Mdrake2016

1 hour ago, johnson4 said:

Anyway, Again, My opinion based from my experience, results may vary. 

I have read the same in other forums from experienced printers, but I can never figure out what is an actual good cleaner to get? Can you please recommend a few good ones that can get these clogs under control? I'm pretty sure I know what caused this but now I need to figure out how to get it cleared.

4 hours ago, johnson4 said:

What cleaner are you using to clear the clog? Running dry nozzles will permanently damage them after some time since the ink cools them. I’ve run into this a couple times with DTG. At one point a lost my magenta entirely, so I swapped over a white to magenta and that head is still working today missing one channel. 
 

I haven’t had a serious clog yet, but with DTG/reviving an old dried out pigment ink parts machine I would soak the head( cleaner filled carts and wet capped) with some decent cleaner that I’ve used the last several years. After about 5 minutes, it’s always been fixed. The cleaner I use though is pretty serious and anything past 10-15 minutes starts to deteriorate the head.

Sticking to 5 minutes only each time, I’ve never had a problem, only success.

 

the same cleaner makes cleaning the wiper and cap of old dried ink a breeze. 2 swipes and it’s all gone, even if it’s gooey and a huge blob. 
 

Having a good cleaner is key. 

What do you think about trying the windex? Or can you tell me which cleaner you use?

1 minute ago, johnson4 said:

What cleaner are you using to clear the clog? Running dry nozzles will permanently damage them after some time since the ink cools them. I haven’t had a serious clog yet, but with DTG/reviving an old dried out pigment ink parts machine I would soak the head( cleaner filled carts and wet capped) with some decent cleaner that I’ve used the last several years. After about 5 minutes, it’s always been fixed. The cleaner I use though is pretty serious and anything past 10-15 minutes starts to deteriorate the head. Sticking to 5 minutes only each time, I’ve never had a problem, only success.

I use the Firebird "GTX Optimized Cleaning Solution" but yesterday I ordered some Capping Station fluid and Printhead Cleaning solution from DTFSuperstore since they're finally back in stock. Looking at the label, it says "GTX is a registered trademark of Brother International Corporation", but I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not. This is what they sent when I ordered their regular solution.

This clog actually happened after 4 days of being away, with cleaning carts inside of them. I purged the inks before I left. Once I came back, this problem was there and I can't clear it. I wet cap every night. I feel like my issue may have been the capping station bubbling that I posted about in the other thread. Maybe ink dried up below the printhead.

I saw videos of people using Windex to clear clogs. I've read that this shouldn't be done but people seem to have success as long as they don't leave it there for too long. What do you think? Or is that cleaner you use the only solution?

I have 1 broken line on my Magenta for the P400 that refuses to clear up. The prints still look fine and accurate but I got a feeling it will hurt the printer in the long run. What can I do to get this cleared up? I ran a bunch of head cleans since this began and even a few ink purges but nothing worked.

21 hours ago, papa said:

I just bypassed the Y connector. I didnt want the problem to come back again later down the road. What i did was drilled a hole in the plastic cover next to the capping station. I ran the 2 ink lines from the capping station and mounted the waste bottle so the 2 ink lines could drain straight into the wast bottle. I haven't had any problems since. 

you can search and find 2 straight connectors instead of the Y connector. I just decided to not bother with adding anymore connectors on the lines.

papa

Thanks. I connected it straight into a little pastry container right next to the printer lol and that stopped the problem from happening.

Personally, I got WAY better colors using CADlink. I have no idea where there's such a huge difference but they literally look spot on to what I want the colors to look. My blues on EKPrint always looked purple. For a design that had a strong royal blue, I had to use a light navy for it to come out looking even close to the royal blue that I needed.

On 7/23/2021 at 8:34 PM, papa said:

Mdrake2016,

 

I had this same problem with my p600 DTG Printer. The problem is you should have 2 waste lines from capping station connected to a Y connector with 1 waste line coming from the Y connector then going into your wastes bottle.  The plastic Y connector is clogging.  You will have to remove the side panel were the capping station is located then you will see the lines and the Y connector.

What I did was drilled a hole in the side by the capping station and removed the Y connector and just ran the 2 lines from the capping station straight into the waste bottle. my waste bottle was located in the back of the printer Problem solved.  

This problem was driving me mad.  Black ink was bubbling and back flushing from the capping station.

You can do like I explained above or you can remove the Y connector and replace it with 2 straight connectors then run 2 line extended to your waste bottle.

I just replaced my capping station also because the problem had been going on for awhile until i found the problem. This should fix your problem.

