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Author Topic: Epson 7900 from the inside - out  (Read 1092550 times)

Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1300 on: February 19, 2013, 01:09:22 pm »

This just in from the Juggler about his 11880.  Epson tells him they won't sell him the replacement steel carriage drive belt.  They directed him to nationalparts.com, who have the part listed on their website.  Nationalparts tells him it's out of stock, he has to pay for it fully before they'll check with Epson to see if/when they can get it.  "Could take weeks."   

I feel bad for our friend the Juggler, he can't wait a month he's got jobs to do, so it's back to Decision1 for him.  They just left his place with 3 grand a few months ago.  You might think during a service call they'd lube his rails too.  What the hell they replaced his pump and cap for no apparent reason. 

Oh and Decision1 told him they plan to change his pump and cap assembly again when they come to install his drive belt, and that they'd bring a new head just in case.  WTF does an X900 pump and cap assembly have to do with a broken drive belt?


There has GOT to be a better way.

BrianWJH

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1301 on: February 19, 2013, 06:48:53 pm »

There has GOT to be a better way.

While this parts supplier http://www.gedat-spareparts.com/epson/Inkjet_Printers/STYLUS_PRO_11880/list
is based in Germany they do list the drive belt as follows:
"Reference: 524 STEEL BELT ASSY.,TB-31686" for 98,92eur plus shipping. not sure if they ship to the USA.

The reference 524 refers to their pdf exploded parts assembly document here: http://www.gedat-spareparts.com/ex/stylus_pro118800.pdf

hth, Brian.
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1302 on: February 19, 2013, 07:09:33 pm »

Awesome Brian, I will ping the juggler now. 

many thanks brother

davidh202

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1303 on: February 19, 2013, 07:12:12 pm »

I feel bad for our friend the Juggler, he can't wait a month he's got jobs to do, so it's back to Decision1 for him.  They just left his place with 3 grand a few months ago.  You might think during a service call they'd lube his rails too.  What the hell they replaced his pump and cap for no apparent reason.  

Oh and Decision1 told him they plan to change his pump and cap assembly again when they come to install his drive belt, and that they'd bring a new head just in case.  WTF does an X900 pump and cap assembly have to do with a broken drive belt?
There has GOT to be a better way.

That's a total load of horse pucky as Sherman T Potter used to say!
Did he try Compass Micro in Oregon? 503-408-8725
appears to be same 524 part # on their diagram on page 3 if I am reading correctly.  
http://www.compassmicro.com/files/SPro%2011880%20exploded%20diag.pdf
these guys may not stock all parts but order on an as needed basis from Epson .
« Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 07:22:58 pm by davidh202 »
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enduser

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1304 on: February 19, 2013, 11:18:25 pm »

The thesis below is a big read, but a fair bit of info in it nevertheless.

http://doc.utwente.nl/58366/1/thesis_Wijshoff.pdf

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Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1305 on: February 20, 2013, 06:36:06 am »

While this parts supplier http://www.gedat-spareparts.com/epson/Inkjet_Printers/STYLUS_PRO_11880/list
is based in Germany they do list the drive belt as follows:
"Reference: 524 STEEL BELT ASSY.,TB-31686" for 98,92eur plus shipping. not sure if they ship to the USA.

The reference 524 refers to their pdf exploded parts assembly document here: http://www.gedat-spareparts.com/ex/stylus_pro118800.pdf

hth, Brian.
Guys
If you want i can get it posted to me in ireland and express it out to the states....delighted to help...
Also a great london epson parts supplier is
UNICOMP LTD
BOURNE ESTATE
BOROUGH GREEN
KENT TN 15 DG
UK
TEL.  + 44 (0)1732 781400
Fax.  +44(0) 1732 780643
Email sales@unicomp.co.uk
Web. Www.unicomp.co.uk
They are OFFICIAL epson part suppliers for the British Isles......
They will definitely post to me.  Ok?
Matthew Deegan
Cloonederowen
Moyard
Co.Galway
Ireland...
353 87 2583833
353 56 7721781
mattdeegan@eircom.net

Glad if i can be of any help for Germany or the Uk....good luck...
Thanks
Matt
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1306 on: February 20, 2013, 10:42:12 am »

I texted the Juggler with your awesome offer Matt.  Thank you.  I also have a call into HAL.  Whichever route gets a drive band to him first is the route we will take.  Stay tuned and thanks again!

Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1307 on: February 20, 2013, 12:17:06 pm »

The thesis below is a big read, but a fair bit of info in it nevertheless.

http://doc.utwente.nl/58366/1/thesis_Wijshoff.pdf


Glad you read it too...
As you know, this thesis is about piezo technology in general and has no direct connection with epson printers..
Did you pick up in the thesis that photographs have been captured showing air bubbles being recycled backwards into the head nozzles to no doubt cause obstruction and trouble in due course...
And of course we as printers got some of the blame for dirty print heads which is a a breeding ground for air bubbles ( these scientists claim ) ......now a dirty print head wouldnt have anything to do with a dirty wiper blade would it ?
 Impossible .......
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Erik Ulstad

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1308 on: February 20, 2013, 03:26:42 pm »

Matt-

Thank you for the reply.  I appreciate it a great deal. I am also glad you got some value out of it.  And I appreciate the terminology...it helps when I solicit my friends in engineering (for the town) to assist me in creating the solution.

I'm in a holding pattern right now, waiting for the "Red" cleaning solution from the link I found here.  I ordered it a couple weeks ago and was informed because of chinese new year that the item would ship around Feb 27.  7 days from today.  Another 10-14 in shipping. Strangely, I'm emotionally unavailable to gripe about things like that.  Par for the course it seems (in relation to printer diagnostics).

On a brighter note, I skied Vail last week, pretty good skiing.

And thank you for what you contribute Matt.  You offer great insight here. I appreciate being a part of this process.
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davidh202

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1309 on: February 20, 2013, 03:31:44 pm »

Did he try Compass Micro in Oregon? 503-408-8725
appears to be same 524 part # on their diagram on page 3 if I am reading correctly. 
http://www.compassmicro.com/files/SPro%2011880%20exploded%20diag.pdf
these guys may not stock all parts but order on an as needed basis from Epson .
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1310 on: February 20, 2013, 04:28:14 pm »

I think we may have the Juggler covered.  HAL stepped in and effectively hit the "delete bs" button. 

Good point Erik Ulstad, Matt's been contributing a lot of good stuff here.   You too with that pdf, but I gotta tell you reading stuff like that all the words melt together for me and spell the same thing page after page "You're a moron". 

I do realize it's written in my native language but somehow I still need an interpreter. 

Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1311 on: February 20, 2013, 08:46:17 pm »

I think we may have the Juggler covered


Eric
I think that you are a bit of a Juggler yourself  ;D
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1312 on: February 20, 2013, 11:50:21 pm »

SUCCESS!

I just got a message from Kip, who is one of the users that I rushed the printhead changing video for.  He's been idle sitting by waiting to take on the challenge of a new head swap on his 7900.  The manual was too elusive for him too apparently, so he decided to wait for the video.  Kip is drunk tonight.  He's eyebrow deep in whiskey, celebrating his first 100% clear nozzle pattern in far too long.  Kip says he barely used the manual at all, instead he followed the video. 

How cool is that..

Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1313 on: February 21, 2013, 08:58:53 am »

SUCCESS!

I just got a message from Kip, who is one of the users that I rushed the printhead changing video for.  He's been idle sitting by waiting to take on the challenge of a new head swap on his 7900.  The manual was too elusive for him too apparently, so he decided to wait for the video.  Kip is drunk tonight.  He's eyebrow deep in whiskey, celebrating his first 100% clear nozzle pattern in far too long.  Kip says he barely used the manual at all, instead he followed the video. 

How cool is that..
This is NOT for Eric but the rest of us ...
I am probably way out of line but what would you think of setting up a BUST UP fund (separate to the video fund ) for Erics use that would allow him to cover the cost of bust up heads and inks etc. He could then proceed to destroy heads and inks in a predictable way on a long term basis,so that at the end of it, he would be able to tell us x minutes on a drip y minutes on a syringe and z minutes soaking in the bath.....whatever...we have seen a lot of dollars lost here on time out ,inks ,heads ,dampers  ,park stations ,rips etc...because we have had to guess our way along the route..
Eric is showing us how to do things on his own very valuable time...and there is no doubt in my mind and i know you will agree that each of his ideas and experiments is notching all of us to a different place......I hope that i am not a million miles off the mark......

If we all put a little towards the project it will  yield huge dividends for all of us.....
Any takers ?
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1314 on: February 21, 2013, 04:14:55 pm »

That is very thoughtful of you Matt.  Maybe not necessary though, at least in that form.

It was suggested more than once that we corral all the vital lessons learned in this thread and put them into one organized place for both ourselves, and for future fellow X900 users also facing the special challenges of (successfully) owning/running/maintaining these machines.  The idea makes a lot of sense, there are far too many pages in this thread to effectively find what you need.  So I created MYX900.com.  It's a slow build but already I've been contacted by people who have benefited greatly from it - like in excess of thousands of dollars benefited from it.  While this is inspiring to me, inspiration alone won't keep MYX900.com running or building or helping people.  

