R200 CFS Installation Instructions

Installation Procedure

Prerequisite -
Before starting this installation, you MUST test your printer to make sure it is printing 100% correctly. The best way to do this is to first print a Nozzle pattern, using the printer utility software provided by Epson. Once a perfect nozzle pattern is achieved, print 5 copies of the MIS purge6.tif image using the Plain Paper and 360 dpi settings on the printer. All 5 pages must print without banding or skipping (white spaces). If your printer can not do this, do not install the CFS. Run some cleaning cycles or get new cartridges. Do not proceed until you can pass these tests.
The Purge6 image can be found on the diskette included with your system. If you have a Mac you can download it from our website. You can also get it from the Helpdesk Download Library.

Tools & Materials Needed -

MIS CFS System, ink, and a working Epson R200 printer
Ruler or measuring tape
Pair of scissors
Alcohol and some paper towels
Some paper to print on
Small phillips head screw driver

1. If you purchased your system prefilled, go to Step 2. If you purchased an empty CFS unit, then vacuum fill the cartridges with the ink that came with the system or the ink of your choice. Follow the instructions that are included with the vacuum pump or get them from our Knowledge Base. When this is complete, go to Step 2.

2. On the printer, push the Ink button to move the cartridges to the Replacement position. While in this position, pull the power plug out of the wall. Next, remove the cartridges. The cartridges ride in a black cartridge carriage and are secured by a gray clamp that must be raised in order to remove the cartridges.

3. The cartridge clamp also needs to be removed. This is the gray colored clamp that holds the cartridges down when they are installed in the printer. There are two methods to removing this clamp. Read both before you select the method you wish to try.

S-clip holds left side of cartridge clamp, enlarged.

Clamp hinge screws on carriage

One, on the left hand side of the clamp there is a small "S" shaped clip holding the hinge pin of the gray clamp (see photo above). This small clip can be removed by prying outward with a small screw driver. Once this clip is removed, with the gray cartridge clamp in one hand and while holding the cartridge carriage in the other hand, pull the gray clamp out of the cartridge from the right hand side of the carriage by moving the clamp to the left side of the printer. When the right side comes out of the carriage the left side will easily slide to the right to come totally free of the carriage.
The second method is to remove the two screws on the outside edge of the print carriage. These screws are near the top toward the front of the carriage on each side. With a small phillips screw driver remove each of these screws being careful not to drop them into the printer. Once the screws are removed you can pull up on the grey bracket to remove it from the main portion of the carriage. There are lock tabs on each side which hold the clamp hinge to the carriage. Once these are released you can set the clamp aside. You may also return the screws to the print carriage by screwing them back in.

4. PARTIALLY install the CFS cartridges. Do not push the cartridges all the way down. We do not want the seals on the bottom to be punctured until the tubes have been installed in the bottles. The tubing ends with the blue clips should be aligned to the right of the printer.
Next, clean and dry the printer housing with alcohol where the bridge bracket and beige clip are to be installed. Locate the Bridge Bracket from your package and install it as shown in the photo. Before peeling the protective tape from the mounting strips on the bridge bracket, place it in the location described below and as seen in the photo below. The Bridge Bracket mounts 5 3/8 of an inch from the right inside of the printer housing opening at the top. This area should have been cleaned with an alcohol pad.
Now peel the protective tape from the foam strips on the front and back edge of the bracket. This position should leave about 1 1/8 of an inch on the left hand side of the bridge bracket and the printer housing opening. See the photo below.

Bridge Bracket and beige clip installation

5. Install the beige tubing clip as shown in the photo above. Clean and dry the printer housing with alcohol and place the beige tubing clip in the position as shown.
The clip installs on the right side of the printer housing 3/4 of an inch to the right of the printer opening. It should align with the clip on the bridge bracket so that the tubes run parallel with the print carriage between the clip on the bridge bracket and the clip you are installing on the printer housing. See photo above. Affix the clip so that it opens from the front side of the printer. This placement is critical and must be done correctly in order to align the tubing.

6. The tubing ends with the blue clips should now be on the right hand side of the printer. You can now place the tubing into each of the beige clips and close them.
The tubes should be positioned in the beige Bridge Bracket clip first. The tubing should be marked where it will be clipped into the beige clip. This position should allow enough length of tubing so that the cartridge carriage can slide the full length of the printer from right to left and back again without pulling the tubes and without being restricted by the tubes when they are clamped in the beige tube clip on the Bridge Bracket. Checking this process will be a bit difficult as the cartridges should not yet be fully locked into the carriage.

