to read a 4 minute post that is a response to their help request. If it’s a video, absolutely will. I don’t know how many times I get asked something I have already said multiple times in the same post/response- usually immediately after it’s said. With that, for those who do, a guide would be great. But it still boils down to the same issue and ultimately won’t end in success most of the time. even with a guide it takes time and money- most want to skimp on both. Long term, it’s not easy. Short term, peice of cake. you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. first hand undeniable ( and non arguable) experience is required to truly move forward. Tips and hints are great for those who try, but it gets very muddled along the way. Those of us who do try, well we will figure it out one way or another. everything I know cost me something, mainly time and money. Fortunately that equates to my current experience which I would rate a 5/10, 10 being a guru. Without this cost, I wouldn’t know what I do, even if it was told to me, because I would take it lightly without my own personal investment.

I do want to point out, 5 head cleans in a week isn't that much. Generally I do about 3-4 a day. 2 to get going, and 1-2 throughout the day as needed. When I change dampers, I usually do 5-8 strong cleanings depending on to remove the air from the system. whatever it takes to fully remove the air from the system. That is after I prime the dampers. Your head cleans should be based from the nozzle checks you do, and printing with clogged/blocked nozzles can and does damage the head relatively quickly. Nozzle checks are the #1 way of determining the condition of the entire thing and helps break down where the problem is from one nozzle check to the next. I do not see any of that posted. So for example, if you changed the dampers, did 1-2 head cleans and that was that- you very likely didn't pull all the air out of the system, allowed air to remain in there and could potentially damage the new printhead again. running the WIMS doesn't do that for you entirely. When you have a shared capping station, like this machine likely has, it will pull from the easiest flowing location first. Air can act like a " block" and then that channel doesn't actually get flushed/purged as you would think, leaving an issue like this as well. with individual tanks it makes it obvious, with a shared ink tank it isn't and easily not noticed- which can make or break the whole situation. So for example, On my machine it shares 2 channels per " capping pad". If one channel is clogged, and the other isn't, it's going to pull from the easy channel more, if not entirely. However, if there is an issue, it will suck the one channel with no/poor flow from the other, when removed from vacuum it will suck air right back up into the head of the slower flowing/no flowing channel if the ink isn't flowing properly. If it sits at all, high potential for a damaged printhead. If any of air is getting in around the dampers, connections, or anywhere else at all, it will continue to do so without properly sucking the ink. Without a seal, there is not going to be a good flow of ink. I have on numerous occasions, especially with aftermarket dampers ran into this. Air is the enemy here and making sure it's entirely gone is the #1 thing to do all around to run and operate these machines effectively and efficiently. It's very likely something within the message, something that was looked over, because if it were all on point, it would work if the printhead is new and not a dud. on a side note, there is a white layer on the bottom of that ink tank, if it's there, it will also be in the ink lines. With a printer like this I had to physically shake the tank all the time or else this happened, and what you described. it can begin after one day. The #1 thing I have found to be the reason for someone having no issues, to a ton of issues that new parts don't fix is going to be the accumulation of the white ink because it's not properly taken care of.

Interesting. well that doesn’t leave much left to go from, maybe an air leak for that channel.

Ink- Your ink system. Did you clean the ink tanks? The white ink settles and creates a sludge at the bottom of whatever it is in. I just went through this with both my my machines. It's enough to kill a brand new head, or at least make it do this. I had to flush my lines, and in your case you would need to clean your ink tanks, and then reload and do it again. I had to manually ( gently) clean the head because the white pigment sludge had filled up the damper and went into the head. Everything is peachy. Sounds like it is likely the ink tank/ink lines at this point.

There isn't a free RIP program out there, unless it's pirated and illegal. Almost always some issue with those from what I have read. They all need purchased for a genuine copy. Cadlink is the most user friendly print ready system, Which I would recommend trying to 15 day free trial of.

