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Take care of the capping stations, clean them with polyester wipers and distilled water, and change them regularly. To unclog a head, flush it gently with DuPont flushing fluid or Blue Juice diluted with distilled water. Treated this way, some of our customers have run their print heads four or five years.
Print head care is very important, and one of the biggest factors customers don't realize, and overlook very quickly, is the capping stations. Those are the caps underneath the print head that seal against it when it's done printing.
Capping stations wear down from overuse, or from being wiped with a dry rag such as a microfiber cloth, which is a little abrasive. The best way to clean them is with polyester cleaning wipers and a little bit of distilled water. Polyester glides across the capping station, so it cleans without wearing down the top of the caps.
Change your capping stations regularly. That makes your print heads last longer. Some of our customers have run their print heads four or five years with this kind of care.
There are great products for cleaning print heads. There's flushing fluid made by DuPont (DuPont KF200 Flushing Solution), and there's Blue Juice, a cleaning fluid that works really well. Diluting it 20% with distilled water and thoroughly flushing out the print head is a great way to clean out and unclog a DTF print head.
Use caution when you flush. Cover your ribbon cables thoroughly with some polyester material, without pushing on the cables, so no liquid gets inside. Water in there will damage your print heads, your boards, or both.
Polyester cleaning wipers and a little distilled water. Polyester glides across the cap without wearing it down. Avoid dry rags and microfiber, which are a little abrasive.
Never wipe the caps with a dry, abrasive rag, never let liquid reach the ribbon cables or boards, and never over-push when flushing. Too much force can break the inside of the head.
DuPont KF200 flushing fluid, or Blue Juice diluted 20% with distilled water. Use light pressure, let it sit about a minute, then flush it out.
With good care, including regularly changing the capping stations, some of our customers have run their print heads four or five years.
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