7. Once the tubes are securely inserted into the middle beige Bridge Bracket and you can allow the remaining tube length to feed to the right hand housing beige clip, and clamp the tubing. This will leave the remaining tube length at the right side of the printer ready to be trimmed for insertion into the bottles.
Un-web the tubes from the right end beginning at the blue tubing clip up to the right hand side of the beige tube clip on the housing, so that each tube can be independently installed into its bottle. The tubes are easily un-webbed by just pulling them apart, no tools are required. Don't go to far.
You can now align the bottles on the right hand side of the printer. The order of the ink bottles from front to back are,
Yellow - Light Magenta - Magenta - Light Cyan - Cyan - Black

Bottle Positions

Velcro attachment

8. Installing the tubing in the bottles. There should be 3 1/2 to 3 3/4 inches of tubing inside the bottle when you are finished. The tubing should be suspended in ink, and the tube should not touch the bottom of the bottle.
If your system was prefilled, cut the tubes just above the light blue pinch clips, save the blue tube clips in a safe place as you may need them later if you should ever remove the CFS unit. When you clip the tubing you will lose about 1/2" of tubing, this is OK. If you ordered an empty system you should have vacuum filled your cartridges by now. The clip placement is critical when you cut the tubing, so depending on where you placed the clip when you filled your own system, you may need to remove it to clip the tubing for insertion into the bottles at the correct length. Cut the end of the tubes on a 45 degree angle so they are pointed. Don't waste any tube length in doing this.
Now insert the tube into the bottle so the tube almost reaches the bottom of the bottle. Do not put the wrong color tube into the wrong ink bottle. Follow the tube back to the cartridge where the cartridge label identifies the ink in the chamber. You can mark the tubing 3 1/2 inches above where you intend to cut on the 45 degree angel. Once the tube is cut, slide it into the hole in the center of the bottle cap up to the mark you made to be sure the tubing is not touching the bottom of the bottle.
Repeat this process for each of the colors.

9. You can now press the cartridges down into the correct positions. You may hear them click into place, it is okay if you do not hear the click. Just be certain they are securely seated making certain the cartridges are properly aligned and down all the way in the carriage. Push the cartridge carriage all the way to the right hand inside of the printer, all the way.

10. Plug the printer back in and turn on the power. Run a few cleaning cycles until you have a perfect nozzle pattern. The printer is now ready to use. If you have problems getting a perfect nozzle pattern, let the printer rest overnight, and try again in the morning.

11. Resetting - In order to reset the ink monitor on the R300 with Auto Reset chips, simply turn off the printer wait about 1 minute and then turn it back on. If you happen to be in the middle of a large print job, say 100 pages, and the red "Out of Ink" light begins to flash, allow the printer to stop. You can do this by removing the remaining paper stock. This will cause, an out of paper light to come on. Simply press the ink replacement button. The carriage will move to the cartridge replacement position. Wait 10 seconds. Press the ink replacement button again and reload the paper stock. Press the paper button and the printer will begin printing again.
If the printer stops printing because the "Out of Ink" indicator light has come while printing a long print job, simply press the ink replacement button. The carriage will move to the cartridge replacement position. Wait 10 seconds.
If for some reason you receive the double red error lights that will not clear after restarting the printer, remove the CFS unit, reinstall Epson original cartridges to clear the error then reinstall the CFS. Check to be certain the tubing is not preventing the print carriage from traveling the full length of the printer. If it can not travel to the far left and right, the double red lights will come on.

The Care and Feeding of a CFS -
There are a couple of things you should know that will keep your system running trouble free.
These systems work best if they are used frequently, daily is best, but every few days is more important. If you are an infrequent printer or only print once or twice a week, then you should install our AUTOPRINT program (download it for free from our CFS page). Autoprint will make a printout using our Purge6 image everyday as long as you leave your computer and printer turned on.
If you have to do cleaning cycles, do them in groups of 3 and be certain to print something, we recommend a copy of the Purge6 pattern after every 3 cleaning cycles. This resets the printer firmware so that you get a medium, long, and short duration cleaning cycle. If you don't do this, you will only get short cleaning cycles after the 3rd one. Running several short cleaning cycles will cause nozzles to drop out. If you are still having problems after about 3 or 4 sets of 3 cleanings, then let the printer rest for a few hours or overnight and try again later. This has worked on many Epson printers in the past. It gives the air bubbles in the ink a chance to rise to the surface and get out of the printhead.
Don't let your ink bottles get empty. Refill them when they are at the 1/4 full level. Before pouring new ink into your bottle, transfer the ink that is left into a clean glass or jar. Then wash out the CFS ink bottle with soap and water. Then refill with leftover ink and new ink. This keeps algae from building up on the walls of the bottle and causing premature ink failure. An easier method is to order a spare set of empty bottles, and keep them on hand, clean and ready to use.
If an ink does not print. Remove the tube from the bottle, lift the cartridge out, and suck out a little ink, not more than 2 cc, to eliminate any air locks that may be present. Use the syringe and bottom fill adapter., then reinstall. If you have all colors printing but you are having problems getting a perfect nozzle pattern after several cleaning cycles, then let the printer rest overnight and try a few cleaning cycles in the morning.
For additional technical assistance please read our CFS Troubleshooting Guide or visit our online HelpDesk

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