Thanks for the update. Yeah it’s a good way to test it, but you also have to factor in the damaged nozzles that can’t be recovered even when cleared, then as well the specific situation of it being exposed/sitting compared to just typical clogging during normal use. Over the years I found testing best to be done in real world use before removing and tossing the printhead. for example when I started- long story short I went from one machine to 4 in about a year. Mostly for reliability because business relied on it and I had to “ learn” as time went on. even though it was bad timing and silly to diagnose and spend days or weeks testing during “ business” , I had to do it in the real world situation, any other time and I had botched results. during these times is when I was able to really debunk all the stuff people parrot on the internet and learn what did work and what did not, and when to not even waste time on it. people are mixing various methods of printing and cleaners. Alcohol or windex for example was widely used in OEM situations, the OEM ink is composed of different carriers and this would help. Some people parrot this and boom, everybody does it. Different inks will use different carriers, UV, DTG, DTF, Solvent- etc will all use a cleaner that is often similar to the carrier. the issue with water based inks is the BASE is water based and water soluble, while the non water based pigment is suspended in this water soluble base it in itself is not water soluble- even though it’s carrier is. so carrier A SUSPENDS pigment B so it can be diluted and washed down the drain. Once carrier A has been removed via evaporation it leaves pigment B solidified and no longer water soluble. Since the water soluble portion has been removed it is no longer the same situation and no longer functions the same cleaner wise. many times the original carrier A can be reintroduced and work in breaking down pigment B. Cut to the alcohol and windex theory. Unfortunately, that isn’t necessarily the case with water based inks. It’s why when you paint your house or use acrylic paint you layer and blend while the paint is relatively fresh, but doing so years or months later it doesn’t work so well. Before fully cured, this new layer of ink can generally introduce the original carrier A and cause a blending effect. It’s why they suggest a 2nd coat within X time. with inks, it works the same way. Once the ink is fully dried, it will require something stronger or an undiluted solvent to break this stuff down. Like for house paint or acrylic, you can use paint remover and within minutes it just falls off, but is unrelated to the original carrier and breaks down the ink differently. Originally, it’s intention is to keep it intact, while the stronger is designed to keep the original substrate intact instead. so for our scenario, you are going to have a couple things to cause issues. Clogs from air drying the carrier in some form, or clogs from too large of a solid/pigment size, generally over 20 micron. Usually this is from poor ink quality, poorly maintained ink, or debris in the ink system. not cleaning properly, things like the wiper, capping station, or printhead face can and does introduce dried ink to the printhead during use/cleaning cycles. It can also allow air into the system when not in use. I have to clean my wiper twice in an 8 hour period during use to prevent from reintroducing dried ink to the printhead. Not a big deal and takes 3 minutes. if you use low quality ink it can clog dampers or otherwise create ink flow issues. When this occurs it will try to “ suck” during cleaning cycles and this will inherently equalize with air going back into that channel, or ink/crud from the capping station. Sometimes an early symptom is color mixing, or colors that show good nozzle checks but then later drop out. anyway, without going into every detail or scenario my point is there are a ton of variables. You can’t go “ gung ho” and go straight to the strongest cleaner. As mentioned before, the strongest cleaners will also quickly and almost inevitably destroy the printhead. It’s why “ big shops” just replace them as consumables, because it’s been proven long term to be a waste of time, money, resources. preventative care and properly cleaning the machine before an issue occurs is the best way to prevent issues long term. After that, there isn’t a magic solution other than “ baby” the printhead with a mild cleaner from the inside out and hope it works. the cleaners and various solutions I make for myself use similar base compounds, only slightly changed for its specific purpose. They range in strength leading up to “ clog buster” or “ last chance fluid” like many suppliers sell. they call it that because it very well will destroy the printhead, so you are using it as a “ well if it works…” with no expectation that it will. All in all, the printhead can’t handle the strength of cleaner required to immediately clear these clogs in our usage without damaging the head itself, that’s why if it doesn’t work or progress with mild cleaners over time or it isn’t clearly apparent it is helping, it’s usually a lost cause. I know looking for a magic solution is ideal and would save thousands, but other than a learning experience it’s already been done from well equipped facilities and the end result is mild cleaners or “ last resort” fluid( which again will vary on ink type). You just can’t deteriorate pigment B without also doing the same to the printhead. the real answer to the savings is proper care and maintenance. When you mess up, it’s usually a lost cause and a learning experience. remember, piezo crystals that control and actuate the ink flow rely on the ink flow to cool them. That’s why printing ( not cleaning) with clogged nozzles can and will damage them. It’s also why if you have a specific nozzle ( like one spot in a nozzle check) consistently giving you trouble, it’s because it’s weakened- which is unrecoverable long term and will keep coming back if everything else checks out. I wish you luck, I recommend testing in-use but learning/testing hands on is always a positive. happy printing and I hope your original purpose of your program does well.

