ET-8550 DTF White Ink Not Printing: Causes, Kevin V2 Conversion Options, RIP Software Issues, and Maintenance Solutions

Question

I have two expensive converted DTF printers that eventually stopped printing white ink, even though they initially worked well.

The first printer was received in July 2025 and printed perfectly for about three months. After I went out of town for a weekend, I returned and found that it would no longer print white ink. I tried repeatedly cleaning the printhead using the shower method, but after removing and reinstalling the printhead so many times, I eventually damaged the printhead ribbon cable.

I set that printer aside and purchased a second converted printer because I needed to complete uniforms for a Little League Baseball organization. The second printer worked well for about a month. Then the white ink began banding. After that, only the upper portion of the white layer printed, and eventually the printer stopped printing white altogether.

I cleaned the white ink lines and re-primed the white damper several times over approximately two weeks, but the problem continued. After letting the printer rest for a few days and trying again, my colors also changed and the white ink still would not print.

I uninstalled and reinstalled Digital Factory RIP software, but that did not solve the problem. After reinstalling the software, I noticed a strange blank dialog box that contains only Yes, No, and the X close button, with no message or other text. What might cause that?

I am also wondering whether I can purchase the BCH Technologies Kevin V2 conversion system and add it to my existing converted printer. I would like something that requires less maintenance and does not leave me constantly wondering whether the white ink will print.

Finally, I am interested in learning how to make my own printer ink. I saw information about ink making on the BCH Technologies website and would like to know more about that as well.

Answer

What you experienced with these two printers is actually one of the major reasons we developed the Kevin V2 ET-8550 conversion system.

Why Many ET-8550 DTF Conversions Eventually Lose White Ink

One of the common misconceptions with an ET-8550 DTF conversion is that connecting a continuous ink supply system, or CIS, to the printer completes the conversion.

Unfortunately, the ink delivery system is only one part of the problem.

A normal ET-8550 was never designed by Epson to operate as a white-ink DTF printer. White DTF ink behaves very differently from ordinary dye or pigment ink because it contains a very high concentration of suspended white pigment. Those particles continuously settle when the ink remains stationary.

Consequently, a printer may work beautifully immediately after conversion and continue working for several weeks or months. The problems often begin gradually.

Typical symptoms include:

• White nozzle-check deterioration

• Horizontal banding in the white layer

• Part of the white image disappearing

• White printing correctly at the beginning of a job and disappearing later

• Dampers repeatedly losing prime

• White ink flowing through the tubing but not printing

• Increasingly frequent cleaning requirements

• Complete loss of one or more white channels

The progression you described on your second printer-from good printing, to white banding, to partial white printing, and finally to no white-is consistent with a developing ink-delivery or printhead-maintenance problem.

Why Re-Priming the Damper May Help Temporarily but Not Solve the Problem

Priming a white damper can restore ink to the immediate area above the printhead. Therefore, if the damper contains air, priming can temporarily improve printing.

However, the damper is only one part of the ink path.

You can have a perfectly full damper and still have no white output because the problem may be farther downstream at the printhead or maintenance station.

For example, the issue could involve:

• Sediment accumulated inside the white ink tubing

• Restricted ink flow

• Damper membrane problems

• Air entering through a connector or fitting

• Poor capping-station seal

• Weak or restricted waste-ink pump suction

• White pigment buildup inside the printhead manifold

• Partially clogged printhead channels

• Severely clogged nozzle plates

• Electrical damage to the printhead

• Damaged FFC ribbon cables

• Electrical damage caused by liquid reaching the ribbon contacts

This is why repeatedly pulling ink into the damper does not necessarily solve a white-ink problem.

If the cap cannot seal tightly against the bottom of the printhead, for example, the printer cannot generate enough vacuum during cleaning. In that situation, the printer may perform cleaning cycles repeatedly without actually pulling enough ink through the affected channels.

The First Printer May Now Have More Than One Problem

Your first printer unfortunately appears to have developed an additional problem after the original white-ink failure because you mentioned damaging the printhead ribbon cable while repeatedly removing the printhead.

That changes the troubleshooting considerably.

The flat-flex cables, commonly called FFC cables or ribbon cables, carry the electrical signals between the mainboard and printhead. Damage may include visible tearing, folded conductors, scratched traces, contaminated contacts, bent contacts, or damaged insulation.

Even a small amount of damage can create unpredictable symptoms.

In some cases, a damaged ribbon simply causes a missing channel. In worse cases, an electrical short involving the printhead, FFC cable, or liquid contamination can damage components on the mainboard.

For this reason, I would not continue repeatedly installing and removing the head or performing aggressive wet cleaning until the cable condition has been addressed.

Be Careful With the Printhead Shower Method

The shower method can sometimes help when dealing with stubborn dried ink, but it also carries considerable risk if too much liquid is used or if cleaning fluid reaches areas that should remain dry.