D

Thanks a lot. It's been extremely frustrating. Can you tell me what size straight connectors you use? I'm worried if I get the same size as the y connector that I used, it will clog up too.

I would assume this isn't safe for the printhead so I have to ask if anyone has encountered this or know why this could be happening? This is on a P400 and it happens right at the very end of the headclean. 

On 7/18/2021 at 1:21 PM, pyaonline said:

You likely resolved this already but will put it out there. If this is a 50/50 or other blended shirt the color likely did bleed into the white when you printed/pressed it. If you use a 100% cotton shirt it shouldn't do that. (the picture shows a heathered red shirt)

I actually found this problem to be either of the following:

1. Missing nozzles on the white causing the white to not be as opaque. 
 

2. Ink percentage on the White to be too low. On my XP-15000, running at 1440x1440, any lower than 70% and the color of the shirt showed. 
 

I tested on 50/50 blends and I never had a dye migration issue if I used the correct settings. Besides that, I’ve even pressed as low as 275 degrees which fights dye migration. Wash test did not affect the print at all. 

34 minutes ago, chaudhryis said:

Thanks... this is useful information for me as well... I am waiting on my P400 to arrive.. (After my fails and wasting money and time with the XP15000 and the Epson 4900)

Question... DId you get the Chipless software and chipless carts? I am in the process of ordering carts. Found on alibaba ARC chip version and the without chip ones which are basically half the price... As I am going to do the chipless firmware install anyway, was thinking to use the without chip ones save some money .... Also another question to you.. would you get the film on roll or on sheets with the P400..

I got chipless software from inkchip.net.

But I think mine was somehow already chipless because the nozzle check showed the chipless firmware number when I ran it. Here's how to do it: 

15 hours ago, Mdrake2016 said:

Hey Johnson....I'm setting up the P400 now and before I actually fill it with inks, I wanted to ask if it makes a difference how the inks are set up. Should I use CMYK in their original slots (K in the MK slot?) and white in the other 4 channels? Or should I only be using 2 channels for white (unsure if the Gloss Optimizer channel can be used with regular ink).

If anybody is wondering, I think you have to use either YMCK-WWWW or WWWW-YMCK when using EKPrint. I got it working fine using YMCK first. Seems to need much less ink percentage with this P400 vs the XP-15000

I am going to use EKPrint by the way.

On 7/16/2021 at 6:01 PM, johnson4 said:

The p600 is a good machine, don't get me wrong. But the P800 is easier/better to clear settled ink with. The P600 Ink line Assy is harder to clear. 

 

Yea, P400/P800 is what I have and use at the moment. The P600 is so expensive now, plus the time heavy ink purging if you don't print everyday, it just never really fit my bill. I used several of them for DTG for a few years. 

 

Whats he asking for the P600's?

Hey Johnson....I'm setting up the P400 now and before I actually fill it with inks, I wanted to ask if it makes a difference how the inks are set up. Should I use CMYK in their original slots (K in the MK slot?) and white in the other 4 channels? Or should I only be using 2 channels for white (unsure if the Gloss Optimizer channel can be used with regular ink).

3 hours ago, johnson4 said:

The p600 is a good machine, don't get me wrong. But the P800 is easier/better to clear settled ink with. The P600 Ink line Assy is harder to clear. 

 

Yea, P400/P800 is what I have and use at the moment. The P600 is so expensive now, plus the time heavy ink purging if you don't print everyday, it just never really fit my bill. I used several of them for DTG for a few years. 

 

Whats he asking for the P600's?

Actually it was R3000s. I honestly can’t remember exactly what he was asking for but I think it was around $1,000 each. 

20 hours ago, johnson4 said:

That is the same one, he calls it the Knight 8. It’s based on the R2400 printer. 
 

 

as for the P400, I ran two of those and made thousands of transfers with them. I can’t say exactly, but they ran for 30 days solid at least 12 hours a day. I had to install a fan on the back because after about 6-8 hours of constant printing they would overheat. The small 40MM usb fan solved that issue. 
 

for me, I got roughly 40 prints per ink set, using cmyk with a white under base. I 3D printed an ink holder and had 6 sets of cartridges in rotation ( 3 each printer). If you do only white, or only black, you would get roughly 35 each ( 70 total) prints per ink set. 
 

I was actually hoping to convert this Chinese printer into a P400, but that’s a no go without extensive modification. 
 

