Epson Surecolor P20000 - Service Code 1405 (Pump cap unit error)

[Klyment]

Hello! Revisiting this forum in my time of need. =) I have an out of warranty Epson P20000 and the service manual for this series of printer. It recently showed service code 1405:



The service manual categorizes this under "PUMP CAP UNIT" and the error name is "Flushing Box Lid Open and Close Error" with a further explanation "Because the flushing box lid has been abnormally opened/closed, abnormal nozzle clogging is detected". The manual then calls for NVRAM backup, replacement of the pump cap unit, cap unit, reset of the pump cap unit counter and the head cleaning and so forth. I had to keep the print head maintenance door open to access the printer with a computer and the Epson Service Program as the error code prevents connection of the service program once it activates. I manually disengaged the print head to move it onto the platen. I have replaced the pump cap unit, cap unit, and the little cleaner thing for the wiper blade but I'm still getting the same error. I remembered to remove the plastic covers that the new parts shipped with.

I believe the printer needs to be started in "normal" mode without the error code for it to automatically reset the head position and then I'll be able to run the rest of the service program to perform the cleaning and then the "pump cap unit measurement and auto adjustment" but the error is preventing me from doing that.

Anyone run into this before? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Klyment]

Some photos of the capping station and pump cap unit just in case they may show someone familiar with this series of printer something that I may have missed.

And I've doubled checked that I have correctly connected the three cables to the pump cap unit. they all have different pin counts and the coupling appears to have polarity so I don't believe there is a way to plug them incorrectly and get them to actually stay coupled.

[Klyment]

I've resolved to proceeding with the $5500CDN service call. I did send some additional notes to Epson support about what I've noticed recently in hopes that a service person may think I don't actually need additional parts:

- I can only start printer in serviceman mode if I have the head maintenance cover off (left front panel) . . . otherwise even in serviceman mode it'll go to service code 1405 and I can't communicate with the printer
- From serviceman mode and with the maintenance cover off I switch the printer off and the printer will sit in "turning off" mode with blue blinking light and not actually turn off
- Reinstalling the maintenance cover causes the pump cap unit to do it's cycle of moving the wiper blade, lowering the 2 section capping thing and covering the flushing box. It then will move the cover back off and sit there. Using the manual CR unlock procedure of turning a screw on the pump cap unit counter clockwise also causes the same movements and if one keeps turning the screw counterclockwise the cycle will repeat. I attempted this on the pump cap station that I removed and most things seem to move but the flushing box cover indeed doesn't move with the rest of the mechanism.

I have a feeling that I am somehow failing to reset the counter for the pump cap unit which is why the printer doesn't think I have replaced the part yet.

Leaving this here as a note for the future in case someone else comes across this problem and I'll update as I learn more. Conversely, if anyone has encountered this problem or has hints on what I'm missing I'd love to hear from you.

[Klyment]

I came across another P20000 user in the EpsonWideFormat former Yahoo group with the same error code who had already performed the same parts replacements and was still having the error code. They switched to a later version of the service program, performed the pump cap unit counter reset again and they solved their problem. I am trying to acquire a later version of the service program to try this myself. Just leaving a note here in case this may help someone before I have been able to test with my own printer.

And I'm still waiting for Epson to bill me for service so the service call hasn't been started yet. Hoping this works. =)

[Kyle Jackson]

I've resolved to proceeding with the $5500CDN service call.

OMG!!! 

[Lessbones]

It's been a number of years since I've had this printer, but is there a cover that goes over the two caps that it uses to perform cleanings?  Sometimes this stupid flap of plastic gets out of sync with the rest of the capping station motions and causes an error-- it's very prevalent in the 4900.  Your capping station looks so pristine... did you do any maintenance to it?  I've also had that white thing directly below the two caps I mentioned stick up a little too far (iirc it's a clip in part-- it's a hard sponge that cleans the wiper off when it moves back to front) and just pushing it down until it clicked fixed an issue once, but this was after I replaced the whole capping station.  Unfortunately at a certain point the thing to do is take off the right side panel and find the hole where you can stick a longish philips head and rotate the gears to run the cap through its whole cycle manually-- this would expose any potential issues if something is getting stuck-- the entire thing is a precise dance of parts all stemming from a single rotating gear, and all the parts are made of extremely cheap plastic, so if something deforms or a tooth breaks on a gear it can stop everything from working correctly and throw an error.

