How to Store a Wide Format Printer for Weeks or Months

A wide format printer that sits idle for a weekend is fine. The same printer left untouched for two months is a restoration job. Most of the damage happens in the first week, and almost all of it is preventable.

Before You Shut Down

1. Finish on a clean nozzle check. Never store a machine that is already missing nozzles – you will come back to a head that cannot be recovered.
2. Park the head on a clean cap. Run the normal shut-down sequence so the carriage parks and the cap lifts into place. Never leave the head parked over the media path.
3. Clean the wiper and cap. Dried ink on the cap rim is what prevents the seal, and the seal is what stops the head drying out.
4. Empty and clean the waste bottle – dried waste ink turns into a solid block that blocks the tube.
5. Power down properly and unplug. Do not leave the machine in sleep mode for a long absence; power surges and lightning do not care about your maintenance plan.

If You Are Storing for More Than a Few Weeks

The ink sitting in the lines and the damper is the part that decides whether the machine restarts cleanly.

• Flush the ink lines with the correct flushing liquid as described in your service manual, then leave the lines full of flushing liquid rather than ink. Flushing liquid is formulated to stay fluid and to keep pigment and resin in suspension, unlike ink left to stand.
• Do not mix cleaning liquid and flushing liquid – they do different jobs. Our guide to cleaning liquid versus flushing liquid explains the difference.
• Protect the head face with the shipping cap or the method the manual specifies. Bare heads dry out fastest.
• Remove ink cartridges or packs if the manual advises it, cap them, and store them upright.
• Cover the machine with a breathable cover. Dust is abrasive and gets into everything.

Environment Matters

Ink and the printhead do not like heat, direct sun or big temperature swings. Store the machine in a room with a stable temperature – the same range the manual specifies for operation is a good target – and keep humidity moderate. Very dry air accelerates drying inside the nozzles, and very damp air corrodes steel parts and encourages mould on media.

Bringing It Back Into Service

1. Inspect before powering up: dust on the media path, ink leaks, cracked tubing, anything nesting inside the machine.
2. Refit ink and prime the lines following the manual’s ink-fill procedure. Expect to use more ink than usual on this first fill.
3. Replace the dampers if they were left full of ink or if you see bubbles. Dampers are inexpensive and a common failure point after storage.
4. Fit a fresh cap top if the old one has hardened.
5. Run a nozzle check, then up to two cleaning cycles. If a channel does not recover, stop cycling and diagnose – repeated cleaning on a dry head wastes ink and can damage it.
6. Print a small test job before production and check density across channels.

FAQ

Can I just leave the ink in the lines?

For a week or two, usually yes. For a month or more, flush the lines. Solvent and eco-solvent inks dry and resin-out; aqueous pigment settles. Either way, the cost of a flush is far below the cost of a printhead.

Should I leave the printer powered on?

For long storage, no. Power down and unplug – and use the proper shut-down sequence first so the head parks on the cap.

Do I need to replace parts after storage?

Often a cap top, wiper and dampers – the three cheapest parts on the machine, and the three that decide whether it restarts cleanly.

Storage Kit

We supply cleaning and flushing liquid, cap tops, wipers, dampers and waste inks and sponges for long-term storage. Tell us your model through the contact form and we will put together the right set.