Epson 7900 drive belt broken (urgent help needed)

[MariC]

Hi everyone.

Half way through a print the drive belt of my Epson 7900 broke in half and started dangling out of the printer. I’ve switched off the printer but the head now sits in the middle of the printer (since the belt couldn't drive it back) rather than on the edge of the printer as it’s supposed to and I am worried that leaving it like this might damage the head leaving it uncapped.

Now that the printer is closed should I manually push the head where it usually sits when the printer is off or would that make thinks even worse? Or should I leave things like this?

Please help!

[Mark D Segal]

I recommend you call Epson ProGraphics Tech Support and ask them. Until then, if it can't be moved very freely and easily, I suggest you leave it alone until you get pro help.

[MariC]

Mark thanks for such a swift reply!

In Italy it's after 6 PM so Epson support is closed and I wanted to make sure the best way to insure the head doesn't suffer more damage during the night or till Epson support comes the next few days.

I actually haven't yet tried moving the head so I'm not sure if it can move easily. Also I have switched the printer off and I'm not sure if switching it on again might cause it more damage.

[Mark D Segal]

Sorry, can't advise further on that one as I don't know the mechanics well enough to say more. But there are other forum members who may, so hang in!

[MariC]

Thanks Mark. I cannot catch a break lately...

[Wayne Fox]

My worry would be the belt binding up as you try to move it.  I don’t think moving it over to the capping station will help much since it can’t seal, and I don’t believe leaving it as is will damage it.  It might need a few channels cleared but as I said I don’t believe moving it back will help that anyway.

So I think letting it sit as is with no power is your best option.

[MariC]

Thanks Wayne. That's what I have done, hopefully the head left like this will not get damaged (I don't think the tech will be able to come before Monday).

[Farmer]

The head won't be damaged, per se, but it will dry out.  I'm assuming it's not under warranty?  Get someone as quickly as possible to get it back.  As Wayne said, it won't cap properly if you just push it back and I wouldn't recommend that you try to manually engage the capping station.  So, keep it away from direct sunlight and airflow (cover the printer if need be) and try to avoid any airconditioning in the room to keep the humidity up as much as you can. 

[MariC]

Thank you Phil.  Unfortunately, the printer in no longer under warranty, I talked today to the technicians which said that they don't have the belt in stock  and won't be coming before the end of next week. Hopefully the head will survive that long. I will make sure to follow your advice.

[darronjcharles]

I am going this issue at the moment as well. I manually sealed the head with the capping station. To execute this you would have to remove the right side cover and manually move the gears until the capping station covers the head.

[MariC]

I am going this issue at the moment as well. I manually sealed the head with the capping station. To execute this you would have to remove the right side cover and manually move the gears until the capping station covers the head.

That sounds like an interesting approach.  In my case the head stayed uncapped for 7 days (during which I followed the advice given on the forum) before the technicians came and substituted the CR Belt. Fortunately the head didn't suffer any damage and only needed a few cleanings to go back to normal.

Thank you all for your help!

[Conner999]

This may be worth getting a more informed opinion on re: if it will work with a 7900:

When cleaning a 3800/3880 head and capping pads, to clean the head you nicely dampen a narrow multi-folded sheet of Bounty (less loose fibers) towel with windex (with ammonia) or a dedicated cleaner and place it between the head & carriage and gently move it back and forth. The ammonia dissolves dried/gunky ink that the PT then soaks-up.

I very recently had our 3800 clog a capping station drain tube - $#%^&.

To take the printer apart to clean it, I had to park the head mid-traverse. Worried about it drying out (it was a 2 day job), I did the paper towel trick to clean the head, then replaced the paper towel with a clean one damped with Windex (w/ammonia) to keep the head moist.

The paper towel dries up overnight so I had to replace it once, but it worked. No harm done after a cleaning cycle with a cleared tube.

If you check youtube for cleaning a 3800/3880 it will give the details.

[Mark D Segal]

Except that trained Epson technicians have advised me not to let ammonia near these print heads. Didn't get into how much of it over what time period would cause damage. So treat it as a risk factor.

[Conner999]

Interesting. It may depend on concentration, but it's accepted (while not endorsed) cleaning for 38x0 heads with no (apparent) harm. There is also a product called Piezo Clean (IIRC), but don't know if contains ammonia.

That all said, it may come down to lesser of two possible evils - drying out or possible risk of ammonia.

[Mark D Segal]

Interesting. It may depend on concentration, but it's accepted (while not endorsed) cleaning for 38x0 heads with no (apparent) harm. There is also a product called Piezo Clean (IIRC), but don't know if contains ammonia.

That all said, it may come down to lesser of two possible evils - drying out or possible risk of ammonia.

My understanding is that the ammonia may destroy the laminates in the print head - how much, what concentration, I have no idea; but apparently it isn't a case of ammonia or nothing - I recall from discussion with trained technicians that there are non-ammonia based solutions.