Yeah, I mean I seen this over a year ago and if it’s not more dominant in the market than it is, it’s for a reason.

I personally do not believe so. once cured properly, there is no smoke, no smell, nothing coming from the shirt/transfer. Sometimes a bit of moisture comes from the garment if you pre press. For me all of the smoke comes from the ink and initial melting of the powder during production. for example, if I press 200 of 12”x12” in a 5 hour period in a smaller 10x10 room without ventilation I smell nothing, I see nothing. People from outside the room who enter the room- nothing. It doesn’t mean nothing is there, but it’s been 2 years and I’m fine. like HTV, sublimation, laser transfers, DTG- ALL have some form of smell or smoke come from the final press. So if I had to guess, I’d say it’s fine IF they are properly cured. The main thing is the ink and it’s carrier. It’s poisonous if absorbed into the body. Once cured properly, it is removed entirely from the transfer and goes through the ventilation on the machines making them. Without having the air collected and tested no one will know 100%, but I don’t see it being any more harmful than any other process. you could look into TPU temperatures and ventilation requirements from 3D printers using the same stuff, have the air tested or even the finished transfer. but overall when in doubt do without. It’s your health and your decision, I seriously doubt anyone has tested this. DTG could steam up a room when curing, and people just said “ it’s water” when it wasn’t. Same for screen printing, pretty much anything. A good example, there is a manufacturer around 50 miles away which has been open and operating for almost 40 years. I forget what they make. Recently they have been testing the air and found there are known cancer causing particles in the air from this plant. Slightly over the legal limit and I live out around a ton of trees in a small town type of setting. So- my point is- even the air you breathe outside isn’t likely to be “ safe”. This “ legal limit” when exposed to continuously or for extended periods, is known to cause cancer. They didn’t factor in that people would be sitting in the stuff 24/7 since the “limit” was with 8 hour a day exposure. they are reevaluating. The tested “Safe” drinking water from a filtered well that fed about 80-100 homes outside of the previous area I mentioned- at least 8 of them were family/acquaintances. Within 2 years of moving in- 5 out of 8 ended up with cancer in various forms within that time period. This is from otherwise healthy people who only had one common denominator. My point is, who knows. Even with testing and regulation- it doesn’t mean it is safe. Personally I accept this risk daily. I’ll also personally pay the price if I am wrong.

Ironically I just downloaded the trial of this software. Thanks for all the info. White is much easier to fade out by design with using transparency in the design itself. Color is a bit more difficult given the RIP you use and how much of the transparent it picks up, but you are going to have issues around those edges with durability as the white ink fades out into the color, halftoning is the best way to make it work in my opinion so you maintain your adhesive layer. The major issue is keeping the transparency in-line with the white so that excess adhesive isn't pickup up where practically no ink is placed. The main thing is are you doing it for yourself, or for a customer. If it's for yourself from a self made design, it's actually pretty easy to accomplish. If you are trying to do this with customer images and get hit with them often, it's a huge PITA and not worth the time. The RIP will change how the image looks and some people will not like it, while others might. Recreating these images on future orders exactly also becomes a problem, especially if you end up with tons of variations and hundreds of images over the lifetime of the customer. When doing things for myself I can spend hours on them and it not be a big deal, for a customer if they are not paying for the work ( most won't) then I simply deny the job or request for approval with it's removal/basic adjustment on my side. Get hit with 50 different images of a whole roll of prints like this that are due to be made and delivered in 2 days over and over again, I think you'll start to agree it's not that easy. I'll check out the RIP though, hopefully it can make life easier as you suggest.

