How to effectively maintain the UV printer nozzle? Be sure to pay attention to these 6 situations of nozzle blockage!

The nozzle is the core component of a UV printer, and its price is the largest part of the entire machine. However, such a high priced printing nozzle is a consumable that will be damaged over time. Nozzle clogging is the most common problem in UV printing jobs. Let's first understand what are the situations of nozzle clogging? How to effectively maintain the nozzle?

1、Lack of ink

When there is a lack of ink inside the nozzle, although the piezoelectric ceramic inside the nozzle works, it cannot effectively dispense ink because there is no ink in the nozzle. In this case, the nozzle can generally be cleaned by pressing ink.

2、Air blockage

Air blockage refers to the accumulation of air inside the nozzle, which prevents ink from being ejected from the nozzle properly. When encountering this situation, try ink pressure cleaning first. In most cases, air can be eliminated by squeezing the ink. There are also situations where air cannot be eliminated inside the nozzle, and this situation can only be automatically eliminated by waiting for the bubbles and ink to merge, which we call defoaming.

3、Dry or impurities

The nozzle is not used for a long time and does not moisturize, which can easily cause the ink inside the nozzle to dry out. The situation of ink drying and impurities entering the nozzle is similar, both are solid substances remaining inside the nozzle, causing ink to not pass through the nozzle normally. In mild cases, dry ink or impurities can be flushed out of the nozzle through ink pressure and the impact of the ink. In severe cases, a syringe or cleaning solution can be used to rinse the nozzle. During rinsing, attention should be paid to controlling the flow path. Excessive force can cause the adhesive of the nozzle to expand, leading to ink leakage from the nozzle.

4、Physical damage

Using inferior scraper blades, ink stacks, or moisturizing pads may damage the nozzle surface and cause physical damage to the nozzle holes. This kind of damage is irreversible and has little possibility of repair.

5、Circuit damage

Inserting the wrong data cable, abnormal power supply, and ink leakage to the nozzle circuit board can all cause damage to the nozzle. Due to the high integration of the nozzle, it is generally scrapped directly in this situation.

6、Aging of piezoelectric ceramics

After a certain number of nozzle operations, the piezoelectric ceramic chips that control the ink output undergo aging, resulting in the inability to spray ink droplets normally and affecting the quality of the printing. This situation is very rare, and the spray life of piezoelectric ceramics designed by general manufacturers is over several hundred million times. In normal use, it is rare for a nozzle to be used hundreds of millions of times, and it is usually damaged in the above five situations.

How to maintain the nozzle

1、Ink Road Maintenance

In the use of UV flatbed printers, users often overlook the importance of ink flow. I didn't expect to replace the ink tube and ink bag until there was ink leakage. After long-term use, ink tubes and ink sacs will accumulate a large amount of impurities in the ink. Some inferior ink tubes may also react with the ink,

causing the components in the ink tube to dissolve into the ink and be transported to the inside of the nozzle. So never buy inferior ink tubes or ink bags

for use on the machine, replace filters and ink bags frequently. Aging ink tubes need to be replaced within a certain period of time.

2、Moisturize well

Moisturizing is one of the most important tasks in the use of UV printers. As long as the nozzle is not in use for a certain period of time, it should be moisturized in a timely manner. Before moisturizing, clean the ink stack and moisturizing pad. Never reuse a moisturizing pad to prevent dirt from contaminating the nozzle surface and causing impurities to be sucked back into the nozzle under atmospheric pressure. After moisturizing, carefully check whether the nozzle and moisturizing pad are in place to avoid separation and expose the nozzle to the air.

