DTG HM1 PRINTER TECHNICAL MANUAL

The DTG Kiosk is a high quality special media printer which is capable of printing on medium format sub-
strates up to 329mm wide, 586mm long and 130mm thick. The maximum media weight for the DTG HM1
is 4kg. Utilising advanced drop on demand piezo ink jet technology and precision DC motor drive the Kiosk
provides high accuracy, high quality printing on an extremely wide range of media.

Being configured for either dual four ( 4 ) color printing using Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black ( black is
referred to a K, thus the representation is CMYK ) and white ink is substituted for the light colors to enable
printing directly onto colored materials. The purpose of this technical course is to familiarise the student with
the mechanics of the HM1 and to provide a good working knowledge of the various units and components that
comprise the printer. Mid point guide lines for preparing graphics and garments, pre-treating and printing will
also be given to allow engineers to get customers up and printing in the shortest possible time.The contents of
this technical manual will also provide a reference during repair or tear down procedures, as well as a compre-
hensive guide to provide training for team members.

For these procedures you will require a flat screwdriver, crosspoint screw driver, cleaning kit, cleaning fluid,
the adjustment program and access to a computer.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 MEDIA AND CONSUMABLES
The DTG HM1 printer has been designed in tandem with specialised inks and coatings that are unique and
optimised for this equipment. As such, it is extremely important that a firm understanding of the printing pro-
cess is grasped, from preparing the design right through to the final cure of the print before passing on to the
customer. Remember to ALWAYS ENSURE THE GAP ON/OFF IS ON failure to do so may ALLOW fatal
physical damage to the print head by the media tray or frame ring . The print head, pipes and dampers are
classed as consumables and therefore not covered by the return to base warranty.

The more in depth features and finer points of producing production quality textile prints is covered in the
‘DTG Printing Techniques’ course which not only looks at the broader and more important aspects of the pre-
treat process but also how to ensure the graphic has been prepared correctly before printing. To do this we
will first look at the special textile inks used in the DTG range, and in particular the white ink process which
involves pre-treating the fabric before printing on to it. The DTG range of textile inks are water based polymer
pigmented inks with bright durable colours. The polymerization process takes place after exposure to a tem-
perature of approximately 170 degrees Celsius for 120 seconds . White and very light coloured fabrics can be
printed on directly, but for darker fabrics, and especially black, an under layer of white is required to preserve
the colour rendition, This is where the white ink technology comes in. Most white inks use Titanium oxide as
a pigment, which due to it’s specific gravity is prone to settling. Because of this it is important to gently agitate
the inks before commencing printing and at the end of each day as part of the cleaning procedure. Always store
inks below 30 degrees celcius and above zero. Never mix anything with DTG inks and only use DTG certified
inks with your DTG printer.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 MEDIA AND CONSUMABLES
The chemical make up of the fabric pre-treat is such that a fast reaction occurs when it comes into contact
with the white ink. This chemical reaction causes the white ink to turn almost immediately to a gel state. It is
therefore extremely important that you NEVER ALLOW PRE-TREAT TO COME IN TO CONTACT WITH
THE PRINT HEAD even briefly or the nozzles will block up and the print head will have to be replaced.

When spraying pre-treat we recommend that this is carried out in a separate room, if this is not possible you
must ensure that there is a minimum of 5m between the spray station and the DTG HM1, and that forced ex-
traction of pre-treat vapor is carried out. Failure to adhere to these recomendations will result in erratic print
quality and the need for numerous head cleans both before and during printing. This erratic behavior is likely
to worsen until the print head fails and has to be replaced.

Before white ink is applied to the fabric it must first be lightly coated with the chemical pre-treat. This is done
by using a HVLP ( High Volume Low Pressure ) spray gun and the coverage requirement here for a standard
black T-shirt fabric measuring 50cm x 40cm is approximately 5ml of pre-treat. It is important the application
is evenly distributed and there is no spatter or droplets delivered to the fabric. The fabric is then covered with
a thin silicon or non-stick sheet and pressed at approximately 170 degrees Celsius for 10 to 15 seconds with
a pressure of around 10 psi. This causes the pre-treat to bond the flattened fabric fibers down and produces an
optimised surface for ink jet printing which bonds the ink to the fabric and causes the ink to gel.

