The general rule for most dtg printers about dtg ink is “Let it sit and it will clog.” With any Epson-based dtg printer, the particles that make up the dtg inks are much larger than the particles of ink that the printer was designed for. Thus if the printer sits idle for a couple of days, you may get a clog in the ink lines and/or the print head. Thus, it is important to keep the ink flowing through the lines and print head in order to prevent wasting the ink during a cleaning cycle. In addition, most dtg manufacturers recommend that you agitate the white ink to keep the TiO2 from settling to the bottom of the container. This includes the ink in your bulk feed system or cartridges – as well as the ink you have in inventory.
PRINTING TIP: I recommend you print one sample every business day at a minimum to help keep the ink in the lines and the print head moving properly. By printing a sample, you create marketing material to help promote the fact that your business can now produce short-run decorated apparel. Otherwise, you will probably land up wasting as much ink running head cleanings to remove the blockage.
MAINTENANCE TIP: Some dtg printers will come with built-in maintenance programs that will run a periodic head clean or nozzle check based on a schedule the user sets. Also, as previously mentioned, there is a software program called Printer Jockey (www.printerjockey.com) that provides you the ability to flush a single channel of ink that a nozzle check shows is clogged. This will save you the ink that is used by running a head cleaning on the channels of ink that are not clogged. For videos on this software, click on the player below:
Here are some links that talk more about why head clogs occur and how much ink is used during the cleaning cycles:
- http://www.inkjetgarmentprinters.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=25092#25092
- http://www.inkjetgarmentprinters.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1817