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Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-21 by rdeloe1@...

In another thread (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/conversations/topics/108850) I got a lot of help and good advice on one set of Epson 1430 issues. If you're trying to diagnose your own problems with a 1430 that's a good place to start. This is a follow-up query on another issue.


My Epson 1430 is dedicated to black and white printing, using only Eboni ink mixed according to Paul Roark's "Carbon 6" and "Eboni Variable Tone" formulations. The version of Eboni is 1.1. The ink is supplied through a Cobra CIS.


Printing is mostly bullet-proof now that I've sorted out some basic good practices. The remaining issue is bubbles of ink that emerge from the capping station. (Some people call it the "parking pad". It's the small frame with a foam insert on the right-hand side. The print head parks over this area when it's not printing.) The problem occurs consistently when the printer is recharging (periodically after about 10 prints, and always after an ink change), or performing a head cleaning.


During cleaning/recharge cycles, the printer seems to be sucking ink from the capping station, but on occasion it appears to be blowing air the other way because a mass of inky air bubbles forms on the capping station. If I'm there when it happens, I can quickly dab the bubbles up with a tissue. But if I'm not there when it happens, the print head whips through the bubbles, and then ink splatters and drips on the print.


Is this normal behavior for a 1430? Or is it something that happens when using Eboni ink sets?

Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-22 by rdeloe1@...

OK, I'm not proud of this one... but as a gesture of public service I'll reveal both the solution and my foolishness so that others can avoid this... ;)

You should install an ink waste tank so that the printer doesn't fill up the waste pad and die an untimely early death. And you can make your own to save some money, but if you do, make sure to use a check valve between the line you install and the printer's waste ink line. Because if you don't install a check valve, you're going to wonder why your printer makes a mass of inky bubbles at the capping station during the ink change procedure...

Re: [Digital BW] Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-22 by forums@walkerblackwell.com

Video of procedure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cFzugleysA <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cFzugleysA>
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> On Feb 22, 2016, at 5:21 PM, rdeloe1@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint] <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> OK, I'm not proud of this one... but as a gesture of public service I'll reveal both the solution and my foolishness so that others can avoid this... ;)
> 
> You should install an ink waste tank so that the printer doesn't fill up the waste pad and die an untimely early death. And you can make your own to save some money, but if you do, make sure to use a check valve between the line you install and the printer's waste ink line. Because if you don't install a check valve, you're going to wonder why your printer makes a mass of inky bubbles at the capping station during the ink change procedure...
> 
>

Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by jeff.grant@...

The IJM bottles certainly don't have check valves. The Octo ones may. My strong suspicion is that there is an issue with the way that you have run the line to the bottle, or that it is kinked somewhere. The pump will normally take the ink away. You can watch it and see the ink flow into the bottle.

Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by rdeloe1@...

I'm not familiar with the IJM bottles. Perhaps they found a way to manage the pressure and control backflow without a check valve. I confess I built my own... The ink moved freely from the printer's waste line into mine, and then into the bottle. It always moved freely the other way (causing the bubbles!) While I'm waiting for a proper system to arrive in the mail, I disconnected mine and plugged the printer's waste ink line back into the original connection. Problem solved -- no more bubbles.

The take-away here is buy a waste ink system from someone reliable (unless you know what you're doing)!

RE: [Digital BW] Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by Thomas Maugham

I have two 1430 and have had a couple of 1410 (essentially the same printers) and have attached my own waste ink bottles. The secret to no backflow is to NOT HAVE the tube go down into the bottle but just barely into the top, held in place securely of course. This provides the air break which all plumbers are familiar with…

 

HTH

 

Best wishes,

Tom
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From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] 
Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 8:20 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

 

  

I'm not familiar with the IJM bottles. Perhaps they found a way to manage the pressure and control backflow without a  check valve. I confess I built my own... The ink moved freely from the printer's waste line into mine, and then into the bottle. It always moved freely the other way (causing the bubbles!) While I'm waiting for a proper system to arrive in the mail, I disconnected mine and plugged the printer's waste ink line back into the original connection. Problem solved -- no more bubbles. 