The printed fabric is covered with a teflon or silicone sheet to prevent it from sticking and then pressed at
approximately 170 degrees Celsius for 120 seconds with a pressure of 2 to 10 psi. It is recomended that the
garment should only be washed at a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius and should be turned inside
out before washing.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 FRONT CASE PART REMOVAL
SWITCH OF THE PRINTER AND REMOVE THE
POWER CABLE.

The HM1 front case part is held in place by seven

black screws. There are three screws on each front
corner as shown here in this picture of the front right
side. There is also one screw in the front center, in
line with the emergency stop button.

All seven screws need to be removed.

Remove the two screws from the front left hand side.
Then remove the font left screw as indicated by the
arrows in the picture to the left.

Remove the last screw from the front centre, just

below the control panel.

Slowly and carefully, slide the rear cover out and

away from the printer frame .

On the inside left of the front case part is a two wire

connector for the extraction fan. Be sure to unclip
this before removing the front case part complete-
ly.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 SIDE CASE PART REMOVAL

The lower side case parts are secured by a total of

five screws. First remove the single screw near the
front end of the printer.

Remove the screw in the center of the case part

(indicated by the left top most arrow in the picture)
and the two screws from the rear.

Note that the large silver screw that holds the ship-
ping bracket is screw number five and also needs to
be removed.

This is a picture of the left side linear bearing that

supports the moving head assembly. This bearing
also has a clamp to secure it to the drive belt of the
main head drive motor.

The cables to and from the moving head come down

through a plastic guide pipe on the left hand side of
the printer.

This picture is taken from the back of the printer.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 TOP FRONT CASE PART REMOVAL

Locate and remove the three front left casepart

screws identified in the picture here.

Locate and remove the three front right casepart

screws identified in the picture here.

Gently lift the case part forwards, and locate the

connectors shown here on the inside front left of
the printer. This connector supplies power to the
extraction fan mounted on the inside, top left of
the case part.

Here is the fornt left of the printer with the case

part removed. The arrow indicates the position of
the media height safety sensor.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 TOP REAR CASE PART REMOVAL

To remove the top rear case part begin by removing

the three left side screws and one centre screw as
shown in the picture here to the right.

Remove the slot cover that is held in place by the top

most screw.

Then remove the three screws from the other side

of the case part.

Remove the slot cover that is held in place by the top

most screw.

Gently tilt the case part away from the printer frame
and un-hook the ink pipes from the channel in the
case part. Repeat this process with the pipes on the
left side as well.

Once the ink pipes are out of the way the case part
may be lifted up and off the printer frame.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 REAR CASE PART REMOVAL

To gain access to the head motor drive assembly

and secondary power supply remove the three
screws shown here by arrows.

Next, remove the lower screw to the right of the

mains socket. Lastly, support the panel firmly and
remove the last screw.

The panel will drop away from the printer chasis.

Locate the cooling fan plug and disconnect to al-

low the rear case part to be removed completely.

The secondary PSU and head drive motor is now

clearly visible.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 THE HM1 PRINT HEAD
The HM1 Kiosk print head is a colour unit arranged in 8 rows of 112 with each nozzle having it’s own pi-
ezo. Shown below is a layout of the Kiosk stainless steel print head face along with the dimensions in both
millimetres and inches.

The HM1 Kiosk print head is a DOD (

drop on demand ) device that utilises the
unique properties of Piezo crystal ( PTZ
) that allow it to change shape rapidly
when an electrical charge is applied to
it.

When the electrical pulse is applied to

the PTZ it rapidly expands towards the
cavity causing ink to be expelled from
the cavity and out through the print head
nozzle.

When the piezo crystal returns to it’s re-

laxed state, fresh ink is drawn into the
cavity by capillary action so that it is
ready to deliver the next droplet of ink.

This process is carried out for each of

the eight ranks of 112 nozzles. As it is
virtually impossible to produce a PTZ of
this nature to be exactly the same as the
next one, each rank has a unique voltage
setting. This is known as the Head ID.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 HEAD REPLACEMENT
The HM1 Kiosk has a locking mechanism to pre-
vent the printhead from coming out of the capping
station.

Remove the rubber cover from the right hand side of

the printer, near the waste ink container.

Carefully insert a flat screwdriver into the hole and

locate the slot in the pump shaft.

Apply a gentle left hand pressure to the carriage

assembly and rotate the pump shaft in a anti-clock-
wise direction with the screwdriver.

When the locking assembly retracts, the head will

move out of the capping staion as shown here.

Remove the two screws that secure the ink harness

clamp to the upper aluminium head cover.

Move the assembly carefuly towards the front of

the printer, away from the carriage assembly.

The upper head cover is held in place by three

machine screws.

Remove all three screws and lift the cover off the
carriage unit.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 HEAD REPLACEMENT

The damper assembly cover is secured to the car-

riage assembly by two screws, one on each side of
the unit.

The left screw is shown in this picture, be sure to

remove both screws.

Lift the lower cover off to access the dampers.

Shown here is the damper array, with four white

ink feeds to the left and the four colours to the
right.

This layout will of course differ depending on

which configuration you have installed.

Locate the damper spacer as shown here, and lift

out of the carriage to allow the damper array to be
tilted and subsequently removed from the carriage.

Swing the damper array backward and upward to

unplug the dampers. Lift the assembly out and place
onto a towel or piece of fabric to prevent ink from
spilling onto the machine.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 HEAD REPLACEMENT

Locate and remove the three head locking screws.

Be sure to use the correct size of crosspoint screw-
driver to avoid damaging the screw heads.

The head cables are held in place by a cover that

slides down over the fold.

Insert the tip of a flat screwdriver as shown here to

lift the clips off the anchor points. You will need
to apply a steady upwards pressure to prevent the
cover from snapping back into place.

Gently push the locating tab in to allow the cable

clamp to slide up and out of position.

Lift the print head out of the carriage assembly and

carefully unplug the two FPC as shown here.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 HEAD REPLACEMENT

In the bottom of the carriage assembly there is a pad

located in a slot. This picture shows where to find
the pad. Be careful not to allow this pad to drop out
of place while working on the head and carriage.

The high performance heads used in the HM1

Kiosk require that their unique head ID is entered
into the serial earom on the main board. This is to
ensure that the print quality remains at the same
high standard as it was set for at the factory.

Load the maintenence program which came on your

dealer / technical disk. Remember to ensure that the
USB key or dongle is inserted into the computer
first.

As we will only need to perform the head ID input

we will select the “Particular adjustment mode”

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 HEAD REPLACEMENT

If you have only one HM1 Kiosk connected to your

computer you can safely select the Auto port selec-
tion.

From the Adjustment menu click on the “Input

Head ID”.

Follow the on-screen prompts to locate and enter

the unique printer head ID number.

Finaly click on the ‘previous’ button to exit from the

Head ID setup.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 KIOSK NOZZLE TEST PRINT

Go to the printers and faxes folder on the computer

and left click on the R2400 printer. Select printing
preferences from the menu.

Raise the bed up to the correct height for printing

on to.

Click on the Print button and the printer will show

the picture below and will print out a nozzle test
pattern

The picture below is for reference purposes only. The colours will be different depending on the con-
figuration of your HM1 Kiosk. If there are gaps in the printout this indicates that the head may need
cleaning. Follow the on screen instructions to perform furher head cleans and nozzle test prints.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 PROCCESS AND CONTROL BOARDS

MMC-B045

This is the I/O control board. It acts as an interface

between the sensor inputs and the main control
boards and CPU. It also tranmits the signals for the
driver circuitry.