$800 isn’t bad, they sell the heads for more than that, I was lucky and found some sold from Epson refurbished for $439, I ended up with 4 of them.  Same with the p800’s, I think they were $600 though, but they come with $425 worth of OEM ink I sell. so for me, the p800 is about half the cost of the P400, but that’s still what I mainly use.
 

With the S/N on the p400 you can order an extra head for about $500 from Epson, I did anyway. 

I picked up the P400 earlier today and the guy was really pushing on me picking up the P600 (maybe because he had about 10 of them lol).
 

Sounds like you prefer the P400 or 800 for DTF. Would you say they’re just generally more user friendly than the 600?

37 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

No worries. 
 

the p800 is great actually, easy and stable Chipless. The ink system is great too. It has a “ direct path” with an actual pressurized cartridge/ink system. 2 strong cleanings and all the ink ( if it has sat/separated) is fresh. 
 

I made a DTG P800, it’s the only one I still use. It sat for several months with no use at all. I shook the hell out of the white carts ( and let that settle), did three heavy head cleans, printed perfect. All I did was wet cap it before letting it sit. It’s not like the p600, it’s not really pressurized, and has a much more complicated ink system that takes forever to purge, a PITA actually for white ink. 
 

as for stylus pro, I’m not sure. I know the older printers don’t have Chipless, which I take heavy into considerations. 
 

my personal take, I stuck with the p600 for DTG, ( when I built the p800, I found it was better due to ink system). 
 

for DTF I’ve used the P800, and the P400. Of course the 15000, in the event I loose my printers I have a backup. 
 

I recently purchased a Printer from china, which is converted from a R2400, again, no Chipless, however this one does have it somehow, still trying to figure that out. 
 

so the downfall of older printers- 

1. no Chipless support

2. Parts no longer available/rely on used printer parts

3. DX5 printhead is over $1,000, which is no longer made, so when they are gone they are gone. Generally, this is probably what you’ll end up with. 
 

4. not much support in terms of error codes and support from other users.

 

but, to each his own. I have 4 p400’s and 4 p800’s, and this R2400 “china DTF” printer( with a R2400 spare on the way). Some people use the P5000, I tend to go towards the known “functional” aftermarket use printers, which is why I was a bit disappointed this chinesE machine wasn’t built around the R2000( old p400). In general, anything I can get my hands on cheap I’ll give a go though, as long as it supports Chipless. 

 

 

I am actually thinking of going with that Chinese printer if things go well in the future (the same as the Kingdom DTF correct?)

I actually just found some local guy selling a new in the box refurbished p400 for $800. Would you say that it’s a good idea to start off with this before jumping onto the p800?

The most I believe I’ll be printing anytime soon is 50 a day. 

On 7/14/2021 at 3:38 PM, johnson4 said:

I just want to point out, I didn’t have this issue with my 15000, using DTFsuperstore inks. 

I think I give up on the XP-15000. I have a new one I haven’t opened but I think I might just keep it as a backup. 

I’ve been looking into one of the stylus pro printers but cant decide which one to go with. Is there one you recommend? I like the idea of having the large carts on the 800 but I don’t know if that’s really a good thing with DTF, especially since the design is sort of like using a CISS system. 

Business is slow at the moment so I’ll probably have 10-15 A3 prints a day for now but I expect that to increase in a few months. 
 

I appreciate all your help as usual. 
 

Alright guys....printhead dead. The screen is flashing all crazy and after it being 100% clean, this is how it looks after running a couple head cleans.

I'm really not sure what I could have done differently. I was as careful as I possibly could be with this printer. Cleaned it every day, used cleaning carts when I was away for a few days, made sure there were no ink spills.

19 hours ago, johnson4 said:

I just want to point out, I didn’t have this issue with my 15000, using DTFsuperstore inks. 

Yea it’s not looking like an ink issue. It happened the same way with the new inks as well. 
 

Can you tell me about the xp600 adapter? What is the purpose of that. I tried looking it up but can’t find much info. Is it so that I can use xp600 cartridges in the xp15000? I thought they’re pretty much the same foam design so I’m wondering how this would help. 

1 hour ago, anum11 said:

It is clearly the ink if nothing else.

I had a bottle of white ink from a different supplier. It seemed to look much better while printing and didn't see any clogs. After 4 prints I ran a nozzle check and saw 3 broken lines. So then I ran a head clean and after testing the nozzle check again, the whole Gray channel became clog. WTF is going on here? How does a head clean make the clog worse?

32 minutes ago, anum11 said:

It is clearly the ink if nothing else. I dont know what you are using but xp-15000 like printheads needs more fluid inks with lesser particle size. Or they clog. To prevent This, Epson seems to be used catridge carrying adaptors. 