The take-away here is buy a waste ink system from someone reliable (unless you know what you're doing)!

Re: [Digital BW] Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by forums@walkerblackwell.com

You can pike a tiny third hole in the waste bottle cap with a pin. This is what our very simple dumb IJM ones have. ;)

Hey, if it works don’t break it right?

best
Walker
Show quoted textHide quoted text
> On Feb 22, 2016, at 9:49 PM, 'Thomas Maugham' Thomas@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint] <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> I have two 1430 and have had a couple of 1410 (essentially the same printers) and have attached my own waste ink bottles. The secret to no backflow is to NOT HAVE the tube go down into the bottle but just barely into the top, held in place securely of course. This provides the air break which all plumbers are familiar with…
> 
>  
> 
> HTH
> 
>  
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> Tom 
> 
>  
> 
> From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com <mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>[mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com <mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>] 
> Sent: Monday, February 22, 2016 8:20 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com <mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station
> 
>  
> 
>   
> 
> I'm not familiar with the IJM bottles. Perhaps they found a way to manage the pressure and control backflow without a  check valve. I confess I built my own... The ink moved freely from the printer's waste line into mine, and then into the bottle. It always moved freely the other way (causing the bubbles!) While I'm waiting for a proper system to arrive in the mail, I disconnected mine and plugged the printer's waste ink line back into the original connection. Problem solved -- no more bubbles. 
> 
> The take-away here is buy a waste ink system from someone reliable (unless you know what you're doing)!
> 
> 
> 
>

Re: [Digital BW] Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by jeff.grant@...

You got that right, Walker. The IJM ones are cheap and cheery by comparison with the Octo. Having tubes that just stick into the top of a bottle is a recipe for disaster for a clumsy soul like me. Their Squeasyfills also make refilling much less painful. They beat the hell out of syringes every time.

I'm surprised that IJM hasn't done a deal with Octo. I did suggest that to Jon a while back but wasn't met with any enthusiasm.

Re: Epson 1430 troubleshooting -- bubbles / foam / froth from the capping station

2016-02-23 by brian_downunda@...

The penny finally dropped that I've seen this once before. The Octoink Printer Potty that Jeff and I use and recommend comes with a clip on the hose near the tank that you use to crimp the line so that you can remove the tank and drain it without any ink still in the tubing draining out. On one (and only one) occasion I forgot to uncrimp, and I got symptoms like you describe. I vaguely recall that I've also read of similar symptoms when people have accidentally crimped the tubing, or if the printer tubing leading from the capping station is blocked, etc.

If the ink is flowing freely to the waste ink tank bottle then this shouldn't happen. If it did happen despite the free flow of ink, then I wonder if you forgot to insert a small vent hole in the lid. All the kits I've seen have this. Without it there's a risk that you'll pressurise the waste ink tank and the ink won't flow, in fact it may get pushed back.

The Octoink Printer Potty does have some sort of one way valve. I just emptied mine and checked. For those that haven't seen them, they're a low-profile retangular container, and the inlet port is towards the bottom on one end. Thus the inlet port needs to be one-way, to stop ink banking up in the tube as the tank fills, and to enable the tank to be disconnected for emptying without the waste ink running out. Between this valve and the crimp on the tubing, emptying is simple and straight-forward.

Works pretty darn well. Generally I get most of my printer hardware from IJM, but these waste tanks and also the Octoink SquEazyFill bottles are so well designed and thought-out, while being simple, and the service is so good, that they're two of the few things I'd endorse without any reservation whatsoever.


---In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, <rdeloe1@...> wrote :

You should install an ink waste tank so that the printer doesn't fill up the waste pad and die an untimely early death. And you can make your own to save some money, but if you do, make sure to use a check valve between the line you install and the printer's waste ink line. Because if you don't install a check valve, you're going to wonder why your printer makes a mass of inky bubbles at the capping station during the ink change procedure...

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