The liquid adhesive is printed from the printhead. From everything I know it sucks. While my standard powdered prints have gotten rather soft with experience and good supplies/tuning my machines they continue to get softer as washed/worn. I feel for durability reason a liquid adhesive that can't really get down into the fibers isn't going to work well, or for long. They sell only the liquid adhesive, but it's very expensive and requires dedicated channels for it. Some rips can handle it. Color, White, then Adhesive- 3 layers. I personally think it's just a gimmick, a company trying to get a quick cash grab. But it may have advanced in technology since I last looked, I'm not sure. I'll stick with the standard way for now, most of my customers seem happy with it and it works well. I have shirts going on 70+ washes and still look/feel good. When you compare it to traditional methods that deposit ink instead of dying the fabric, It's very close and achievable to be softer than things like plastisol, water-based inks, vinyl and all that stuff. The only thing in my eyes that beats it is sublimation in terms of hand feel. Just my 0.02, Don't let me stop you from searching. Good luck!

They use liquid adhesive instead of powder.

Do you have a white underbase?

Personally I wouldn’t do this. depending on the model you use cleaning cartridges or disassemble the ink system and manually clean it. Once all the ink system is clean, you let the cleaned ink system and cleaner filled cartridge’s clean the printhead. make sure all the ink ports are cleaned before doing any of that and the ink Bay Area if needed. I use foam tip swabbed damp with cleaner. Make sure the capping station is fully cleaned, as well as the bottom of the printhead first. The whole glass cleaner stuff doesn’t work, I tried that for quite awhile. It doesn’t break down the ink well, if it all. I lost 4 printheads using similar cleaners over the period of 6 months. You need something else more than water, and don’t leave it inside the printer. Water evaporates and glass cleaner is also made to evaporate. It actually dries it out more quickly than just water. So in the situation your going to want a different fluid after cleaning to leave in the system to preserve the machine. things like storage solution or wet cap solution contains wetting agents and prevents things from drying out. Use this after everything is clean inside and out. As for completely removing the ink remnants, the only way to do that is replace the ink system entirely. Even after fully flushed, even for hours, there will still be some remnants inside the printhead and other components. The wet cap fluid keeps it all wet and prevents evaporation, this preserves and protects the machine from those ink remnants and the environment it sits in, including colder weather. it takes hours to clean and prepare a machine for storage, if not done properly within a few weeks-to months it will ultimately have permanent issues requiring part replacements. That’s why any used DTF/DTG printer has little value because it’s almost certain it will need a new ink system, printhead, capping station unless flushed and prepared properly. I’ve followed the above method of mine and have let them sit in freezing weather at times, as well as hot and dry weather, 6+ months later load ink and works perfectly, not a single clogged nozzle or issue. I’ve also ran at least 6 printers now that haven’t had any clogging issues or failures at all since using this type of cleaner. Following the same but only using a DIY cleaner like you have described, I had to replace the ink system and printhead, and the capping station due to dried ink and permanent clogging. generally the machines are worth investing in proper cleaning/storage fluids. I know I tried this and thought the same thing about cleaner at one point. After testing, it killed almost everything unless it was used to simply wipe stuff off. while glass cleaner does have one ingredient that works well, the rest of the ingredients making up the glass cleaner be has actually created a negative effect. If you go that route, just avoid the glass cleaner and get the ammonia and a humectant. Find the proper dilution, too much will kill the head surface coating. good luck!

