HP Scitex FB910, FB950 and Legacy UV Printer Series - Headstrikes on UV-Cure Printers

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1. Each jetting orifice is punched
through, creating small but very
sharp projections.
2. When printing under ordinary
circumstances, the jets are 0.085"
from the surface of the media.
3. When a headstrike occurs, those
sharp orifice projections scrape
printed ink and media particles and
drive the particles into the orifices
themselves.
5. If the partially-cured ink is not cleaned
promptly, the curing process will continue,
ultimately rendering the affected nozzles
permanently blocked by cured ink.
4. The ink scraped from the media by the
headstrike has already been exposed to
some UV light, so it is partially cured and
is looking for other ink molecules to bind
with. Inside the orifice, the partially-cured
ink finds the unexposed, liquid ink and
initiates curing with those molecules.
Partially Cured Ink
Uncured, Liquid Ink
Other Lingering Effects
The blocked nozzles described and illustrated on the previous pages are one lasting effect of a headstrike. Others
include the following: