Epson XP 15000 DTF conversion

[johnson4]

1 hour ago, Deary said:

So how is the 15000 doing so far?

I only used it for about a month. It worked fine for me, I roll printed with it 95 percent of the time. 

Users have reported, and I have confirmed awhile back that aftermarket carts for the printer are poor quality. 

[anum11]

Printhead is not flushable so i lost interest in that printer.

[littlefil]

That looks great, two questions, did you setup the 44 inch paper size in the software and printer settings and second question,

the front paper try that pops out when printing, did you remove it ? 

[johnson4]

1 hour ago, littlefil said:

That looks great, two questions, did you setup the 44 inch paper size in the software and printer settings and second question,

the front paper try that pops out when printing, did you remove it ? 

I just roll printed with it with EKprint, I don’t do gang prints longer than 38 inches or so. 

 

I just made the platen size the largest size I wanted to print per page. i didn’t use the Epson driver at all. 
 

i left the auto open tray out all the time, it didn’t cause an issue. 
 

I made some 3D printed brackets and attached the roll to the back of the machine, that’s how I do all of them. 
 

After that I just send a bunch of print jobs and wait. Something I had intended to do was make it auto reset the ink levels every 10-15 minutes of active printing while it was printing and using a damper system on it. I made a prototype damper adapter, ordered the material to make better seals on the printhead. The seals on it currently are hollow, which I don’t like. 
 

other than that and running it to a waste bottle the thing did really well for $200.  
 

Print speeds were the same as the surecolor p400. It’s just those tiny cartridges that was the issue. The in-line dampers worked well, still the same issue of the poor fitting aftermarket carts but that may have changed by now. 
 

 

Edited April 19, 2022 by johnson4

[scummybearhov]

On 9/14/2021 at 3:59 PM, johnson4 said:

There is a sensor but you can’t block it. It senses the paper width. Make sure that’s off in acro, if it still does it you’ll need a sticker/white strip at the beginning of each sheet the entire length of the film. 
 

an alternative is to buy rolls and make a roll adapter, I used EKprint so you can make it roll print, and simply cut off each print when it’s done and load it once. You could also just cut long “sheets” from a roll and do the same without the diy  roll adapter. 

Hey johnson4, would you be willing to sell me a set of roll adapters for the xp 15000? If so let me know how to proceed with payment and shipping info. 

Thanks man 

[AMartinez]

On 4/15/2021 at 7:10 PM, johnson4 said:

Printed well over its max 44” on sheet mode. This is after it sat for a bit over 48 hours, no cleans. No modification to the tray at all,  no head strikes. 

The Xp 15000 specs state up to 13x19 borderless, up to 44" printing, do you know if it will print a single image over 19" if not a borderless photo?  I see you printed multiple images over 44" but what about a single large image?  I'm thinking about the 5x and 6x shirts that are getting more and more common these days

[johnson4]

8 minutes ago, AMartinez said:

The Xp 15000 specs state up to 13x19 borderless, up to 44" printing, do you know if it will print a single image over 19" if not a borderless photo?  I see you printed multiple images over 44" but what about a single large image?  I'm thinking about the 5x and 6x shirts that are getting more and more common these days

I never had a need to print longer than 44" in one single print job, but I'm sure it would work. I simply add my images, X copies, and do that over and over again. I do gang sheets the same way. I don't sell gang prints longer than 36" so I have never really tried to print anything at 44"+ length. 

44 inches is over 3.5 feet, I'm not sure what kind of shirt that would fit on and look good at the given width limitation. 1 foot by 3 feet seems rather limited. I would personally go with a 17" printer if that is the length you are looking for, it would be more appropriate. for 6X shirts I don't do anything bigger than 15-16" wide by 24" tall usually. It works out because my biggest heat press is also 16" X 24". 

Edited April 25, 2022 by johnson4

[AMartinez]

1 hour ago, johnson4 said:

I never had a need to print longer than 44" in one single print job, but I'm sure it would work. I simply add my images, X copies, and do that over and over again. I do gang sheets the same way. I don't sell gang prints longer than 36" so I have never really tried to print anything at 44"+ length. 

44 inches is over 3.5 feet, I'm not sure what kind of shirt that would fit on and look good at the given width limitation. 1 foot by 3 feet seems rather limited. I would personally go with a 17" printer if that is the length you are looking for, it would be more appropriate. for 6X shirts I don't do anything bigger than 15-16" wide by 24" tall usually. It works out because my biggest heat press is also 16" X 24". 

Oh no sir not over 44" that would be one massive person! Haha, I meant an image over 19", so 24", 30" etc.  But  you still answered my question I think if you print 36" 👍🏽. Thanks

[johnson4]

49 minutes ago, AMartinez said:

Oh no sir not over 44" that would be one massive person! Haha, I meant an image over 19", so 24", 30" etc.  But  you still answered my question I think if you print 36" 👍🏽. Thanks

Oh, haha. Yea, I have printed 36 inches before and it worked fine. 

[euren]

hello i have a Et4800 i turn it into sublimation and currently trying to use the dtf films it works good so far but the issue i having is the rollers keep marking the paper it leves my pet film with all the rollers pressure lines form the begining to the end. i try to disassemble the printer and take the rollers out but i stoped half way since the roller is under the ink cables and it doesnt move so i didnt wanted to force it. and instead ask for some advice on the matter 

 

[johnson4]

15 hours ago, euren said:

hello i have a Et4800 i turn it into sublimation and currently trying to use the dtf films it works good so far but the issue i having is the rollers keep marking the paper it leves my pet film with all the rollers pressure lines form the begining to the end. i try to disassemble the printer and take the rollers out but i stoped half way since the roller is under the ink cables and it doesnt move so i didnt wanted to force it. and instead ask for some advice on the matter 

 

 in general the rollers are removed from DTF printers. You then need an output tray to hold the film in place so it doesn't have a head strike. 

If you don't remove the rollers it will smear the prints, If you do and you don't make an output tray you will have a head strike basically. 

 

On epson conversions you need to see what is holding it in, screws or clips, and undo those. They should come out easily. 

[euren]

31 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

 in general the rollers are removed from DTF printers. You then need an output tray to hold the film in place so it doesn't have a head strike. 

If you don't remove the rollers it will smear the prints, If you do and you don't make an output tray you will have a head strike basically. 

 

On epson conversions you need to see what is holding it in, screws or clips, and undo those. They should come out easily. 

i took ever screw i saw and almost tooked apart lol but the roller from that side close to the ink gap is not moving and there ia no clear view of what is holding it down in a few i will try again and upload some pictures of what i see inside  thanks for replying 

[johnson4]

4 hours ago, euren said:

i took ever screw i saw and almost tooked apart lol but the roller from that side close to the ink gap is not moving and there ia no clear view of what is holding it down in a few i will try again and upload some pictures of what i see inside  thanks for replying 

I'm not familiar with that machine, sorry. Usually it's clipped in or a couple screws. I usually just rip them out since the machine will be dead in a year or so anyway. 

[johnson4]

6 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

I'm not familiar with that machine, sorry. Usually it's clipped in or a couple screws. I usually just rip them out since the machine will be dead in a year or so anyway. 

Not sound advice, I know. But that is the extent of what I know with the rollers, I just tear them out haha. 

Edited September 13, 2022 by johnson4

[euren]

2 hours ago, johnson4 said:

Not sound advice, I know. But that is the extent of what I know with the rollers, I just tear them out haha. 

oh ok and im debating  between ecotank 8550 wide format or the XP15000 wich one gives less issues and its cheaper to maintain  i know the issue with the xp15000 is the chipless license etc. i do only sublimation on white since i cant sublimate on black or dark colors thats why I'm looking for the next step this is my side Hussle so im slowly improving the equipment. having this in mind what is your recomendation or i should go ahead and look for a iheat540 ? 

[johnson4]

8 hours ago, euren said:

oh ok and im debating  between ecotank 8550 wide format or the XP15000 wich one gives less issues and its cheaper to maintain  i know the issue with the xp15000 is the chipless license etc. i do only sublimation on white since i cant sublimate on black or dark colors thats why I'm looking for the next step this is my side Hussle so im slowly improving the equipment. having this in mind what is your recomendation or i should go ahead and look for a iheat540 ? 

The 15000 license is a little bit of a pain sometimes, but it's not the biggest issue. The biggest issue is the cartridges leaking and the printer coming back with a malfunctioning printhead and being able to properly circulate/maintain the ink with such small cartridges or a DIY CISS. Almost always this printer dies within a month or two from a 31006 error, which is usually related to liquid on the printhead cables or shorting out somewhere. The ink cartridges for the printer are not really ideal. It's why the XP600 printheads are converted over to use actual dampers with adapters for the chinese printers, since they are similar in design as the 15000. 

 

The 8550 has similar characteristics, except with a built in ciss that cannot be properly maintained. You would need to manually flush the lines daily and shake the whole printed to agitate the white ink to keep the white ink from separating. Beyond that it doesn't have the issue with chip less or leaking dampers. I personally haven't seen anyone successful with it for any long term usage. 

