7600 Dye to Pigment Conversion

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
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Hi IJM,

I just purchased a 7600 in perfect working condition with the intent of using it 60% for professional luster photo work and 40% matte fine-art work. However, it was initially configured to print using Epson’s dye inks (T545x) and I’d like to ask for your advise on a few conversion steps needed for pigment ink configuration. I hope this post can provide me with clarification on some of the ink related aspects of the 7600, as well as serve as a guide for the next poor sap who tries to gather this information haha. I’ll preface this by saying I consider myself to be an advanced/pro user, but not on the level of an EPSON service tech by any means. I’m very familiar with the software side of these machines, but my hardware experience is limited to regular service procedures. The most advanced repair I have done is an ink damper replacement on a 9880, but I’m confident in my mechanical skill to perform any complex procedures that may be required.

To start off, this is the official statement in the EPSON Field Repair Guide pertaining to what designates a 7600 as a pigment or dye printer:[INDENT=2]"The 7600/9600 are equipped to handle either pigment or dye ink from the factory. The User has three ink combinations
to choose from (all combinations include cyan, light cyan, magenta, light magenta, and yellow).
• 7 color pigment (black and light black)
• 7 color pigment (matte black and light black)
• 6 color pigment (two matte blacks)
• 6 color dye (2 photo blacks)
If the User installs either of the pigment ink sets, the Printer recognizes the ink and becomes a pigment Printer. The
customer can switch from one pigment set to the other, but never to dye. If the User installs dye inks first, the Printer
will not accept pigment inks (and vice versa)."

[/INDENT]

I hope this gives you an adequate frame of reference with which to advise me on the following steps I plan to take:

[HR][/HR]

1. Flush Existing Dye Ink
I’m assuming the first step in the conversion process is to flush the entire ink system which should eliminate any contamination or chemical reaction between the dye and pigment ink. I haven’t used PeizoFlush or similar products before, but I assume they are preferable to using plain distilled water. In your experience, how much flushing fluid will be needed to completely flush the 7600 ink lines, and what cleaning operation do you recommend to do this? (i.e. Power Cleaning, SSCL, etc.)

In addition to flushing the ink system from the carts, are there any components (i.e. dampers) I should clean individually or pay special attention to? I don’t know if dye ink is less prone to build-up or coagulation than pigment ink, but it seems like that should be the case. The nozzles are currently perfectly clear as per a Nozzle Check test print, and I would like to avoid disassembling the printer as much as possible.

Lastly, i already have one set of never-used refillable (pigment) carts. Will I be able to first use these carts to flush the printer, then empty them out again and fill with pigment ink? I assume I’ll have to change the ED Mode setting in order to use these to flush out the dye ink - more on that in item 2.

2. Update Printer Firmware Configuration
I have read through the EPSON 7600 Service Manual on the matter, and combined with related searches online, I have determined that a few firmware settings should be updated to reflect pigment ink operation before filling your clean printer with a different ink type.
NPD Setting
I couldn’t find what exactly “NPD” stands for, but it essentially optimizes the printer for the selected ink type. I’d like to know if this setting has any mechanical effect on the printer, or if this simply updates the list of cartridge chips the printer will accept. To update the NPD setting:

[LIST=1|INDENT=3]
[li]Maintenance Mode 2 (Press [<] [v] [ENTER] + [POWER ON])
[/li]
[li]Service Config [>]
[/li][li]NPD [>]
[/li][li]*1 (UltraChrome), 2 (Dye), 0 (Neutral)
[/li][li][ENTER]
[/li][/LIST]

Device ID Setting
Device ID Setting: Unlike the NPD setting above, I doubt this setting has any mechanical impact on the printer’s operation. I couldn’t confirm the meaning of the available options for this setting either, but I’m guessing “7600” means pigment and “7600D” means dye? To update the Device ID setting:

[LIST=1|INDENT=2]
[li]Maintenance Mode 2 (Press [<] [v] [ENTER] + [POWER ON])
[/li]
[li]Service Config [>]
[/li][li]Chg Device-ID [>]
[/li][li]*Sty Pro 7600, Sty Pro 7600D, PX-7000 I[/I]
[/li][li][ENTER]
[/li][/LIST]

ED Mode Setting
I found the awesome how-to article you guys already posted in your knowledge base on this, but I thought I’d add EPSON’s explanation into the mix. This setting checks the CSIC (Customer Satisfaction Ink Cartridge) information for the ink cartridge chips and maintenance tank chips. CSIC information includes:

• The type of ink (dye or pigment).
• The color of the ink.
• The quantity of the ink.
• The vendor, date manufactured, etc.

Because I ordered pigment refillable carts, I plan on temporarily setting this to (N) in order to initially flush the existing dye ink from the printer. After the conversion I’d like to change it back to default settings. Hopefully updating the aforementioned NPD setting will allow the printer to accept pigment carts and I won’t have to restrict the information being read from the cart chips. To start, I’m going to leave it as (X) unless a problem presents itself, but in either case, to change the ED Mode setting:

[LIST=1|INDENT=2]
[li]Maintenance Mode 2 (Press [<] [v] [ENTER] + [POWER ON])
[/li]
[li]Service Config [>]
[/li][li]ED Mode [>]
[/li][li]*X (all CSIC info is read - default), O (all CSIC info is read except market), N (no CSIC info is read)
[/li][li][ENTER]
[/li][/LIST]

3. Flush Ink System with Updated Settings
This may not be necessary, but in case any of the new firmware settings have changes how the printer operates mechanically, I will flush the ink system again to prepare the pigment setup for ink. If this needs to be done, I once more ask your advise on what cleaning operation is best for this. (i.e. Power Cleaning, SSCL, etc.)