Like I mentioned many pages ago, I am indeed a dreamer.  I do it all the time.  The current dream here is that this effort supports itself, through donations.  I haven't had a safe/easy system in place to accept donations until today, but it's up and running now.  It's under the "FERTILIZER" tab.  The page is called "MANURE REQUESTED".  I am hopeful that people who benefit from the effort will contribute to the effort.  I've paid for all this up until now with my framing hammer.  If we do this different from now on, together, MYX900.com will pay for itself.

This has been a great experience.  I thank all of you, even those who stay quiet in the background, sincerely for your help.

Eric
« Last Edit: February 21, 2013, 04:17:52 pm by Eric Gulbransen »
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1315 on: February 21, 2013, 08:34:19 pm »

It took my hammer hitting me in the head this afternoon for me to realize I was wrong to say I've paid for this entirely with my framing hammer.  In fact many of you have already donated to the cause, after the wiper exchange video.  Time to put a thank you page together.  Sorry I neglected to acknowledge that in the previous post.  What a jerk.

Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1316 on: February 23, 2013, 07:49:18 am »

Alan

THE PHOTOFLO  MIX
Remember your recommendations for the above

6 parts water
2 parts isopropyl
2 parts glycerol
1/2 part photoflo

What do you think of the photoflo concentration in my attempt as follows   ...ps.   .i am in no way going to hold you responsible for any destruction that i can manage...i am already set to install a new head ( its 250 dollars for the 7800 if i blow the current one to bits )

8 parts Epson Cleaning Solution for aqueous inks.....footnote #1
2 parts isopropyl  footnote #2
1/2 part photoflo
Warm rather than cold solution......

Footnotes
# 1.  Composition of Epson clean solution for aqueous inks is :
Dietheylene glycol.               < 45%
Proprietary organic materials 0- 5%
Glycerols.           About.            15 %
Water.                                      Balance


# 2. I read somewhere this week that bacterias love to eat glycols...you may be able to confirm that......anyway i thought i would then go back to your original recommendation to include isopropyl in the mix as i believe it likes to eat bacterias !   

Thanks for any advice you might offer and your help up to now as well

Matt
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Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1317 on: February 23, 2013, 08:00:19 am »

Eric

Just a quick one....i know your mind is probably somewhere inside a 7900 head right now scouting for a clog to destroy.....

I am only asking a view....its my responsibility if it fails ...

Is a gentle suck back of clean solution from front nozzle to back nipple with a small syringe and long pipe highly risky at this point.....

Just a view.....nothing else.....as i said to Alan i am ready to replace the head if i fail ..!

Thanks

Matt
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1318 on: February 23, 2013, 04:49:15 pm »

From what I have seen, pressure is NOT our friend.  While I am aware of the fact that our machines create negative pressure to suck ink out of the heads in the direction of printing, I am not yet aware of how much pressure.  And I know no pressure is ever applied in reverse, by the machine at least.  

The last head that I performed an autopsy on showed evidence of pressure damage.  I am the only one who applied pressure to that head, and I was very gentle.  The current strategy I am developing avoids any pressure in any direction.  

The weakest part of an X900 head is the chamber deck floor.  Beneath this floor, which is so thin it's actually transparent, is a sealed reservoir that runs the length and width of the entire deck.  Too much reverse ink flow pressure, applied to a clogged chamber wall, pulls the chamber deck away from the surface of the printhead face - which causes it to collapse into the sealed reservoir.  

The X900 machine sucks ink through the head in the direction of printing, which I believe is safer because the chamber deck gets pushed up against the face of the printhead, which it is already in contact with (the top of each and every chamber wall is actually glued to the printhead face).  

This is a work in progress, I only started this morning.  Take a look at this X900 PRINTHEAD REVEALED page and you'll get a better idea of how the chamber deck can collapse with negative pressure drawn into the printhead face.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2013, 04:50:52 pm by Eric Gulbransen »
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Blue moon

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #1319 on: February 23, 2013, 06:46:46 pm »



The last head that I performed an autopsy on showed evidence of pressure damage.  I am the only one who applied pressure to that head, and I was very gentle.  The current strategy I am developing avoids any pressure in any direction.  

You have put more thought into this than anyone else........so i am going to hold back on photoflo until i see what your line of attack is going to be.....
Thanks
Matt
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