Replacing damper/selector of 9900 myself. How hard is it?

[LeiMeng]

My Epson 9900 now seems to have a stubborn air leak on the yellow channel. The printer is 4+ years old and has been out of warranty for 2+ years. So I downloaded the Field Repair Guide and want to replace the damper or selector unit myself. Has anyone replaced it by yourself?  How difficult is it?  Any advice? Is it better to replace the whole selector unit instead of just the dampers?  Thank you in advance.

[iladi]

Done that twice.

It is not easy but you can do it if you follow the instructions by the book.

It is easier and better to change the whole thing, rather than only one damper. Be prepared with patience and long magnetic head screwdrivers and a friend for some help.

Try to empty the ink lines to avoid the mess. Or be prepared with a lot of towels. A condom can do the trick to secure the ink lines.

Good luck.

[LeiMeng]

Thank you. Your advice is very useful!

[kantube]

i was thinking i would have to do the same thing but i was able to get the air out of the lines by printing several lines of yellow (and green and LLK).  before you do this, can you answer if you have been doing a lot of cleaning?  if so i am going to suggest that you try printing various shades of yellow and green.  cleaning can suck air back into the head, i know this first hand, and it looks like missing nozzles.  but if you print a few lines of various shades of yellow you will see the air moving from nozzle to nozzle until it stops on a few, at which point you do a light clean. 

anyway if you do replace it be sure to watch Eric's video http://myx900.com/change-your-own-printhead/ 

[LeiMeng]

Thank you iladi and kantube! I spent 3 hours today replacing the selector unit. And it is a success! After a few cleaning cycles and some printing in between, the yellow channel nozzles are all alive now. (Before this replacement, most of the yellow nozzles were just stubbornly invisible even after a powerful clean).

I reviewed carefully both Eric's video and Epson's field repair guide. I bought a long #1 screw driver and a "screw driver magnetizer" from Ace. Another useful thing to have is a few pairs of disposable gloves. Since I prepared well, the replacing process wasn't bad at all.

Very glad my 9900 can now print again