 Turn the un-used White Ink Cartridge upside down at least once a week and shake twice a week, which is to separate the pigments inside the ink and to keep the original whiteness.
Shake the new cartridge more than 60 seconds before use if you have left the unused for 2 to 3 days, then you need to shake 90-120 sec to separate the pigments inside.
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 You do not have to shake CMYK ink cartridges, this is simply because the CMYK pigments are not so heavy as TiO2. This is the same reason why the lifetime of CMYK ink is much longer than White ink.
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So, the first thing on your work day should be to start with the daily maintenance:
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HOW TO SHAKE CARTRIDGE
Hold both ends of a White Cartridge as shown in the figure below, because it is a little easier to hold the cartridge with the "side" at the bottom, and shake it to mix up the pigment of the ink inside the pouch, back and forth, upside down. |
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HOW TO REFRESH WHITE INK by Daily Cleaning White
Insert the White Ink Cartridges and select the menu "Daily Cleaning White" and "All Whites" and press [OK] button. It takes app. 5 minutes for four Whites (GT-381), half for two Whites (GT-361).
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On the whole, it takes about 8 minutes for GT-381 White maintenance and 4 minutes for GT-361: one minute for shaking one cartridge, and five minutes for refreshing the white ink for GT-381. Half for GT-361.
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You do not have to "Daily Cleaning White" every morning, but do it every time on your working days. But what about the case when you print many, many T-shirts late at night and go on working early in the next morning? Well, we would like to say "shake the cartridges and print "Nozzle Check Pattern", and "Whiteness" (see Check it!) if you feel the print is white enough", of course the whiteness depends on the condition of the garment and the pretreatment tube cleaning, etc. so please check the whiteness as well as Nozzles.
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When you print "Whiteness" after more than 48 hours, then the first Whiteness may looks perfect, but soon the white ink may not print white enough. Now the watery part of the white ink, maybe the highest peak of the tubes flows in. Be sure to do "Daily Cleaning White" if you do not work the GT-381/GT-361 everyday.
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Daily Cleaning White is available even if the ink is "low (blinking)". Prepare a new cartridge anyway.
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Do not load White Ink directly into a dry tube, when the tube is empty. Follow the indication on the panel of Initial Cleaning and load the Maintenance Solution first. (CMYK ink is no problem.)
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HOW TO CONTROL THE WASTE VOLUME
If you print all day long yesterday, today and tomorrow, then you will not have to waste so many white ink everyday. We still cannot say the exact information, but please try to save your white ink by changing the volume.
Select [Menu] > [Printer Setting] > [Daily Cleaning W Setting] and press OK button.
Do not forget to shake the cartridge everyday, whatever the setting is.
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The default is 100% (five blocks marked), 50% up to 120%. For example, Monday morning (stopped during the weekend), we need the volume of 100%, but after
a whole day working, you may reduce the volume to minus one on Tuesday morning.
The keys are:
Shake the white ink cartridges everyday you use.
Do not forget to change the setting back Friday night or before holiday weekends, or you will struggle with the white-less white on the next business morning. Remember, the white pigment is always sinking at any place in the printer.
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One more advice: hold the White Cartridge a few seconds as the "spout" side at the bottom just before you insert it into the slot, to collect the ink around the needle, then you can use more of the ink inside the cartridge.
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Copyright©2012 Brother Industries, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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