Maintenance and Troubleshotting

Maintenance

• After installing CISS, generally the number for printing will increase exponentially, so some maintenance operations are needed in advance, such as the slide bar which the cartridge holder moves on must be properly lubricated, and pay attention whether there are abnormal and sudden noises in printing at any time.

• Use high-quality ink. Using high-quality ink for the normal use of CISS ink system is critical, and the major specialized ink manufacturers can give a guarantee quality.

• The printer can not be shined directly by sunlight, and similarly, the ink reservoirs can not be shined over a long period of time by ultraviolet rays, in order not to reduce the save time of inks. If the conditions are limited, the ink reservoirs can be protected form light or choose CISS with a sun-resistant box.

• There are vents in the ink reservoirs, so it is needed to pay attention to dustproof in the printing environment.

• The printer can not be idle for long periods. Broken line or not has some connection with climate, environment, ink quality, etc. It will be best to use the printer at least every two weeks, in particularly dry climate regions to use at least one time per week. if you have a long time no using printer,You had better wash out the inks with water .If there are printing tasks indeed, you can turn on the printer, and print an image to check the nozzle condition.

• You would better not to add inks to the ink reservoirs soon when using a little, because the ink has a storage life, after each color is used to a certain limit, it will be best to add inks. Be careful not to add too full during adding ink, let alone add the wrong color.

• Do not mix different brands of ink, if want to change the other brands of ink, before replacing the inks in the ink reservoirs should be exhausted. If pigment ink and dye ink need to be exchanged, the ink should be exhausted and the reservoirs should be cleaned.

Troubleshooting

The troubleshooting methods of printers with CISS and common printers are similar, but since the ink channels are extended outside of the printer, some treatments for the problems are more complex. In view of the phenomenon of printing broken line which happens easily, the following inspection procedures and troubleshooting are given.

1. If the nozzle check patterns are always in broken-line, or more broken even blank after cleaning nozzle, you should stop nozzle cleaning, turn off the printer power, and check carefully. The key points checked are as follows:

• Check the air holes in the ink reservoirs, it is best to take off all the dust plugs, and make sure air holes are not blocked. If the air holes are blocked, the ink will not flow.

• Check whether the multi-channel tubes are tied a knot or deflated, if there is ink control valve, please check it has been opened, otherwise the ink can not be transported to the ink cartridges.

• Checks the ink holes in the ink reservoirs, and the ink holes must be sealed, especially for the ink reservoirs with ink pressure balanced device. If the ink holes are not sealed, the pressure balancing effect will inoperative, and the printer ink can not be ejected, because the nozzle has no enough pressure.

• Check if the joint of the ink cartridge and multi-channel tube is air-leaked, the joint is air-leaked as long as inks leak from this place, you can seal it by AB glue or heat resisting adhesive tape.

• Some ink cartridges with sealed air holes, and it may be air-leaked after using a long time.

• Check whether the ink cartridges are installed in place and the rubber rings of ink exits are air-leaked. Inspection method is to take out the ink cartridges, and check whether the rubber rings of ink exits are prominent, skew, and aging (can be fixed by pen to make it back to right place or replaced by the rubber rings of original old cartridges). After installing the ink cartridges, press them by your hands, and check whether the ink cartridges are installed in place, if not in place and loose, you need to use papers to plug them.

Finished inspection, turn on the printer power, clean the nozzle again and print the nozzle check patterns, generally the problem can be resolved.

2. After implement the above methods, the problem still exists and really couldn¨t judge the reason, the solution is as follows:
Remove the ink cartridges, install the original used ink cartridges, and make sure there are sufficient inks in the used ink cartridges each color for cleaning nozzles (Note: Existing sufficient inks is critical), then clean the nozzles for one to three times, and after that to print and check. If the original used cartridges print normally, it means CISS is out of order, you should place the ink cartridges of CISS and make sure the ink exits upward, insert a syringe without needle into a ink exit, and forced burst through the spring valve inside the ink exit to extract inks, when take out inks to stop. If the inks can be extracted, it means the ink supply channel of CISS is unblocked. If you feel resistance, which means the ink supply channel is blocked, you should carefully check it and find out the reason.

3. If the original used ink cartridge is cleaned several times, printing broken-line still exists, and the broken-line position is changeless, it means the nozzle is blocked. Not only can you use the special cleaning cartridge to clean the nozzle, but also directly use a syringe to clean.

Epson® print head cleaning :

Firstly, remove the cartridges. To do this you have to request for a « cartridge replacement ». If this option is unavailable, switch the printer on, when the cartridge chariot begins to move from side to side, cut the alimentation (removing the cable for instance). Gently move the chariot to its « cartridge replacement » position.

Fill the injector with 1ml cleaning liquid. Press and gently pump a few times.

The use of cleaning liquid is to unclog your printer head nozzles and does not require you to disassemble your printer.