Printer Idle & Un-Used

Symptoms:

• I just came back from holiday and my printer does not work.
• I do not print frequently, and I am having erratic problems with my Eco-Flo.

Solution:

While you are away, if the printer is not in use, air can come in backwards through the print head and get into the injectors. When this happens the ink inside the injectors can get foamy, and foamy ink causes the nozzles not to fire.  

Make sure your printer is in a cool place and not exposed to sunlight. This helps keep the inks from retracting or evaporating.

Here is what you should do to prevent this in the future:

It is recommended to leave your printer switched on at all the times. The power used is very low and by not switching it on and off, you save ink and keep nozzles good because it does not carry out unnecessary head cleans – too much head cleaning can make nozzle printouts worse rather than better depending upon the condition of the printer at the time.

If on the other hand you are not using your printer for three days or more then clamp OFF all the white tube clamps but leave the printer turned ON. This will stop air being introduced into the system or the inks to move forwards or backwards. On your return, unclamp them before printing - this action prevents any ink moving forward or backwards in the tubes whilst not in use and eliminates the need for any wasteful head cleaning.

It is advised to gently shake by rotation each ink bottle on a regular weekly basis. This is to ensure the pigments stay suspended in solution and give consistent results.

Make sure your printer is not exposed to any direct sunlight. The heat from the sun can cause the inks to expand in the tubes and in the print head causing problems. Because we use clear tubing, the sunlight hitting the tubes can expand the tubes. So keep your system out of the sun while you are away.

When you get back, print something. If you have missing nozzles, run a few cleaning cycles with nozzle checks in between to recover them. Remember, do cleaning cycles in groups of 3, and if neccessary print the purge file as recommended.

If repeated cleaning cycles do not bring your printer back to life, then go to the Air in the injector section and follow the procedures outlined.