Two Océ Arizonas in one shop in Spanish Fork, Utah, standing next to each other. The 2280 was the reason for the call: white ink came out of the heads on its own, and by the morning after a shift there was a pool under the carriage. The 360 had a smaller complaint — white printing unevenly — but it turned out to have the same cause.
The white channel
White is the channel that punishes a printer for standing still. The pigment is heavier than the rest, it settles, and the ink system carries more air than the color channels because it is circulated rather than left alone.
On the 2280 the air filters on the white lines were the wrong model. They were replaced with the ones the machine takes, and a large amount of air was bled out of the white ink filters afterwards — enough to explain the drip on its own, since a head that has air above it does not hold the negative pressure that keeps the ink inside. One segment of the white head was also clogged, and was recovered rather than replaced.
After the night that followed, the white heads were dry, like the other heads.
What else the machine needed
- Coolant pump hoses: replaced with new ones. No leaks from the cooling circuit since.
- Gantry fan: obstructed, cleared.
- Steerer: checked and now behaving as it should.
The bed
Rigid sheets were not landing where the ruler said they would. The registration pins were lined up against a printed overlay — print the reference, drop it on the bed, move the pins to it — and rigid media now matches the ruler.
The Arizona 360
The same problem, less far along: air in the white filters, and three air filters that had done their time. The filters were replaced with OEM parts, the air was bled out, and the heads were calibrated afterwards.
Where it stands
Both printers are back in production. The white channel is the part worth watching: if the air filters on it are not the ones the machine specifies, the ink system will keep taking in air, and every symptom in this report comes back.