[Klyment]

OMG!!! 

Yeah! Confirmed - working with version 1.32 of the service program to reset the counter worked. As noted elsewhere in the EpsonWideFormat forum on Groups.io the Epson NVRAM reader tool specific to this printer doesn't seem to be in open circulation so we are unable to check to see if counters are indeed reset after we send the reset command. My theory is the older version of the service program either doesn't work reliably to do this reset and was fixed in a later version or it's possible that one needs the later version of the service program in order to work with a later version of firmware installed in the printer. I also noted in this other forum after someone had commented that the 1405 error may make it tricky to connect to a host computer running the service program and to keep trying I have found that I can consistently access the serviceman mode and use the service program when I had the 1405 error active if I keep the maintenance cover off the printer or if I keep the left ink bay door open as this appears to prevent the printer from invoking error code 1405. I speculate that keeping the right ink bay door may also serve a similar function.

It's been a number of years since I've had this printer, but is there a cover that goes over the two caps that it uses to perform cleanings?  Sometimes this stupid flap of plastic gets out of sync with the rest of the capping station motions and causes an error-- it's very prevalent in the 4900.  Your capping station looks so pristine... did you do any maintenance to it?  I've also had that white thing directly below the two caps I mentioned stick up a little too far (iirc it's a clip in part-- it's a hard sponge that cleans the wiper off when it moves back to front) and just pushing it down until it clicked fixed an issue once, but this was after I replaced the whole capping station.  Unfortunately at a certain point the thing to do is take off the right side panel and find the hole where you can stick a longish philips head and rotate the gears to run the cap through its whole cycle manually-- this would expose any potential issues if something is getting stuck-- the entire thing is a precise dance of parts all stemming from a single rotating gear, and all the parts are made of extremely cheap plastic, so if something deforms or a tooth breaks on a gear it can stop everything from working correctly and throw an error.

Which printers are you running now? The new pump cap unit shipped with a little white plastic cover that goes over the two caps that I believe that you're referring to and I did remove it before starting the printer after replacement. There's the "flushing box" (I think that's what it's called) that has a cap that moves in sync with the rest of the pump cap unit mechanism that moves things up and down as well as moves the wiper blade and it was the cap on this flushing box that was either out of sync or gears are broken. The photos I posted were of a new, replacement pump cap unit and capping station after installation. The units I removed were not pristine though I do semi-regular maintenance capping station, wiper blades and around the pump cap unit's gaskets plus a bunch of other maintenance as prescribed in the service manual. On the pump cap unit I replaced I had a pool of ink on top of the lid of the flushing box. Upon reading your note I took a powered screw driver to the manual carriage unlocking screw that's on the pump cap unit to spin it to observe the clockwork behaviour. I see some sort of pin or axle under the white flap thing that is connected to the cap for the flush box that looks like it is trying to spin but isn't. I'll likely make a video before either discarding this thing or possibly disassembling it further to see if it's a reasonably simple parts replacement to refurbish this unit to keep it as a spare. Epson Canada/PG Tech wanted $445.02CDN for the pump cap assembly and $259.51 for the "keep cap" assembly which is the name used for the capping station. The printer has been the most problem free large format printer I've worked with to date and it was largely problem free until this most recent incident which was five years into ownership and a very leisurely consumption of about 15L of ink over that time. I'm expecting more stuff to go wrong but armed with a more recent service program and the service manual I feel pretty confident I can keep this printer going economically for at least another five years or until I feel compelled to upgrade. =)