3、Timely clean the spray hole

Some operators have found ink breakage, but because there are not many broken holes, the impact on the image is not significant, so they do not clean the blocked spray holes in a timely manner. In the case where the nozzle does not produce ink for a long time, it was originally only blocked, but eventually became a real blockage, and later it took a lot of effort to clean, and even could not be cleaned thoroughly. The most taboo thing is to moisturize overnight when there are spray holes that cannot dispense ink normally, because the spray holes that cannot dispense ink normally may be missing ink or already blocked. If the moisturizing agent is left overnight and the nozzle is not rinsed with ink, impurities or dry ink cannot be discharged, and the overnight storage prevents the moisturizing agent from entering the nozzle, resulting in more severe blockage. So before shutting down, it is necessary to print a complete spray hole status diagram in order to moisturize, and the spray hole status diagram should be kept on file with the date written on it. After a new spray hole is blocked, it can be compared.

4、Avoid damage

Choose materials with good flatness to avoid contact between the nozzle and the material during printing. When printing, be sure to ensure that there are no foreign objects on the printer platform. Some nozzles have stainless steel protection on the surface to effectively prevent physical damage, such as precision nozzles. For models with automatic cleaning, the scraper blades need to be cleaned regularly. If there are impurities like gravel on the scraper blades, it is very easy to damage the nozzle. When replacing, high-quality scraper blades should also be selected. When disassembling, assembling, and storing,

be sure to protect the nozzle surface, as the nozzle comes with a protective cover when it leaves the factory.

How to deal with blockage

After discovering a slight blockage in the nozzle

1. If a slight blockage is found in the nozzle during the printing process, press the PAUSE button without hesitation to pause the printing job. Then use a

vacuum cleaner or manual air pump to spray ink from the nozzle for nozzle cleaning. After cleaning, use a plastic squeeze bottle to spray some cleaning

solution onto the nozzle surface to wash away residual ink.Attention: Do not apply too much force when using a manual air pump, otherwise the nozzle

may be damaged due to excessive pressure.

2. Timely, decisive, and thorough handling of slight nozzle blockages is crucial for maintaining optimal nozzle performance during prolonged printing

processes!

3. In addition, it is necessary to carefully inspect the condition of the nozzle and identify the cause of nozzle blockage.

When nozzle blockage frequently occurs during the printing process

1. First press the PAUSE key to pause the printing operation, then press the PURGE key to move the machine head to the leftmost cleaning position.

2. Keep the device power on and disconnect all the liquid level sensor signal wires from the auxiliary ink tank to the head control board.

3. Remove the ink supply tube (from the auxiliary ink tank) on the nozzle, and then use a glass syringe to extract specialized cleaning solution to clean the

nozzle. Method: Use 40ml of cleaning solution each time, every 10 minutes, for a total of 3-4 times.

4. After cleaning, reinsert the ink supply tube and liquid level sensor signal line, and then continue the previously paused printing job.

When the above processing methods have little effect or are temporarily ineffective

1. Remove the nozzle from the nozzle tray and take it out.

2. Pour an appropriate amount of specialized cleaning solution into a clean glass container (such as a beaker) to submerge the bottom of the nozzle by 2-3mm after placing it. Then seal the glass container with plastic wrap (to prevent dust) and let it sit for more than 1 day. (Note: The signal interface at the top of the nozzle should not come into contact with cleaning solution, otherwise it may damage the nozzle.)

3. After the nozzle is soaked, pour an appropriate amount of specialized cleaning solution into the printer nozzle cleaner, then immerse the bottom of the

nozzle in the cleaning solution by about 2-3mm, and then start the cleaner. Choose a specialized nozzle cleaner. If using a general ultrasonic cleaner,

be sure to strictly control the time to prevent damage to the nozzle. Note: Do not use the cleaner more than three times for continuous cleaning.

4. Extract 40ml of specialized cleaning solution with a glass syringe and inject it from the ink supply tube interface at the top of the nozzle. Pay attention

to the status of the water lines sprayed from the nozzle. If all the water lines are straight, it indicates effective cleaning and the nozzle can continue to be

used (provided that the circuit and piezoelectric crystal are intact). If some of the water lines are still skewed, repeat steps 2 and 3 for 2-3 more times.