I've been working on inkjet printers since bubblejets were phazed out(were they?) Here's my question, or the one asked most the time from me:
What are the differences in all the Epson DX5 print heads, other than water and solvent. There are locked heads, unlocked heads, black fpc, green fpc, four-color, six-color.... and lets say mine uses a green 30pin fpc, as long as i use a green fpc one will that work? or I have a machine that uses or has 4 whites connected instead of 2 whites and 2 clears, will that head work any differently or is it still the same? I am almost done making a low pressure head cleaner for the dx5 head, because the professional model is cost prohibitive. I just found this site and it makes me wonder, how come all these companies are based or shipping out of Florida?
Thanks for having me and keeping me informed.
ant
Ant,
As far as I know all the DX5 heads are 8 channel heads (meaning if it is a DX5 it has 8 dampers)
As far as the pin set up, you can use any 30 pin flat cable with any 30 pin head.
Locked vs Unlocked....from my experience a LOCKED head will only work correctly on a mainboard that has the original EEPROM written to it. So, if you have a locked head, that means you will need to write the EEPROM on the main board to match that head.
If you have a unlocked head, it should work on any system.
So, if you have a 8 channel DX5 head, that is "locked" , you will need to keep it with the SAME mainboard that the manufacturer shipped it with, or use the adjustment program to "backup" the EEPROM data, then write that EEPROM to the mainboard your head is going to be hooked up to.
The firing parameters, head id and ALOT of other info are stored in the EEPROM data, that information is what controls the way your head functions on Epson based systems.
If you are not using a EPSON based system, but already have a Epson head on the system, then that means that your head is unlocked, and you will need an unlocked head to replace it.
Many systems use Epson heads but are not Epson based machines, like Mutoh or even some Roland's. Almost all of the DTF and DTG systems use Epson heads and MOST are Epson based , meaning they have Epson mainboards and Epson print frames.
I have no idea why ALOT of the DTG / DTF companies come out of Florida, it's funny you mention it tho.
I hope any of that info is helpful.