 

For something long term you would want a higher end printhead and printer build, for low volume or short term usage one of the above would work with random pains. For low volume long term usage you would want a printer capable of that such as the P400/P800. The p400 can be flushed in-between uses really easily so you don't risk clogging or settling of the ink, while the P800 would need used more often, it can easily be ready to roll with a couple head cleans with the white ink. 

 

Other variations like the P600, R2000, R1900, R3000 all have their own pains and do not work as well because of their associated downfalls. 

 

If it were me I would go with the 15000 if my budged were $600 or less, opt for a few sets of cartridge's and swap them out as they become empty. When done for the day make sure you put both caps on the cartridges and you'll have to replace your white cartridges regularly do to the ink pigment settling in the sponges. 

 

If you can find a P400 or P800, Those two are the most ideal DIY conversion printers. After that, a cheap Chinese printer running the xp600 printhead would be my next go-to.

 

 unlike sublimation it requires daily maintenance and tons of learning curve. Sublimation is essentially OEM usage from an inkjet printer with dye based ink that pose very little issue to clogging and no issues with settling.  Usually for small usage it's cheaper to just order your transfers from someone. Yea, It's $1-$2 more per print, but overall if you are not dedicating yourself to the machine and learning it and can afford the learning curve mixed with low volume requirements, It would be what I would suggest. If you invest $2000 you would need to make over 1,500-2,000 transfers before you break even just simply ordering the transfers for example. That's quite a bit to get from one of those printers before it experiences some form of catastrophic failure. 

 

[julioarauz]

On 4/15/2021 at 8:10 PM, johnson4 said:

Printed well over its max 44” on sheet mode. This is after it sat for a bit over 48 hours, no cleans. No modification to the tray at all,  no head strikes. 

Hello, I recently bought an Epson XP-15000 for dtf and they installed firmware so that it works with cartridges without a chip and days after purchasing it it started to give me problems and I get a message about the ink levels being lowered every 40 inches long print, my question is how can I solve this problem or if all the Epson models of this XP-15000 are giving the same problem.

Thank you.-

[johnson4]

33 minutes ago, julioarauz said:

Hello, I recently bought an Epson XP-15000 for dtf and they installed firmware so that it works with cartridges without a chip and days after purchasing it it started to give me problems and I get a message about the ink levels being lowered every 40 inches long print, my question is how can I solve this problem or if all the Epson models of this XP-15000 are giving the same problem.

Thank you.-

I was able to print up to 10 feet long non-stop without issue on the xp 15000. 

[julioarauz]

1 hour ago, johnson4 said:

I was able to print up to 10 feet long non-stop without issue on the xp 15000. 

This is a sample of 1 meter of DTF printing and you can see the ink levels how they go down and I have already activated Frimerawe for cartridges without a chip, then I have to turn off the printer and turn it on again to reset the ink levels and be able to continue printing

[johnson4]

6 hours ago, julioarauz said:

This is a sample of 1 meter of DTF printing and you can see the ink levels how they go down and I have already activated Frimerawe for cartridges without a chip, then I have to turn off the printer and turn it on again to reset the ink levels and be able to continue printing

Just very quickly take out and put back in the waste tank, it resets the ink level. 

[johnson4]

That model was a pain because of that. The "chipless" still counts down the ink level and each must be reset once they end. On top of that the cartridge only held about 14ML of ink, which is next to nothing. Especially for your white ink. I reset the 250ML carts about once a week for another model, so for that I would be looking at multiple times a day for the same color. For the white, probably 10 times a day- basically constantly. 

 

The real problem is when you have 6 ink levels, you can't reset them until they run out, you will have to constantly be resetting one of them. The way around this issue that I have found: 

 

if you very quickly pop in/out the waste tank( not like fully pulling it out, just like half inch out and back in real quick) it would reset the ink counter for me and keep printing. 

 

The chipless for this machine isn't " real" chipless. It makes it count down without replacing the ink chips or having them at all. It doesn't make it read full all of the time like most other models. You can thank epson for their continued advances in preventing their machines from being used for aftermarket purposes. 

Edited October 4, 2023 by johnson4

[Drevebrn]

Hello, I ve seen some ads selling replacement printhead for XP15000 AND XP8600, XP8500, XP700.  Does someone knows if the printhead from those XP8XXX works? They are cheaper printers and in case of need would be a better option than buying another XP15000.

Another question , does it make sense adding an ink filter somewhere on a CISS for a XP15000? to prevent dust or particles entering the carts and head. I have one way dumpers but square ones with no filter. 

thanks anyway

and thanks specially to johnson4 for all the help and info I found here. With so many people trying to sell smoke on the net, doing videos just for SEO or whatever... it is a big relief finding this.