Air in ink lines after Damper Assembly replacement (9900)

[elisabeth russell]

Hi all,

I've been trying to work up the nerve to post for a while---although I know printers fairly well, forums are rather new to me and this one seems to have an impressive representation of MENSA shoo-ins. So I apologize for lurking --but I thank you for any advice you can offer and I hope I'll be able to offer help in the future too

  So...I have a 9900 that's turning 3 in August. It's had major problems since day 1 which have resulted in it basically being a Frankensteined machine; the case is about the only thing original on it. Since it was under warranty, it was handled by D1/Epson. I have had excellent experience with Epson machines in the past and, thinking it must have been a fluke, I let my warranty expire after 2 years.
 
Bad plan.

It started acting up. Long story short: several weeks ago, Light Cyan and Yellow went missing almost completely with some other minor gaps in various color blocks. (This machine is used several times every day so the problem is not neglect.)

Since our warranty is expired and a service call is not in the budget, I obtained a service manual about 6 months ago and have been memorizing it. Yesterday I replaced the Damper Assembly, the Wiper Blade, and removed and cleaned the flushing box, wiper blade cleaner and capping station.

And now the LC is partially back but there are lots of other gaps and some color blocks are entirely missing. And when I look at the ink lines and shine a flashlight through them, there are air bubbles galore and some appear to have almost no ink in them.

I did several cleanings including power cleans yesterday and today to try and suction out the air. I also did two 43x43" prints of color blocks to see if I could print through it. The print quality improved over the prints in the areas where the color wasn't completely missing (i.e Light cyan got progressively better but yellow and green were still completely MIA). Unless I print on 2880 w/ high speed off, there is very serious banding. The nozzle checks are all over the place. Orange, LC, LK, and VLM are always partially represented although the gaps move around.

I've just done an initial fill to try and eliminate the bubbles. Ouch. And while I'm now seeing colors that were entirely missing (still no Y), all of them have very serious gaps.

If anyone has ideas as to how air is entering the lines, please let me know. I'll be eternally grateful if I can revive this poor machine. Also it'd be great for my mental health b/c I've gotten obsessed with fixing it...

Thank you,

Lis

[Garnick]

Hi all,

I've been trying to work up the nerve to post for a while---although I know printers fairly well, forums are rather new to me and this one seems to have an impressive representation of MENSA shoo-ins. So I apologize for lurking --but I thank you for any advice you can offer and I hope I'll be able to offer help in the future too

  So...I have a 9900 that's turning 3 in August. It's had major problems since day 1 which have resulted in it basically being a Frankensteined machine; the case is about the only thing original on it. Since it was under warranty, it was handled by D1/Epson. I have had excellent experience with Epson machines in the past and, thinking it must have been a fluke, I let my warranty expire after 2 years.
 
Bad plan.

It started acting up. Long story short: several weeks ago, Light Cyan and Yellow went missing almost completely with some other minor gaps in various color blocks. (This machine is used several times every day so the problem is not neglect.)

Since our warranty is expired and a service call is not in the budget, I obtained a service manual about 6 months ago and have been memorizing it. Yesterday I replaced the Damper Assembly, the Wiper Blade, and removed and cleaned the flushing box, wiper blade cleaner and capping station.

And now the LC is partially back but there are lots of other gaps and some color blocks are entirely missing. And when I look at the ink lines and shine a flashlight through them, there are air bubbles galore and some appear to have almost no ink in them.

I did several cleanings including power cleans yesterday and today to try and suction out the air. I also did two 43x43" prints of color blocks to see if I could print through it. The print quality improved over the prints in the areas where the color wasn't completely missing (i.e Light cyan got progressively better but yellow and green were still completely MIA). Unless I print on 2880 w/ high speed off, there is very serious banding. The nozzle checks are all over the place. Orange, LC, LK, and VLM are always partially represented although the gaps move around.

I've just done an initial fill to try and eliminate the bubbles. Ouch. And while I'm now seeing colors that were entirely missing (still no Y), all of them have very serious gaps.

If anyone has ideas as to how air is entering the lines, please let me know. I'll be eternally grateful if I can revive this poor machine. Also it'd be great for my mental health b/c I've gotten obsessed with fixing it...

Thank you,

Lis

Hi Lis,

You may or may not remember my situation over the past 2+ years with my 9900, but it has been, at times, a struggle.  I have recently renewed my warranty for the third and last time and I certainly can commiserate with you and your problems.  I do believe it would have been a good idea to also replace the Capping Station while you were in service mode.  During the many service calls I've had on this printer the Capping Station seems to be the first default part that is replaced.  As far as the air bubbles are concerned, yes, they can certainly be a source of many problems.  Last fall I had an issue with the yellow cart leaking, but finally determined that it might be the connector in the ink bay that was causing the problem, since there was a lot of ink surrounding it compared with other connectors.  A service call was issued immediately and the ink bay was replaced.  Shortly after that I also noticed air pockets in three lines, but as they approached the head, cleaning cycles moved them through and everything proceeded as it should.  A couple of months ago I checked and found air in the yellow line again and in the orange as well.  I've been printing without issue and keeping watch of the air pockets, which don't seem to be moving.  I will admit that I don't understand this, since I am definitely using both colours and the carts are showing that as well.  However, as long as I'm getting the required results I'm not going to waste ink trying to expel the air.