The nozzle surface is designed to contact ink. The electrical contacts and FFC cable connection area are not.

If cleaning liquid migrates into the electrical portion of the printhead and the printer is powered on before everything is completely dry, electrical damage can occur.

Repeatedly removing the printhead also increases the possibility of:

• Damaging FFC cable contacts

• Installing a cable slightly crooked

• Contaminating electrical contacts

• Damaging ink-tube connections

• Cracking plastic fittings

• Introducing additional air into the ink system

Therefore, once a printer reaches the stage where repeated head removal is required, it is usually worth reconsidering whether the original problem is actually inside the printhead or somewhere else in the maintenance and delivery system.

Why Going Away for a Weekend Can Affect a DTF Printer

The fact that your first printer stopped printing white shortly after sitting unused for a weekend is significant, although the printer may already have been developing a restriction beforehand.

DTF white ink is especially unforgiving when stationary.

The titanium-dioxide pigment responsible for the opacity of white DTF ink is considerably heavier than the carrier liquid. When the printer sits, those particles begin settling.

This can affect the:

• Ink tank

• Pickup tube

• CIS tubing

• Connectors

• Dampers

• Printhead manifold

• Nozzle channels

This is why simply having a CIS does not eliminate the maintenance requirements associated with white ink.

A conventional CIS continuously supplies ink, but it does not automatically solve sedimentation, printhead maintenance, circulation, capping, or nozzle maintenance.

Why We Developed the Kevin V2 ET-8550 Conversion

This experience is a major reason we developed the Kevin V2 ET-8550 conversion system.

You can see the current system and components on our Kevin V2 ET-8550 Conversion Collection https://bchtechnologies.com/collections/kevinv2.

The conversion involves three major parts rather than simply connecting an external CIS.

Part 1: Electronic Modification

The first part involves modifying how the printer's electronics operate for the DTF application.

A standard ET-8550 is expecting normal paper, normal Epson ink behavior, and normal printer operation. DTF printing asks the machine to operate in a way it was not originally designed to operate.

Therefore, part of our conversion addresses the electronic side of the printer rather than relying entirely on an external ink system.

Part 2: Physical Printer Modification

The second part involves physical modifications necessary to make the printer operate more appropriately as a DTF machine.

This is another important difference between a complete conversion and simply adding external ink bottles.

Certain physical components, scanner positioning, brackets, wiring, and related parts of the machine need to work together correctly after conversion.

Part 3: Ink Delivery and Maintenance System

The third part addresses the CIS and white-ink delivery/maintenance system.

If you want to continue using your existing CIS, that may be possible, but your CIS would need to be modified so that it works with the Part 3 arrangement rather than simply remaining in its original configuration.

In other words, purchasing one component and attaching it to an existing conventional conversion does not necessarily turn the printer into the full Kevin V2 configuration.

Based on what you described, your existing conversion likely does not already contain Parts 1 and 2 of our system.

Will the Kevin V2 System Make DTF Printing Stress-Free?

I would be very careful about promising that.

Anyone who tells you that a white-ink DTF printer will become completely maintenance-free is making a promise that is very difficult to support.

White pigment settles. Nozzles clog. Dampers age. Pumps wear. Capping stations become contaminated. Ink formulation changes. Environmental temperature and humidity change. These realities do not disappear because of a particular conversion.

Therefore, I would never tell you that our system guarantees a stress-free DTF experience. Making that promise would sound more like selling snake oil than providing realistic technical information.

What I can say is that the Kevin V2 system was specifically developed with users like you in mind-particularly people who do not print every single day and therefore need a system designed to reduce some of the typical white-ink maintenance problems.

The objective is lower maintenance, not zero maintenance.

That is an important distinction.

How to Determine Whether Your Current White-Ink Problem Is Software or Hardware

The Digital Factory situation should be considered separately from the actual white-ink delivery problem.

One useful diagnostic distinction is whether the white channels are missing during a printer-level nozzle test or only during RIP-generated artwork.

If the printer's own nozzle test shows that the white channels are physically missing, reinstalling RIP software is unlikely to restore those nozzles. The underlying issue is probably related to ink delivery, the printhead, maintenance components, or electronics.

On the other hand, if the physical channels can produce ink correctly but your DTF job does not generate a white layer, then the RIP configuration becomes much more relevant.

Possible RIP-related issues include:

• Wrong printer configuration

• Incorrect queue configuration

• Missing white-ink configuration

• Incorrect channel mapping

• Incorrect media/profile configuration

• Corrupted installation

• Missing software components

• Driver conflicts

• Licensing problems

• Windows display/interface problems

This distinction can save a tremendous amount of time because software cannot unclog a physically blocked printhead, while cleaning a printhead will not correct an incorrectly configured RIP queue.

