Homebrew PCBs

Thought I'd make a separate thread for this subject, this is purely
mechanicals, not ink.

- all the plastic housings come off (busted 1/2 of the top hidden clips on
the side covers, but who cares, I'm not putting them back on, and hot glue
or silicone works wonders if I do).
- the 'working' chassis remains attached to the plastic base plate,
convenient to have the stock printer rubber legs.
- all the buttons and lights are conveniently on top and easy to access.
- power, USB and parallel cables are out the rear and out of the way.
- all the front pizza-wheels come off with easy-push release clips (none
broken).
- the rear paper holder is held by only 3 screws, easy to remove, I'm
keeping it on to complete ink debugging.
- the rear paper holder is at an angle of about 50 degrees, it is NOT
straight-through, I would expect thin PCB to get a wicked curl.
- the passage is perfectly straight-through once the rear paper holder is
removed.
- feeder rollers easily accept 1/16" thick PCB.
- the printhead does NOT clear a 1/16" thick PCB.
- the printhead does clear 1/32" thick PCB, but it is close, I would lift
the front of the printhead chariot just a bit for safety.
- lifting the front of the printhead chariot is easy by adding a teflon skid
under the front 'skate', but that tilts the printhead at an angle, I would
expect a distortion effect on the print quality if lifted too high.
- trying to lift the entire printhead chariot (front and back) seems to be
close to impossible (it can be done, printhead chariot and feeder mechanism
have separate motors, requires 'serious' work).
- THOSE WITH LONG HAIR, WATCH YOUR HEAD, it's very easy to get a strand in
the spinning wheels, and that's got to hurt.
- those with long fingers, watch yourselves as well, the printhead chariot
is more powerful than it looks.

That's all I could think of as important to the task at hand.  Any questions
or stuff you want me to check, let'em rip.

Robert
:)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I'm still waiting to be able to buy MIS ink, I should have funds within
days.

Meanwhile, I've totally stripped the printhead chariot without breaking
anything.

I think it's possible to make a new backplate and relocate the printhead
mechanism.  I'm planning on lifting it by about 3/16", that way I should be
able to easily accomodate a PCB chariot.  The chassis has at least 1/4"
space at the rear.

I'm also planning on moving the rear upper rollers to the bottom edge of the
backplate, they apply way too much pressure.  The cleaning assembly can
easily be lifted, that should not pose a problem.

Robert
:)

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com 
> [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] De la part de Robert Hedan
> Envoyé : avril 18 2006 21:20
> À : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Objet : [Homebrew_PCBs] Compatibility of Epson C84 for direct 
> PCB printing
> 
> 
> Thought I'd make a separate thread for this subject, this is 
> purely mechanicals, not ink.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Robert Hedan <robert.hedan@...>
wrote:
>
...
> I think it's possible to make a new backplate and relocate the printhead
> mechanism.  I'm planning on lifting it by about 3/16", that way I
should be
> able to easily accomodate a PCB chariot.  The chassis has at least 1/4"
> space at the rear.
> 
> I'm also planning on moving the rear upper rollers to the bottom
edge of the
> backplate, they apply way too much pressure.  The cleaning assembly can
> easily be lifted, that should not pose a problem.

Several different companies have just modded Epson (and a few other
brands) printers into flatbed printers. At least one is based on the
C84 or other C8x series. Some are done using the 2x00 series, 4x00
series, etc. I have an Epson 3000 in rather bad shape that I thought
I'd tear apart someday.

This poor guy sold it on eBay, ignored the shipping instructions
printed on the inside of the ink tank door. Shipped it unpurged and
with full tanks. Ink all over. Buyer sent it back, seller couldn't
figure out Epson's system of screws -and- snaps to get printer apart,
he kicked a hole in the case. Covered in ink, missing a few parts, I
got it for free so ripe for me to tear this thing apart.

One important caveat with pigmented inks: they will settle. If you are
using just refilled cartridges, you only have to shake them (gently)
before installing the first time, after that the head movement keeps
them mixed. But when using a bulk ink feed, or one of the Epsons with
bulk built-in (3000, 4000, 4800, 5000, etc) you should gently "swirl"
the tanks about once a month.

One of the commercial conversions using the Epson 4800 actually moves
the printer rather than the table.

Steve Greenfield

Wow, I've totally removed the upper 'guts' on the chassis.  A cut here and a
slice there and I might be in business using the existing printhead
backplate.  It would make matters so much easier, just cut, lift and
rivet/screw in place.  Everything would re-assemble back in the correct
mounting holes and such.

Shoot, I could lift this sucker 1/2" at this point, I have enough slack in
the lower wiring harness.  That would give me even more room for the PCB
chariot.

I've never taken a printer apart so far without breaking something.  I'm
concerned with those sensors that Chris had problems with, I'm sure those
are going to mess with me too.

Robert
:)


> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com 
> [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com] De la part de Robert Hedan
> Envoyé : avril 27 2006 12:27
> À : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Objet : [Homebrew_PCBs] RE : Compatibility of Epson C84 for 
> direct PCB printing
> 
> 
> I'm still waiting to be able to buy MIS ink, I should have 
> funds within days.
> 
> Meanwhile, I've totally stripped the printhead chariot 
> without breaking anything.
...

> 
> Robert
> :)

>One of the commercial conversions using the Epson 4800 actually moves
>the printer rather than the table.
>
>Steve Greenfield
>  
>

  Was thinking of similar myself, it'd be realtively easy to do and I 
have some 5' long PCBs for signs that would love a rolling printer..

  And after a certain point, it'd be worth sticking it on rails and just 
doing the driving yourself.  Study the inkjet firing a bit, drive it and 
the head carriage motor, and mount your own rails and motors for Y.  Not 
much work at all to interpret Gerber or similar formatting, and most PCB 
packages can output it one way or another, and then you can make 
everything work like you want it to, no more pumping out half a 
cartridge because the printer decides it's having a bad ink day..

Alan