I agree with this entirely- but it is possible to do cmyk only DTF. Black ( composite) only ink works well without white ink. Some people use CMYK only on white shirts- but I don’t recommend it.

Yeah, it’s going to depend on the cleaner though, some might be fine but I’ve ran across this several times and it usually causes some issue especially if left sitting. my solution for me I mix distilled water and vegetable glycerin for “ storage solution”. I used this because it’s lubricating and helps seal. It’s a humectant as well so it remains “wet”. I wanted the fluid to have an ink like consistency as well so this is what did that. I didn’t want leaking or “thin” fluid going places it shouldn’t. It keeps from evaporating or freezing with this mix as well. It basically keeps it all from drying out and makes everything seal well. for my flushing solution I take the same and add 8 percent concentrated cleaner. This can also be left in, does no harm and helps break down stubborn clogs or “sludgy” ink lines. 6+ months going through a a freezing winter in a non climate controlled environment and it was 100% after loading ink. My cleaner that I use to quickly clean the capping station, printhead exterior, wiper etc is the same, except with 20 percent concentrated cleaner. for heavy issues, clogs, or stubborn cleaning I use a 50/50 mix and wet cap( no more than 5-10 minutes at a time, max 8-10 in the printheads lifetime). This will melt dried ink right off of anything except fabric. i tested this a lot and it’s been fanatic to have a tested cleaner for every situation. I no longer have issues like this. I also use the same quality ink and do proper daily maintenance. I think the main damaging aspect was the bad ink. After that letting the clogs sit instead of daily cleanings to let it slowly work out the clogs. 2-3 head cleans a day for several days. If it doesn’t help, it’s permanent. If you “manually” do anything pushing through the head you’ll have nothing but problems moving forward, from my experience. But letting it sit and allowing the clogs to solidify more or running the printer with clogs causes overheating and permanent damage to the piezoelectric crystals and kind of makes it permanent, if there was a chance of flushing the clogs to begin with. usually the clogs are in the nozzle plate or the manifold if dried ink fell down in the ink lines somewhere. If you take it apart and rinse it off and hold it up to a light you’ll see the clogged nozzle holes. at this point reattaching the plate is nearly impossible, even with proper adhesive from what I’ve found and read. Even the people you see refurbish them as their job and do this it’s like a 60/40 success rate. no problem at all. I do love what I do. If it’s an experience I am happy to share it, if it’s something I’ve researched I’ll say and share that too. I personally think “ plug and play” answers actually hurt more than helping. It teaches people to blindly follow without question. It also allows people who want to pretend they know things or are still in the process and haven’t experienced it fully yet swear by their findings- and don’t follow up when they find out they are wrong or give any reason as to why or how they believe that. while everything you read is nothing more than an opinion, I feel like explaining why is more important so the person can form their own and spark curiosity. This gives tools and individual points to look for and verify, instead of blindly following. 90 percent of the time( in my eyes) those straightforward answers in situations like this only lead to failures. If someone isn’t willing to invest the time needed to properly invest and learn something and just look for an answer, they ultimately never reach their end goal. now pointing them in the direction so they can fully find their own answer based on their own experiences- it’s a priceless knowledge- as long as while they are still in this process they don’t spread misinformed information because they are not finished learning about it yet themselves. I rarely give a short and sweet answer, I just wouldn’t answer. I personally feel like if we can’t invest the time into a conversation, into whatever we are doing, we shouldn’t answer or be doing it. The aforementioned, that actually was my version of short and sweet, haha. Anyway take what I say with a grain of salt and go out and find your own experiences and answers. If something I’ve said helps, that’s great and I’m glad to help, but they are just my experiences and I could also be wrong in some aspect, or it not apply to you in your specific circumstances. In todays world, too many people pretend for whatever reason. It’s important to weed out the BS. good luck, follow ups are appreciated if and when you move forward.

