Epson r340 Printhead removal

[Mark]

I am getting streaking in my black and I have cleaned the printhead
half a dozen times with no improvement. I the past with my Canon
printer I would take out the carts and lift a lever that would allow
me to remove the printhead where I could soak it in ammonia and water
and return it to the printer and it would work great. This Epson looks
like there is more to it than that. Can the print head be safely
removed for soaking?

 

[Burt]

don't remove the printhead. Look through the posts for Arthur Entlich and
email him with a request for his Epson printhead cleaning manual. No
charge, no spam, just an excellent manual on techniques Epson doesn't tell
you about.

 

[Davy]

I would normally say drop Art (Arthur Entlich) an Email requesting is
free cleaning instruction's, he's not been round for a while, don't
know where he's got to..? His email is
e-printerhelp(@)mvps(.)org
remove the brackets leaving no spaces.

The print head on a Epson are not like the Canon's... the heads are
usually part of the whole assembly along with the ribbon cable.

May be an easier way is to release the head from the locking position,
by switching it on and pulling the power plug out (or switching it
off) during the shuffle cleaning period...

....then with a piece of paper towel fold a thin strip add some
cleaning fluid lay it on the bottom and gently manually move the head
over it a couple of times, to let the head sit on it overnight may be
better.

Unlike the Canon head the ribbon cable goes to a connector board and
then another short cable to the nozzles.... the cables are not
removable except from the printer's PCB end, dipping in too much
liquid will damage this connector board in the head assembly.

Another way, a little more expensive is to get a cleaning cartridge,
do a couple of flushes and leave it in situ overnight then the next
day another flush... and with new ink tanks give a couple of flushes
and then try, if this don't work then I doubt anything else will.

Davy

 

[Mark Corbelli]

I wonder...

The carts look like they "plug" into the printer head. Could I place a towel
under the head, then using a hypodermic syringe w/o the needle filled with
cleaning solution, remove the cart and push the end on the syringe tight
against the opening on the print head and force the cleaning solution under
pressure through the print head, catching the excess on a paper towel? Has
anyone tried this?

 

[ato_zee]

The carts look like they "plug" into the printer head. Could I place a towel
under the head, then using a hypodermic syringe w/o the needle filled with
cleaning solution, remove the cart and push the end on the syringe tight
against the opening on the print head and force the cleaning solution under
pressure through the print head, catching the excess on a paper towel? Has
anyone tried this?

If you mean put a syringe on the nozzles that pierce the cartridge,
not a good idea. First they are fragile, secondly it's difficult to get
a good seal, thirdly is the risk of too much pressure. I've also found
once you remove a cartridge it will probably leak if you refit, ink
all round the printer innards.

You could try getting some of the old cycle valve rubber tubing,
fits nicely over the spike. Some clear auto screen washer tube.
Join a short piece of rubber tube to the latter.

If ingenious make a blood transfusion type flow indicator. So
you can see the drops.

Now set up a simple syphon, with about 1 - 2 feet of head, virtually
no pressure, put paper towel under head to collect cleaning fluid,
watch the drops flow, marvel at your ingenuity, and reflect on how
the drops are cleaning the head.

Only residual problem is that if the block is solid particles of
dried ink, and with many of the refill inks you don't know the
composition, they don't dissolve no how. I suspect they may
contain a few percent of something resinous, and once they
dry in the head it's knackered. Pity with Epson, you can't
remove the head, don't be tempted to try it, otherwise you
could use one of the under 20 quid ultrasonic cleaners.

The Epson workshop manuals, covering assembly and
disassembly, waveforms, voltages etc, would put you
off fiddling without the appropriate facilities and supporting
parts store "Well it needed replacing anyway", mode of
servicing. I suspect a steep learning curve for printer
maintenance, and of course the public has no stockroom
full of spares. Ever tried to buy Epson spares, or even a
service manual, they do exist?

 

[Burt]

I would normally say drop Art (Arthur Entlich) an Email requesting is
free cleaning instruction's, he's not been round for a while, don't
know where he's got to..? His email is
e-printerhelp(@)mvps(.)org
remove the brackets leaving no spaces.

The print head on a Epson are not like the Canon's... the heads are
usually part of the whole assembly along with the ribbon cable.