I guess my only suggestion at this point would be to remove all of the carts and compare the amount of ink surrounding the ink bay.  If you find that some of the connectors are exhibiting more ink that others it could be a leakage issue at that stage.  That can certainly contribute to air being introduced into the lines, but replacing the ink bay is a bit of a task so you might want to contact D1 about that.  And yes, I know, that would probably be the last resort, but possibly the only one under these circumstances.  If I can think of anything else to add I shall certainly do so, but I have to get back to work so I'll wish you well and hope you have some good luck with this endeavour Lis.

Gary

[elisabeth russell]

Thank you, Gary. You make some very good points. After seeing the condition that my wiper blade cleaner was in, I certainly am planning to replace the Pump & Cap assembly! I did wonder about the ink inlet as well -- I had noticed that the Y was the only one that tended to have some frothy messy ink at the end of the cartridge and on the tip of the inlet. That could explain what's happening with the Y---so perhaps the Y is an ink inlet and LC was a damper issue. (I've been closely following '7900 Inside and Out' and my ultimate fear is a clogged print head.)

 But...I'm still stumped as to why my previously clear nozzles would all begin exhibiting these massive air/clogging problems after a damper ass'y replacement...?

I'm also confused because although I turned off the Autoclean feature, this sucker is nonetheless sitting here swilling down ink as fast as it can....

[Garnick]

Thank you, Gary. You make some very good points. After seeing the condition that my wiper blade cleaner was in, I certainly am planning to replace the Pump & Cap assembly! I did wonder about the ink inlet as well -- I had noticed that the Y was the only one that tended to have some frothy messy ink at the end of the cartridge and on the tip of the inlet. That could explain what's happening with the Y---so perhaps the Y is an ink inlet and LC was a damper issue. (I've been closely following '7900 Inside and Out' and my ultimate fear is a clogged print head.)

 But...I'm still stumped as to why my previously clear nozzles would all begin exhibiting these massive air/clogging problems after a damper ass'y replacement...?

I'm also confused because although I turned off the Autoclean feature, this sucker is nonetheless sitting here swilling down ink as fast as it can....

Hi again,

The "frothy messy ink at the end of the cartridge" would certainly indicate a leak, either at the cart seal or the connector needle or both.  As far as the "air/clogging problems after a damper ass'y replacement" is concerned, if you didn't take SPECIAL CARE when handling the lines while replacing the damper/selector assembly that can also allow air to enter.  Are the air pockets positioned near the head or further back in the lines, or both?  If nearer the head that would seem to indicate that the air entered at that point or is perhaps somehow being sucked back through the head while it's parked, which could be caused by a bad seal at the parking station I believe.  So again, I think a new Cap/Pump Ass'y is in order. 

I give you a lot of credit for taking on the service you outlined Lis, but I think it might now be time for you to apply to D1 as a service tech.  However, it's been my experience that you might be over qualified.  I've had two "techs" work on my 9900 and I ALWAYS specify one of them as being the one I want.  The other one has to continually be in touch with the fellow I feel is the best for advice and 'how-to' in order to get the work done.  Not a confidence builder on my part.

Again, good luck Lis and keep us posted.

Gary           

[elisabeth russell]

  Thanks for the kind words, Gary! I will certainly keep updating--I'm going to attack the problem today and retrace my steps to see if I can determine the source of the air. Also, I'll be ordering the Pump and Cap Ass'y--unfortunately, it won't be in stock until the end of May so there may be very little to report until then...

[elisabeth russell]

Well, I solved the mystery of the air in the ink line. This morning I pulled the Damper Ass'y out again and made sure everything was properly seated and snug. Doing that didn't change anything, still major air bubbles visible in the lines and hardly anything showing up in my nozzle checks. After staring at the machine over lunch, I decided to pull the Pump & Cap Ass'y again. (I pulled this 2 days ago and cleaned it.) Meditated on that for a while just looking for something out of place. Finally turned it over and started staring at that side---bingo. Noticed a tiny wet spot of ink near the pump. I found a tiny black rubber hose that showed signs of stress. This hose runs betwen the 2 clear ink lines and seems to pull ink to the head; it has a lot of signs of wear and most likely when I put it back in, I jostled it enough that it got a small rip. Small ---but definitely enough to suck in air. I removed it and repaired it with gaffers tape (nothing but the best for my 9900), then put it back on. The nozzle checks now are much improved. I'm actually able to get vibrant full color now, despite some microbanding and 2 lighter bands. These bands were oddities that occurred at the same time that LC and Y dropped out, had hoped that they'd disappear when I replaced the DA but guess not. Oh well, it's nice to see a full spectrum again! I'll update when I have anything to report.

[elisabeth russell]

I let the machine sit overnight since I figured that some of the gaps in the nozzle check were from the cleanings. This morning the nozzle check is much improved and the banding is gone. I am still left with the pre-existing problem of a pale swatch in the print near the edge of the paper which corresponds exactly to an anomaly in the LLK block on the nozzle check. But that will have to wait for another thread...

So, in conclusion:

-Changing my damper assembly fixed my missing Yellow and Light Cyan problems.  I also changed my wiper blade but I don't think that it was causing the problems. I cleaned the Pump & Cap Ass'y as well and noticed a lot of build-up on the wiper blade cleaner, as well as lots of wear.

-Cleaning my pump assembly caused a stressed hose to develop a rip which caused air, rather than ink, to fill my ink lines and created large visible air bubbles, nearly blank nozzle check patterns,      and very washed out prints with some colors entirely missing.