I make my own actually. I found most "purchased" cleaners were too weak to do the job and on the flipside some were too strong. I use 2 different cleaners. One for cleaning, for things like the bottom of the head, wiper, etc. and one for flushing. When it comes to flushing , Ultimately you can simply use water. Disconnect the dampers from the head, flush it all out with water until clean( everything but the printhead). Then you can run flushing solution through there if you want. Then reattach to the head and keep using the flushing solution. When done, replace with ink. Don't let it sit. Flushing solution works well also. After that, Cleaning solution is meant to be used to clean the ink, things like the ports, capping station and wiper, not actually to be flushed and sit in the printhead. Generally, these things don't work for clearing clogs if that is the goal. They are just meant to clean dried ink, capping stations, etc. If you are trying to flush a clog, you are generally wasting your time. Once something bad hits the head, it's done. Period. Some people say they save face, but in the end they always have issues and the printhead ultimately does not perform properly or last for any reasonable period of time. I know, I've tried on at least 25 printheads. I documented and followed logical procedure and cleaners and not just random things. While you can save them sometimes( very seldom) , IF standard head cleans don't work and there isn't anything else wrong, It's just time to replace the printhead. There are " clog busters" but those are just the same thing as Epson's stuff basically, which melts the ink. Any cleaner this strong will also damage the printhead. It's just one of those things people have to go through and waste time and money on to believe. You think you have results until you don't, and most people won't admit to it. If they do, It's likely something several head cleans and capping station soaks with fluid would have fixed. Live and learn, those are my experiences and not my uneducated opinions.

Not at all, details help paint the big picture and puts me in your shoes in some way. From your description I would consider your printhead bad. All of us tested inks, because who knows what works and doesn’t compared to claims vs results. The importance of sharing data so we avoid and do not promote poor products. I as well have experienced similar issues, most of us have. In my honest opinion, your scenario sounds like the breeding ground for issues, or worst use scenario. given it’s a testing machine and an L1800, costs will be minimal to you. Procolored also has a bad reputation from what I have collected( not first hand). When it comes to this, you are not printing much. You must shake and mix your ink daily. Some inks hold it better than others but the heavy Tio2 pigment will fall out of suspension. If it’s severe enough and long enough, it will start to coagulate on an almost microscopic level. This causes bad clogging. The same for the pigment micron size, but I feel like today everyone should have it together and not be selling ink that won’t work with all printers, that’s just asking for trouble if your ink can’t jet from a 1.5pl machine but can from. 3pl machine. Anyway, ink mixing and cleaning the machine daily is an absolute requirement, ground zero. Beyond that, it sounds like you used poor quality ink. That and some inks just don’t mix well. once the head experiencing clogging, ( inside or out) and it isn’t broken down and remedied immediately it will permanently damage your printhead. I’m not familiar with that cleaner, but I know first hand Epson branded cleaner can and will destroy a printhead in less than 10 minutes. I’ve done it myself, it’s actually my example mentioned previously about it sticking to the printhead. in short- you need to print often, clean often, and use inks that are from a reputable company. Beyond that- if you can’t clear the clog with head cleans- it’s done. It’s a waste of time. replace your printhead and you’ll very likely be good, from your description, given proper maintenance is being done and the ink is of quality. fortunately for you, it’s maybe $200-$300 for that printhead. When I was in this boat, my printhead was $1,100 to replace. it’s also why I only recommend DTF superstore inks. It just works. I’ve used hundreds of liters and haven’t seen this issue since- unrelated to mechanical issues not brought on due to the ink. I’ve tried other inks on tester machines and they were sub par and usually caused issues. finding someone who cares and will hold themselves accountable for the quality of the product they sell is very important here. We’ve all been there, and wasted money learning. If your dampers are of quality, seated correctly, and your ink is good, then your head needs replaced. Keep in mind the capping station is also a wear item, I replace mine anytime I replace a printhead. it ensures proper sealing, suction, and prevents future printhead failure due to the capping station overall. Been there done that.

That is true, something as simple as running a printer with clogged nozzles can permanently damage those nozzles. what’s your nozzle check look like? It’s a rather important part of the test.