Horizontal Lines, epson 9800

[Tito_Rain]

Hello hello, apologies if this has been asked already. New to the forum, I will keep searching for the solution here. I am just curious if the horizontal lines in my prints indicate broken printhead or dirty print head. I tried several cycle of cleaning and it does not help.
Thanks,

[bpuklich]

Head alignment could be off. I’d do that first and see what happens.

[walkerblackwell]

I suggest turning “auto cleaning” off and then do a normal nozzle check. This can be done from the Printer Setup and Maintenance menus right on the printer’s control panel.

It looks like a clog to me.

-Walker

[Brian_S]

When examining the normal nozzle check, if it appears to be intact with no gaps it’s worth examining it closely under a loupe or magnifier for signs of misfiring nozzles:

Evaluate a Manual Nozzle Check to Determine the Health of Your Printer

A LOT can be determined about the health of your printer by evaluating a printed MANUAL nozzle check pattern- it’s not just to check if all nozzles are printing. This article explains the differences between a manual and auto nozzle check, and shows examples of both, so you can better understand what you’re looking at. Below is an example of a manual nozzle check (from an Epson 9800). The black pattern has several mis-firing nozzles, which can be easily seen in the horizontal nozzles as well …

We assume you’re printing at a high enough printer resolution setting and uni-directional.

[Tito_Rain]

Thanks, upon inspecting the ink lines I realize there are air space/bubbles. I assume I will have to purge until the air is completely out. I followed all the instruction but seemed to mess up! The cartridges came with the printer, so maybe the last owner didn’t install it correctly.