The daily, weekly and monthly maintenance routine for a converted Epson DTF printer

Every day (5 minutes)

• Gently rock the white cartridges or tanks for 30 s — pigment settles overnight.
• Print the purge strip from ZoroPrint (Maintenance → Add purge strip) as the first job. It pushes fresh ink through every channel and shows problems before a customer job does.
• Only run a head cleaning if the strip shows gaps. Cleanings waste ink and, done ten times in a row, pull air into the lines.
• At the end of the day, swab the cap lip and both sides of the wiper with cleaning fluid on a foam swab (1 minute). See cleaning the capping station and wiper.
• Never leave the head uncapped. Park it with the power button, not by pulling the plug.

Every week

• Capping station: on top of the daily swab, a thorough clean and a flush with cleaning fluid, using a lint-free swab. Dried white on the cap seal is the number one cause of “it was fine yesterday”.
• Wiper blade: wipe both sides. A gummy wiper drags dried ink across the nozzle plate.
• Look at the white tubes: a clear band at the top means settling — rock the tank, run a strip.
• Keep tanks above one third; low ink lets air in and air is much harder to remove than a clog.

Every month

• If white density drops even though the nozzle check is clean, flush the white lines with cleaning fluid and refill.
• Check the dampers for air bubbles or discoloured filters; replace white dampers every 1–3 months (sources range from monthly to every 3 months). See dampers: shake, prime, replace.
• Empty the waste tank / check the waste pad counter — a full pad stops the printer without warning.
• Back up your ZoroPrint presets and ICC profiles.

Going away for a week?

Either print a strip every 2–3 days (ask someone), or flush the white channels with cleaning solution and leave the lines filled with it. A white-loaded head left for ten days in summer is a new head.