About the Blank Digital Factory Dialog Box

I personally do not work with Cadlink/Digital Factory, so I would not want to pretend that I can identify that blank message box with certainty.

A dialog containing only Yes, No, and X, while the actual message text is missing, sounds more like a software-interface problem than a normal printer warning.

Potential causes could include a corrupted installation, a missing UI resource, Windows compatibility issues, incomplete software components, display scaling problems, permissions, or another installation-related issue.

However, that is only a general software observation-not a Cadlink-specific diagnosis.

Because Digital Factory is Cadlink software, Cadlink or the supplier who provided your Digital Factory package would be in a much better position to identify exactly what that dialog is supposed to display.

I would also avoid assuming that this blank box is responsible for your white-ink failure. Since the white ink had already begun banding and progressively disappearing before the reinstall, the physical white-ink problem and the blank software dialog could be two separate issues.

Why Your Colors May Have Changed After the Reinstallation

The color change after reinstalling Digital Factory could potentially be software-related.

Reinstalling RIP software can change or reset settings such as:

• ICC profiles

• Ink limits

• Resolution

• Pass count

• Color-management settings

• Printer queue settings

• Media profiles

• Channel configuration

• Linearization settings

If the physical CMYK nozzle pattern is normal but the printed colors changed only after reinstalling the RIP, comparing the old and new RIP settings would make sense.

However, if the printer's physical nozzle check also changed, then the problem may not be entirely related to the RIP.

Making Your Own DTF Ink

Making your own ink is an entirely different project, and unfortunately it is not something I can realistically teach through one customer-support email.

Proper ink formulation is considerably more complicated than mixing pigment with liquid.

An ink formulation has to control characteristics such as:

• Pigment particle size

• Pigment dispersion

• Viscosity

• Surface tension

• Wetting characteristics

• Drying behavior

• Humectancy

• Suspension stability

• Filtration

• Storage stability

• Compatibility with the printhead

• Compatibility with dampers and tubing

• Compatibility with the DTF film and powder

White ink is even more challenging because of the very high pigment load and the tendency of white pigment to settle.

You may be able to produce a liquid that looks like ink surprisingly easily. Producing an ink that can repeatedly pass through microscopic piezoelectric printhead nozzles without sedimentation, separation, clogging, foaming, corrosion, or inconsistent jetting is much more difficult.

Therefore, learning to formulate your own ink is better treated as a separate long-term project rather than as an immediate solution to the two printers that currently do not print white.

I do intend to produce a series of videos about ink formulation when my schedule allows because explaining it properly requires much more than one short video or email. There are too many variables to responsibly provide a simple recipe and suggest that it will work in every printhead.

What I Would Focus on With Your Two Printers

Based on the history you provided, I would treat the two printers somewhat differently.

For Printer 1, you already know that the printhead FFC/ribbon cable has been damaged. That electrical issue needs to be considered before assuming the printer simply has another clog.

For Printer 2, the gradual progression from white banding to partial white output and finally complete loss of white makes the entire white-ink delivery and maintenance path important. The damper is only one component in that path.

The capping station, pump suction, white tubing, fittings, dampers, printhead manifold, nozzle condition, and electrical condition of the head all potentially matter.

At the same time, the strange Digital Factory dialog and changed colors after software reinstallation should be investigated as a separate software issue rather than automatically being blamed for the physical loss of white ink.

Printer repair can become complicated very quickly because so much of the diagnosis depends on hands-on inspection and testing. For that reason, we're not able to provide individual remote troubleshooting, repair instructions, or ongoing technical support for printer repairs. We do offer an in-person evaluation and repair service through our BCH Technologies Printer Repair Service https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service. Because demand is high, our repair queue operates on a first-come, first-served basis, and it may take several weeks before we are able to schedule a printer for drop-off. Our service options cover either complete printers or certain individual components, and the service page explains how to proceed. We also recognize that professional repair is not always the most economical choice. For that reason, we strongly encourage self-help and online research when appropriate. A good starting point is YouTube, including our BCH Technologies YouTube channel https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies. On our channel homepage, you can use the search icon located near About to search for a specific printer model, error, component, or repair topic. I receive dozens of questions asking me to locate particular videos, and after producing videos for more than nine years, I simply cannot remember the location of every video we have made. YouTube's search function is usually the fastest method, and it may also recommend useful videos from other creators covering the same problem.

Thank you again for following our work, watching our videos, and taking the time to provide such a detailed description of your experience. I understand how frustrating it is to invest in two converted printers and then have both eventually lose their white-ink capability. I hope the information above gives you a clearer picture of why this can happen, why a conventional CIS alone does not completely address white-ink maintenance, and what the Kevin V2 system was designed to improve.