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GU research

Submitted by tdo on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 20:15

Thanks for much help from Dr. Robert and Dr. Schuttlefield, I was able to finish constructing the laser station last semester. This semester, I have been working on modifying the D5460 printer. My work is similar to what Dr. Schuttlefield has done, with a little bit difference.

I used the external system as external cartridges, and thus we hooked them directly to the printer head.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/Thanh_Do/DSC03287.jpg

We removed the chips from a set of cartridges and attached them to the printer head, so that the printer will always know that there are cartridges inside the printer head.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/Thanh_Do/DSC03290.jpg

We experienced that the solutions in the external cartridges (external system) would not be able to flow to the printer head if we hooked them directly to the printer head. We had to apply a small pressure to force the solutions to flow. The solutions we used were DI water with few drops of food coloring.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/Thanh_Do/DSC03295.jpg

Another problem we experienced is we still don't have any method to control how much solutions will flow through the printer head. So we haven't printed any samples yet. If this does not work, we may come back and try to reproduce the work that Dr. Schuttlefield has done.

Note:

1) When you open the door of the printer, there is a small hole in the left side. If you put a piece of paper in the hole, the printer will think that the door is closed, and you can observe the printing process when the door is open.

2) It seems that the printer estimates the levels of the inks inside the cartridges based on how many samples (pictures, documents) you printed, but it (the printer) does not actually measure the levels of the ink solutions inside the cartridges.

3) My work has not done yet, so I am not sure if it is going to work or not.

Thanh Do, undergraduate student
Gonzaga University.

Our first sample (printed and fired)

Submitted by tdo on Sun, 03/01/2009 - 22:11.

Al-Cr-Cs-Fe

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/Thanh_Do/blackwhite.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c385/Thanh_Do/AlCrCsFe.jpg

Positive bias (0.5 V)

Updated

Submitted by tdo on Wed, 04/08/2009 - 19:22.

First of all, I don't know how to start a new blog entry, so I keep replying my own posts.

Our set-up seems working well so far. We try not to use the external system. We inject the solutions directly to the cylinder tubes attached to the printer head. In short, we use no cartridge at all. 1-2 drops of solutions are enough, you should check to make sure the solutions do not leak out of the printer head. Also, you should make sure that the nitrates are completely soluble in the solutions, otherwise it's going to clog your printer head.

Adding the solutions to the printer head will require some practice. We practiced with water + food coloring first, and then the real nitrate solution + HP ink mixtures after that. We mixed the metal nitrate solutions with the inks (1:1), and use them to print. We reproduced one of the "outstanding" set of metals (Al-Cr-Fe-Cs) and the results were good (we observed the promising regions).

If we have a chance to design the system again, we would use something similar to the sponge inside the ink cartridges (the HP ones) to control the flow of the solutions through the printer head.

In addition, I believe that with the D5460 only use 4/5 cartridges to print the template. The one that is not used is the photo-black one.

Also, as I said in the first post, the printer estimated the levels of the inks inside the "cartridges" (no matter what you use the HP ink cartridges, or external refill system or no cartridges (my case)) based on how many samples (documents, pictures...) you printed. There will be a time when the printer says you need to insert a new set of cartridges. To solve this problem, we believe there is a Li battery inside the printer. If you take it out and re-insert it back, the printer will start the estimation process again from the beginning. (We haven't checked it yet, but I saw the battery, and our electrical specialist told me that it should work that way).

creating new posts

Submitted by jennyschuttle on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 11:04.

To create a new post all you need to do is go to the left hand side of this webpage - where it says "My Account", "Blogs", "Image Galleries", etc and go to "Create Content". This will give you the option to create a new blog, post a new experiment, etc. This will also give you a subject line so that it will be easier for people searching for specific topics.
Thanks!