Epson 4000 Help

[Coy886]

Hello Everyone,

I just recently purchased a used Epson Stylus 4000 and have some questions about getting it going. I was told that it has sat for a bit unused but was working when they stopped using it. I just plugged it in and ran a nozzle check. Obviously the results were horrible. So my question is this, what do I do next? My intentions for this machine is to convert it over to an all black system for printing film positives, but what should my steps be in order to thoroughly clean this out before converting the inks over?

I have been told to fill some refillable cartridges up with windex and run it through the machine, but then how do I tell if the nozzles are working right? Any help and step by step instructions would be awesome! Thanks guys!

 

[cls]

Buy your self two sets of refillable cartriges
one for Black inks
one for cleaning purposes

Use the service manual and enter the service menue there is a option to flush/purge the whole system (warning uses alot of ink and flushes it into the waste tank)
U can easy deactivate the ink monitoring level for the cartriges AND can reset the waste tank at will.

I have my 4000 pro since 2 years and printed a lot on it, but i will sell it soon and switch to the 3880 i guess

 

[PeterBJ]

You find the service manual here: http://www.bdtinc.com/pub/docs/printers/Epson/4000/Pro4000/Pro4000.pdf . The file is a bit slow to load so be patient.

 

[Coy886]

SO apparently I need adjustment wizard 2 software in order to discharge ink? The only thing available for download on epsons website is the driver, which doesn't include any other software. Does anyone know where I could get a copy for mac?

Thanks again!

 

[Coy886]

Has anyone ever used windex in their refillable cartridges? How long can it stay in the printer? Here is what I think I am going to do.

1) fill carts with windex and install
2) run a bunch of power cleanings
..... Then what? How will I know if the head clogs have cleared?

 

[mikling]

If you use windex, you have to be careful with wide format units. The issue is dropout or settling in the dampers. If you let the windex sit with the ink, the pigment will drop out significantly and settle. This could potentially cause worse problems if you are not careful. Ideally what is required is base for the ink that will not cause siginficant settling...i.e large dilution with liquid that mixes and keeps the pigments suspended. There exists flushing solution for wide format printers... not that cheap actually. Now using windex for unclogging is ok because dropout will drop down through the nozzles. If pigment settles too much in the damper, it can cause blockages.

Test the windex with pigment ink before starting to understand what is safe or not safe. You need to test both for settling and flocculation or gelling. If you are comfortable with the results, then spike the windex with dye ink to allow you to see what is happening.