Advice on cleaning Epson large format printer

[mbirkmose]

Hi!

I recently purchased a second hand Epson 7880 due to the fact that after 5 years of Epson desktop printers (3880 and 4900) I was fed up having to deal with pizza wheels, so I wanted a printer with a feed system that could handle glossy fine art papers more gracefully. And oh boy does the 7880 deliver on that promise Just printed a total black sheet of harman baryta glossy warmtone - not a single scratch, pizza imprint or anything like that. And that paper is notorious for bad handling and scratching merely thinking about it I simply love the way the 7880 handles the paper.

Anyhow - when you print a black glossy sheet like this you also get to see every single hair, dust, paper fibre, crud that has embedded itself onto the surface. And it seems like I get quite a lot with this printer. It was fairly dusty on the various surfaces outside/inside when I received it, wiped it off all with a slightly damp micro fibre cloth, being careful not to stir it all up around inside the printer. But still I get lots of crud on my 100% black prints (have made a few, on various different papers).

I can't really visually see any obvious dust anywhere inside the printer, but when looking through the front cover while the printer is printing, I can see that the crud seems to have landed just shortly after the head has printed on the image. I have made sure to blow away any dust before inserting the paper, and also swiped the paper with an antistatic brush so I am pretty sure that the crud is not on the paper when entering the printer -  the crud lands on top of the paper inside the printer.

It is a cut sheet I am using btw - not the roller, so no cutting.

Now I was wondering what people usually do to clean their printers? The user manual suggests canned air, but it seems to me that this will just wirl lots of crud around inside the printer - who knows where it will land, worst case some terrible place where it can insert itself into the print head. So I am wondering if vacuuming its better - but I am afraid of producing static electricity and frying something I shouldn't fry.

Thank you for your advice!

P.S Did I mention I love the feed system of this printer?

[Paul2660]

I have a 7800, I still keep around.  Same printer as your 7880, except you have the newer Magenta inks (vivid).

With the printer unplugged, I would consider removing the top cover and then give the insides a good blow.  Canned air, could work, but you always have the issue of the propellant coming out and drying on the surface.  I would try a compressor and air hose if you have one or can rent one.  The only real way to clean out the printer is air IMO. 

While the printer is unplugged, you can move the head out of the way and clean off the wiper.  Push the cutter down and that will release the head, and just slide it to the left.  Get a small flashlight and take a look at the wiper, it's the rubber blade that will be running vertical and is about 1" or so long.  Take a foam pad (I use ones that have a light foam pad on the stick which can be found in most hobby stores), get it wet in warm water and then clean off the wiper. 

Also take your lint free cloth and clean out the cover, (which goes over the paper).  This is where a lot of the trash seems to get for me as the cover's static electric charge seems to hold all the little pieces of trash for a while. 

The basket, which is a terrible design, and tends to fall apart with the slightest touch, can also have a lot of trash in it, so consider a vacuum to clean it out also. 

That's about all there is I can think of.  There are some websites that show pictures of how to remove the covers, but on the 7880 and 7800 it's pretty straight forward, but never hurts to double check.

Paul Caldwell

[mbirkmose]

Hi Paul,

I already cleaned the wiper using some piezoflush from inkjetmall - also cleaning the capping station and the fluxing box. Will be replacing the dampers as well later. I guess I could purchase one of those small mini compressors that people use for pumping air into bicycle tires.

My concern is still that the dust will end up somewhere even worse, but I guess if the user manual also states the use of compressed air its the practical way to go.

Given the fact that the head is parked on the capping station with an air tight seal I guess I should be able to clean out that part of the printer as well without risking crud coming in contact with the head?

Thanks for the tip of cleaning the cover - will have a look at that later