May be an easier way is to release the head from the locking position,
by switching it on and pulling the power plug out (or switching it
off) during the shuffle cleaning period...

...then with a piece of paper towel fold a thin strip add some
cleaning fluid lay it on the bottom and gently manually move the head
over it a couple of times, to let the head sit on it overnight may be
better.

Unlike the Canon head the ribbon cable goes to a connector board and
then another short cable to the nozzles.... the cables are not
removable except from the printer's PCB end, dipping in too much
liquid will damage this connector board in the head assembly.

Another way, a little more expensive is to get a cleaning cartridge,
do a couple of flushes and leave it in situ overnight then the next
day another flush... and with new ink tanks give a couple of flushes
and then try, if this don't work then I doubt anything else will.

Davy

Arthur's manual has a recipe for making cleaning carts - if you have some
old empty ones it is much cheaper than buying them.

 

[Mark Corbelli]

I used Davy's idea of unplugging during startup to free up the printer head
assembly. I took a paper towel and soaked it in 50/50 ammonia and water and
layed it down and moves the printhead manually across it several times, them
left it sit on the towel for 15 minutes. I just printed as pretty a photo as
this thing is capable of, so thanks all. BTW, I'm using a CIS for this and I
wonder if I'm going to have trouble as a result.

 

[justmanuals]

If you mean put a syringe on the nozzles that pierce the cartridge,
not a good idea. First they are fragile, secondly it's difficult to get
a good seal, thirdly is the risk of too much pressure. I've also found
once you remove a cartridge it will probably leak if you refit, ink
all round the printer innards.

You could try getting some of the old cycle valve rubber tubing,
fits nicely over the spike. Some clear auto screen washer tube.
Join a short piece of rubber tube to the latter.

If ingenious make a blood transfusion type flow indicator. So
you can see the drops.

Now set up a simple syphon, with about 1 - 2 feet of head, virtually
no pressure, put paper towel under head to collect cleaning fluid,
watch the drops flow, marvel at your ingenuity, and reflect on how
the drops are cleaning the head.

Only residual problem is that if the block is solid particles of
dried ink, and with many of the refill inks you don't know the
composition, they don't dissolve no how. I suspect they may
contain a few percent of something resinous, and once they
dry in the head it's knackered. Pity with Epson, you can't
remove the head, don't be tempted to try it, otherwise you
could use one of the under 20 quid ultrasonic cleaners.

The Epson workshopmanuals, covering assembly and
disassembly, waveforms, voltages etc, would put you
off fiddling without the appropriate facilities and supporting
parts store "Well it needed replacing anyway", mode of
servicing. I suspect a steep learning curve for printer
maintenance, and of course the public has no stockroom
full of spares. Ever tried to buy Epson spares, or even aservicemanual, they do exist?

The service manual is available at http://www.justmanuals.com/product_info.php?products_id=11270
.. $10.79 and instant download.

(e-mail address removed)

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Epson heads are very vulnerable to delamination when pressurized fluids
(air or liquids) are forced through them. The more clogged the head,
the more likely the head will be destroyed, as more pressure will build
up. I really do not recommend this method with Epson ink heads.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Hi Davy,

I'm around but very busy. I was away for a week and have been catching
up with the many requests I received while I was away. Now, I have a
number of other endeavors taking up time. I'm running on a few hours of
sleep here and there.

I am trying to reply to people within 24-48 hours until I get thing more
settled.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Since people read experiences others have and use them as a guide, I
just want to add a caveat.

Household ammonia can be between 5 and 10% ammonia in water solution.
Window cleaners are usually about 1% ammonia. A 50/50 mixture of water
and ammonia (assuming that's household concentration) is between 2.5 and
5% ammonia. This is probably higher than you would wish to use in most
cases, as the Epson heads are vulnerable to corrosive liquids at that
concentration.

A safer concentration is about 1-2%, especially is you will be leaving
things to soak with it.

Art

 

[Davy]

Glad to know you are still busy, nah ya just can't do without beauty
sleep everyone needs it - as long as you don't dream about cog wheels
n' springs flying all over the place..!

There should be another by name of Xmas a little lower down I
directed to you, think he had a CX3200 print problem.... you'll
probably have seen it by now.

Davy