4. Fill / Prime Pigment Ink
Once everything has been cleaned with the updated settings, the only thing left to do is empty the flushing fluid from the refillable carts and fill them with new pigment ink, prime the carts, and load the printer with the new ink. Can I now follow the Initial Fill Procedure to do so, or just run normal cleaning operations?

5. Print!

[HR][/HR]

If you have any thoughts or answers to my questions I’d love to hear them, and thanks in advance for your time! I really hope someone else will find this writeup useful in the future.

Lastly, I’m hosting and attaching all of the PDF documentation I tracked down in order to make this list. It was harder to find some of these than it ought to be.

[FONT=arial]Epson Stylus Pro 7600 - Parts Diagram[/FONT]
[FONT=arial]Epson Stylus Pro 7600 - Service Manual[/FONT][FONT=arial]Epson Stylus Pro 7600 - Field Repair Guide[/FONT][FONT=arial]Epson Stylus Pro 7600 - Specifications Guide[/FONT]

Best,
Adam T.

2

Hi IJM,

Any thoughts on this yet?

I’m happy to finally have all the parts and cleaning supplies needed to complete this process, and I’ll be tackling it tomorrow evening, or the following morning. Any insight at all by then would be much appreciated, even if it was just an “all-clear” on the proper use of the products I ordered from you guys.

Thanks again for your time guys, I can’t wait to get pigment printing!

3

The INITIAL FILL is available on this model and is the most efficient way to flush out one ink system and use another. You found our article on that. The change in the firmware from dye to pigment will handle how the printer does cleaning cycles in expecting pigment ink rather than dye ink. Technically you could flush out the dye ink using the ConeColor PRO pigment ink during the INITIAL FILL. PiezoFlush is not really necessary when changing from OEM dyes to our pigment system. So changing the printer setup and then initializing the ink change procedure should do it.

4

Hi Adam,

I am afraid I have NO experience converting a 7600 printer from one to another ink set, so I am no authority on answering, YES this will work or NO this will not work. I found this forum thread regarding the same question helpful though http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=43329

Let see if I can cover all your questions here:

In your experience, how much flushing fluid will be needed to completely flush the 7600 ink lines, and what cleaning operation do you recommend to do this? (i.e. Power Cleaning, SSCL, etc.)

Answer-You should install at least 220ml per cartridge to cover the Initial Fill. Instructions for the Init Fill:
Epson pro 7600/9600:
1. Start with the printer power OFF
2. Hold the Down, Up and Cut/Eject buttons while turning the printer on. The printer will start in “Diagnostics Mode”.
3. Push the Menu button, scroll to and select CLEANING.
4. Scroll and select INIT FILL.
5. When finished, exit Serviceman Mode by turning the printer off, then back on regularly.

In addition to flushing the ink system from the carts, are there any components (i.e. dampers) I should clean individually or pay special attention to?

Answer-You could replace the Dampers as an added measure of precaution, if this hasn’t been performed as part of regular maintenance for the last 2+ years, it’s a good idea.
You should also clean the Capping Station, Wiper Blade and bottom of the print head thoroughly. You may consider replacement of these components as well, for added precautionary measures while you are replacing the dampers.

Lastly, i already have one set of never-used refillable (pigment) carts. Will I be able to first use these carts to flush the printer, then empty them out again and fill with pigment ink?

Answer-Are these cartridges from IJM or another supplier? If they are from us, then yes, I would say go ahead and use them. If they are from another supplier, then we can’t support them.

Once everything has been cleaned with the updated settings, the only thing left to do is empty the flushing fluid from the refillable carts and fill them with new pigment ink, prime the carts, and load the printer with the new ink. Can I now follow the Initial Fill Procedure to do so, or just run normal cleaning operations?

Answer-Yes, you need to perform the Initial Fill again, just as you did when introducing the Flush into the system

Good luck and let us know how it turns out, I am curious!
Kindly-Kelly

5

Hi Jon and Kelly,

Thank you both for your insight! Jon for the tip about simply using the pigment ink + initial fill procedure to flush the remainder of dye ink from the lines. I couldn’t find concrete evidence of problems occurring from doing this, only hearsay, so thank you for clearing that up and saving me quite a bit of time and A LOT of Piezoflush.

Kelly thanks for pointing out the capping station / wiper blade. I have done a thorough cleaning of the print head with the existing dye ink, but inadvertently neglected those two parts. I’ll be sure to check those out along with the damper condition before loading the lines with pigment ink. Unfortunately I don’t have a new set of dampers handy, but I’ll replace them soon regardless of functionality. The refillable carts admittedly are from a reputable competitor of yours :eek: simply because I found a promo code for their site. However, the how-to videos from both of your sites confirm the carts operate in the same way so I don’t foresee a problem switching from flush to ink. That being said, I’ll skip this step as per Jon’s advise and go straight for the ColorCone ink to replace the dye.

I know this is a pretty old machine, and the need for a writeup on this is unlikely, but hopefully I’ll take a few pictures and post a confirmed writeup here after I’m finished. Thanks again guys, I’ll be back for sure!

Adam T.