If xp600 adaptors works for xp15000 printhead, This would solve your issue. However then your printhead May get clogged instead.

So maybe a diffirent ink would solve your problem. I would try to change ink first then adaptor.

For example Dupont p5000 dtg inks works good with dx5 and dx7 printheads but clogs l1800 and xp600 printheads. That is why there is another version recommended for them.

That would make sense since only the white has clogged. Not 1 clog on the other colors.

I want to look into that adaptor thing. I'm not experienced in printing hardware so I've never even heard of that,

45 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

 

I'm not sure on the resolution, I doubt it. That is just how fast it feeds the print. 

 

As for cleaning where the cartridge goes, you should do that everytime you pull the carts and if has buildup, It will prevent it from sealing very well. That screen should also be cleaned, that's what stops the " bigger" peices of pigment from going into the printhead. If your swapping cleaning carts and ink, I would clean it completely each time you do that. 

 

Glad it's working though!

It looks like cleaning the nipple area fixed the problem again. Just not understanding why it keeps drying up there.

34 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

 

I'm not sure on the resolution, I doubt it. That is just how fast it feeds the print. 

 

As for cleaning where the cartridge goes, you should do that everytime you pull the carts and if has buildup, It will prevent it from sealing very well. That screen should also be cleaned, that's what stops the " bigger" peices of pigment from going into the printhead. If your swapping cleaning carts and ink, I would clean it completely each time you do that. 

 

Glad it's working though!

Well I spoke too soon. After 12 prints, clog again. I'm completely stumped why it keeps happening and it's the Gray cart everytime. I do clean that area every time I swap carts (which I rarely do...I use the same cart and refill it in while it's in the printer).

I'm not sure what screen you're referring to?

23 hours ago, johnson4 said:

Yea, I know what you mean. the only way that’s possible is if it’s exposed to air, which sounds like is happening. If you had gloves, you could pull the sponge, and check. It’ll go back in like normal. I had an issue similar to this, which is why I removed the tank side plug instead, which worked for me. 
 

what could be happening is separation, but it just sounds like an issue with the ink flow. Maybe try making the hole a bit bigger where the ink tank side flows into the sponge side. 
 

I know it was like $4 a set for these without chips, so if you get 6 per set, realistically your getting 3 changes of your two white ink carts for $4-$5. So $5 every 4-6 weeks still isn’t bad, if that is what you have to do. I imagine if you pulled the sponge and cleaned it with water, then let it air dry it would work fine again if it’s settling. 
 

I didn’t have this issue, but I only used the printer for two weeks. Within that time I neglected it badly and the cartridges and let the ink settle. I was able to recover them quite easily. Right now, it has sat since then, so 1-2 months with everything untouched/ink installed etc. I’ll get around to seeing how it’s doing soon. 
 

realistically, I bought a resin printer so I could make an adapter for this printhead to take regular cartridges/dampers. Other Epson heads like this have adapters, even new manifolds to accept damper style cartridges. I haven’t looked into much yet with this printer , I've been too busy looking for a cheaper DX5 printhead. Overall, If they don’t seal well, then a suction isn’t present and the ink doesn’t flow well, as well as the issue with air getting in there ( lack of ink). 
 

I wish you luck with it, sorry I wish I could help more. 

This morning, I tried 3 different brand new cartridges to test my theory of the foam drying up but it didn't make a difference. Still got clogs every few prints. Eventually, I decided to use come cleaning solution with a swab and cleaned the nipple (or whatever you call it for the XP-15000 that the cartridge snaps into). I'm 10 prints in now and no clog.

It looks like somehow, that area may be drying up which is weird because I print every day and when I'm gone, I have cleaning carts in there. If that is in fact the issue (we'll see how the rest of the day goes), then that is luckily an easy extra step I can do every day.

I'm curious though...could printing at 1440x720 be causing this issue? I have been printing with that resolution lately but today I've only printed with 1440x1440. 

5 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

Where did you get the carts? Do you have a spare? 
 

if you pull both plugs, and remove the orange base, it should spill everywhere. 

Aliexpress. No I don't remove them from the orange base with both plugs removed. I'm just describing how I refilled it to check if the ink flowed properly to the sponge side. While it was on the orange base, I refilled it and the ink would not move to the sponge side. 

It seems like ink is drying up inside the cartridge, preventing the flow from the reservoir side to the sponge side. I just don't know how to fix this without buying new cartridges every few weeks.