MMC-B047

This is the PF motor control board. This board is

what controls the movement of the head unit along
the linear shafts.

It is located directly behind the I/O control board

and is indicated by the arrow.

MMC-B044

This is the CPU, or Central Proccessing Unit. It

itnerprets command and signals between the Epson
main board and the other MMC control boards,
as well as the head clean and stirrer cycles. This
board contains a firmware program which can be
modified if needed. By looping then centre pin of
C11 to pin one of CN9 the auto re-load function is
enabled.

MMC-B050

This is the ink chip control board. The ribbon

cable on the left goes to the ink chip carrier unit
mounted at the rear of the printer.

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
 HM1 Kiosk specifications
Head Max Number of colors 8
Max Resolution HxV 2880 x 1440
Nozzle pitch 180 dpi
Nozzle arrangement 8 rows x 112 dot
Ink Light colored media CMYK
Dark colored media WCWMYWK
Pumps Head cleaning Peristaltic + clutch
Motors Carriage DC brush
Tray DC brush
Pump 1 - clean Stepping
Sensors Head rear IR transflective
Head front IR transflective
Safety microswitch
Tray positioning Loop scale + IR slot
Carriage positioning Linear scale + IR slot
Main board USB speed 12 to 480 Mbps
USB ID 18 digits
IEEE1394 400Mbps
IEEE1394 ID 5 digits
Built in buffer 112 kB
Power supply output Main 5vdc 42vdc
Secondary 24vdc
Media tray Max weight 4.0 kg

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007
Impression Technology Europe strives to provide professional training and support to it’s selected dealers.
To ensure that the quality of this training and support remains of an exceptionally high standard please
take a few minutes to fill out the details below and then tick the appropriate boxes alongside the question-
naire. The grade ranges from -5, which is means definite NO to +5 which is definite YES

NO YES
-5 -2 0 +2 +5
THE COURSE WAS INFORMATIVE AND WELL PRESENTED
I WOULD NOT COME BACK FOR ANOTHER COURSE
THE COURSE WAS SIMPLE FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND
THE TIME FOR THE COURSE WAS NOT LONG ENOUGH
THE INSTRUCTOR DID NOT KNOW THE PRODUCT WELL
THE MANUAL IS CLEAR AND WELL PRESENTED
LESS TIME WAS NEEDED TO DISCUSS THE PRINTER PARTS
THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH BREAKS DURING THE COURSE
I DID NOT ENJOY THE COURSE AT ALL
MOST OF THE INFORMATION GIVEN WAS NOT USEFUL
THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH DOCUMENTATION GIVEN
I WOULD RECOMMEND THE COURSE TO OTHER DEALERS
I FOUND THE COURSE TO BE MOST ENJOYABLE
THE COURSE WAS GOOD I WOULD COME AGAIN
THE INSTRUCTOR HAD GOOD PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE
I THINK THE COURSE WAS TOO HARD TO FOLLOW
THE COURSE WAS TOO LONG FOR ME
THE MANUAL IS NOT CLEAR
MORE TIME WAS NEEDED TO DISCUSS THE PARTS OF THE PRINTER
ALL OF THE INFORMATION GIVEN WAS USEFUL
THERE WAS ENOUGH DOCUMENTATION GIVEN
TOO MANY BREAKS WERE TAKEN DURING THE COURSE

NAME COMPANY
COMMENTS

YES NO
I RECEIVED A KIOSK MANUAL WITH MY KIOSK TECHNICAL TRAINING
I HAVE RECEIVED A DTG TRAINING DVD / CD
I HAVE RECEIVED PRINT-PRO AND ADOBE PS INTRODUCTORY TRAINING
I HAVE RECEIVED PRACTICAL PRE-TREAT AND PRINTING TRAINING
I HAVE RECEIVED MY COURSE COMPLETION CERTIFICATE

SIGNED DATED

HM1 TRAINING MANUAL VER 1.00 COPYRIGHT IMPRESSION TECHNOLOGY EUROPE 2007