Print Cartridge Alignment

BotFactory Inc., Sam Thomas

When and why to align your cartridges

Running the alignment test.

A misaligned cartridge can result in thicker vertical lines and in some cases can even lead to shorts. With this in mind, we made sure your inkjet heads can be adjusted to align the cartridge. To make sure your Print Head can be adjusted as described in this tutorial check the left side (with the fans) for a hole for the set screw. 

Important! This tutorial will only work if your Print Head has this hole on the left side.

Begin by navigating to the url: ( printer-url ) /qa_sv2/debug

Now scroll down to find the menu marked print XX45 Inkjet and open the menu by clicking on the arrow on the left.

Attach your inket head with the conductive cartridge inserted and then click the play button on the first qa test, marked inkjet-attach.

To ensure the head is attached, run the second test marked inkjet-get-serial.

 If an alert box appears at the top of the screen, the test has passed and the head is attached.

 Tape a 6 x 6 square piece of white paper onto the working surface.

Now to run the alignment test, click the third to last play button in the XX45 inket section, marked inkjet-head-alignment. 

This test will print a solid swath of ink several times to warm up the nozzles and then print thin vertical lines down bellow the thick solic line.

Below is an example of a failed alignment test

As you can see, the vertical lines are slightly diagonal and are not continous.

Adjusting the alignment.

Looking at the front of the inkjet head, on the left side there is a hole. Insert a 2.5mm hex key into that hole and either tighten or loosen the set screw.
If the thin vertical lines  are like the image of a failed test above or the slashes below, you will need to tighten the set screw.
/     /
/     /
/     /
If the thin vertical lines  are like the back-slashes below, you will need to loosen the set screw.
\     \
\     \
\     \
After adjusting, run the test again, you may need to adjust a couple of times to perfecty align the cartridge. below is an image of a successful alignment test.