How to effectively maintain the nozzle of the UV printer? 6 situations of nozzle clogging must be pa

The nozzle is the core component of the UV printer, and its price accounts for the bulk of the whole machine. However, the nozzle with such a high price is a consumable and will be damaged as it ages. Nozzle clogging is the most common problem in UV printing operations. Let's first understandWhat are the situations in which the nozzle is clogged? How to effectively maintain the nozzle?

1, lack of ink

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

2, Gas blockage

Air blockage is when air gathers inside the nozzle, and the ink cannot be ejected from the nozzle normally. In this case, try to press the ink to clean it first. In most cases, the air can be expelled by squeezing the ink. In some cases, the air cannot be expelled from the nozzle. In this case, the air can only be eliminated by waiting for the bubbles to merge with the ink, which is called defoaming.

3, dry or impurities

If the nozzle is not used for a long time and is not moisturized, it is very easy to cause the ink inside the nozzle hole to dry. Ink drying is similar to the situation where impurities enter the nozzle. Both are solid substances remaining inside the nozzle hole, causing the ink to not pass through the nozzle normally. In mild cases, the ink is pressed and the impact of the ink is used to flush the dried ink or impurities out of the nozzle hole. In severe cases, the nozzle can be flushed with a syringe or cleaning fluid. Pay attention to the control of force when flushing. Excessive impact will expand the adhesive of the nozzle and cause the nozzle to leak ink.

4, physical damage

Using inferior scrapers or inferior ink stacks and moisturizing pads may damage the nozzle surface and cause physical damage to the nozzle hole. This damage is irreversible and basically impossible to repair.

5, Circuit damage

Wrong data cable insertion, abnormal power supply, ink leakage to the printhead circuit board will cause printhead damage. Due to the high integration of the printhead, the printhead is generally scrapped in this case.

6, Piezoelectric ceramic aging

After the nozzle has worked for a certain number of times, the piezoelectric ceramic piece that controls the ink discharge ages, resulting in failure to spray ink droplets normally, affecting the quality of the print. This situation is very rare. Generally, the piezoelectric ceramic spray life designed by manufacturers is more than hundreds of millions of times. In normal use, few nozzles can be used for hundreds of millions of times. Generally, they are damaged in the above 5 situations.

How to maintain the nozzle

1, ink path maintenance

UVWhen using a flatbed printer, users often overlook the importance of the ink path. They don't think about replacing the ink tubes and ink capsules until they see ink leakage. After long-term use, the ink tubes and ink capsules will accumulate a lot of impurities in the ink. Some inferior ink tubes will also react with the ink, causing the components in the ink tubes to dissolve into the ink and be transported to the inside of the printhead. So don't buy some inferior ink tubes or ink capsules and use them on the machine at will. Replace the filters and ink capsules frequently. Replace the aged ink tubes within a certain period.

2, Keep moisturized

Moisturizing is one of the most important tasks in the use of UV printers. If the printhead is not used for a certain period of time, it must be moisturized in time. Before moisturizing, clean the ink stack and moisturizing pad. Never reuse a moisturizing pad to prevent the dirt on the moisturizing pad from contaminating the nozzle surface and causing impurities to be sucked back into the nozzle hole under the influence of atmospheric pressure. After moisturizing, carefully check whether the nozzle and moisturizing pad are in contact with each other to avoid separation of the nozzle and exposing the nozzle to the air.

3, Clean the spray hole in time

Some operators find that the ink is broken, but because the number of broken holes is small and the impact on the picture is not great, they do not clean the blocked nozzles in time. If the nozzles do not produce ink for a long time, it is just unobstructed, and finally becomes a real blockage. Later, it takes a lot of effort to clean it, but it may not be cleared. The most taboo is to moisturize overnight when the nozzles cannot produce ink normally, because the nozzles that cannot produce ink normally may be missing ink or have been blocked. If the nozzles are moisturized overnight, the nozzles are not flushed with ink, and impurities or dried ink cannot be discharged. The moisturizing liquid cannot enter the nozzles after being left overnight, making the blockage more serious. Therefore, a complete nozzle status diagram must be printed before shutting down the machine before moisturizing, and the nozzle status diagram must be archived with the date written on it so that it can be compared with a new nozzle blockage.

4, avoid damage

Choose materials with good flatness to avoid contact between the nozzle and the material during printing. Be sure to make sure there is no foreign matter on the printer platform when printing. Some nozzles have stainless steel protection on the nozzle surface to effectively prevent physical damage, such as Seiko nozzles. For models with automatic cleaning, the scraper should be cleaned frequently. If there are impurities like sand on the scraper, it is very easy to damage the nozzle. When replacing, you should also choose a high-quality scraper. Be sure to protect the nozzle surface when disassembling, assembling, and storing. The nozzles are equipped with protective covers when leaving the factory.

How to deal with blockage

After discovering that the nozzle is slightly clogged

11. If you find that the nozzle is slightly clogged during the inkjet printing process, press the PAUSE button without hesitation to pause the printing job, then use a vacuum cleaner or a manual air pump to spray ink out of the nozzle to clean the nozzle. After cleaning, use a plastic squeeze bottle to spray some cleaning fluid on the nozzle surface to wash away the residual ink.

Note: Do not use excessive force when using a manual air pump, otherwise the nozzle may be damaged due to excessive pressure.

2, timely, decisive and thorough treatment of minor nozzle blockage is very important to keep the nozzle in optimal working condition during long-term printing!

3In addition, it is also necessary to carefully check the nozzle condition and find out the cause of the nozzle blockage.

When nozzle clogging occurs frequently during printing

11. Press the PAUSE key to pause the printing operation, and then press the PURGE key to move the machine head to the leftmost cleaning position.

21. Keep the power of the device turned on and unplug all the signal cables connecting the auxiliary ink tank to the liquid level sensor on the machine head control panel.

31. Unplug the ink supply tube (from the auxiliary ink tank) on the nozzle, and then use a glass syringe to extract special cleaning liquid to clean the nozzle. Method: use 40ml of cleaning liquid each time, once every 10 minutes, for a total of 3 to 4 times.

4, after cleaning, re-plug the ink supply tube and liquid level sensor signal cable, and then continue the previously paused print job.

When the above treatment methods are not effective or have no effect temporarily

1, remove the nozzle from the nozzle tray.

21. Pour an appropriate amount of special cleaning liquid into a clean glass container (e.g. beaker), so that the nozzle is placed in the container and the bottom of the nozzle is submerged by 2 to 3 mm. Then seal the glass container with plastic wrap (to prevent dust) and leave it for more than 1 day. (Note: Do not let the signal interface at the top of the nozzle contact the cleaning liquid, otherwise the nozzle will be damaged.)

31. After the nozzle is soaked, pour an appropriate amount of special cleaning liquid into the printer nozzle cleaner, and then immerse the bottom of the nozzle in the cleaning liquid for about 2 to 3 mm, then start the cleaner, and choose a special nozzle cleaner. If you use a general ultrasonic cleaner, you must strictly control the time to prevent damage to the nozzle. Note: Do not use the cleaner for more than three consecutive cleanings.

41. Use a glass syringe to extract 40ml of special cleaning liquid and inject it into the ink supply tube interface on the top of the nozzle. Pay attention to the state of the water lines sprayed from the nozzle. If all the water lines are very straight, it means that the cleaning is effective and the nozzle can continue to be used (prerequisite: the circuit and piezoelectric crystal are intact). If some water lines are still crooked, you must repeat steps 2 and 3 for 2 to 3 times.