Raw & Post Processing, Printing > Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks
Clogged Light Black Ink on Epson 7900 (same line on each nozzle check pattern)
Mark D Segal:
--- Quote from: Randy Carone on April 21, 2011, 10:40:34 am ---The damper is a small plastic ink reservoir just above the print head that holds a small amount of ink. I just tried to copy a page from a Service Manual pdf with no luck. If you Google 'ink dampers' you should be able to find a picture of one. Most users of Mutoh, Mimaki and Roland replace dampers fairly regularly. They all use Epson heads, but the dampers are not the same as on Epson aqueous printers. If you find a pic it will be immediately obvious what function they perform.
--- End quote ---
Thanks Randy.
deanwork:
Dampers are the small filters that filter the pigments as they pass from the ink lines going to the ink carts to the print heads. Often what ends up clogging dampers is residue from cotton rag papers as well as impurities in the inks themselves.
Each ink cart has its own damper which is attached to the bottom of the print head. With piezo printers like Epson, Roland, and Mimaki, dampers are often the first mechanical thing to check when head cleanings can't solve the blocked nozzles. Dampers are cheap and fairly easy to replace and are available for just about every Epson printer that has been made. If you run a lot of cotton paper you should change them more often. Normally you take the head cover off and you can access them fairly easily.
I believe Roland recommends changing out their dampers regularly and unlike Epson, they make it very easy to accomplish.
Changing the dampers won't help you if you have defective pressurized ink carts though.
john
Mark D Segal:
Thanks for the added clarification John. I should think on a new printer one would not expect trouble from this source, unless it is somehow defective out of the box, if that's possible.
Alan Goldhammer:
--- Quote from: Mark D Segal on April 21, 2011, 10:47:08 am ---Thanks for the added clarification John. I should think on a new printer one would not expect trouble from this source, unless it is somehow defective out of the box, if that's possible.
--- End quote ---
And it also should not be problematic if you do a lot of printing with IGFS (which I know you do ;)) since there is not much dust on that paper relative to a number of others.
Randy Carone:
Clogged dampers may be an occasional problem, but the most common damper problem is a pinhole that allows minute amounts of air to seep into the ink line, resulting in a bad nozzle check that can be temporarily alleviated with cleanings but will return shortly after.
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