Attempting to put my 7890 printer in storage for a while, I used the old style bag type of carts to fill with
piezoflush. Having never used this type of cart before, I was unsure about the filling process, and now think that perhaps I may have overfilled the carts- not sure as there were no specific instructions with the carts or on the IJM site. I filled and primed them. I believe my first mistake was not doing an INIT FILL, but instead doing a series of power cleans. With my 9880 printer, it has taken only two power cleans to run piezoflush into the ink lines for safe storage, (which I’ve been doing for years) so I thought the 7890 would be similar. However, with the 7890, I could not get a pink nozzle check in the C or LC although there were no missing gaps in any channels. I persisted in doing more power cleans…, probably a mistake, and then suddenly the C and LC channels went completely blank. I should add that during the beginning of the power clean cycle I could hear a strange whistling sound, which I thought might be a bag-style cart problem. I removed the C and LC carts, refilled, primed, and reinserted. The C and LC carts seemed to have used the same amount of piezoflush as the other carts, so I thought that the lines were filling ok. I tried a number of piezo flush cleanings of the print head with paper towel, following the video instructions, cleaning the capping station, wiper assembly, etc. But I could not get the C or LC channels to print out at all. Then I left for a two week vacation, having run out of time, hoping that upon my return any problem I might have caused with air in the lines would be corrected. But upon my return, still no C or LC printing in the nozzle checks, though all other channels are perfect. My fear is that I have damaged the print head with too many power cleans.
I am considering the following:
• replace the C and LC carts with new ones, filled with piezoflush, and do an INIT FILL to see if this will fix a potential air-in-the-lines issue caused by defective carts or something I did wrong in the filling. I’ve read through related posts on this, but am perplexed as to what to do at this point. I don’t know if more damage will be caused by letting the printer sit for longer without fixing whatever the problem may be. I am doing more traveling over the next two months, and was planning on just leaving the printer with piezoflush in it for storage. Should I relent and take it for servicing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Ok. So are the “bag style” x890x900 carts from us? We have not sold these is years and years I think if at all.
But in general, yeah, you need new cartridge(s). I’m also worried that you head is damaged though because if it’s able to suck PiezoFlush through it should also be able to print it. That said, if there is a back pressure from the cartridge this will cause a problem where it can still suck the PF during cleaning but right afterwards the PF withdraws from the head and back into the inkline/dampers.
First, try new cartridges. Second, service.
-Walker
Walker- will order carts tomorrow and see how it goes. Will it cause more damage to let it sit for a while till I am back at the studio? Thanks for your advice!
And yes, these were carts I bought from IJM quite a few years ago and had never used.
Probably not any more damage.
An update to let you know what happened-FInally trying to get the printer up and running:
New carts installed did not fix the problem. Ended up getting a new printhead installed- I must’ve fried the old one with too many power cleans. Shoullda known better! However, now I have a new printhead, and am having trouble aligning it. I’m doing the auto alignment from the printer panel using Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308 gsm paper. (though the manual calls for Epson Enhanced Matte which is 192 gsm). When I tried to do the alignment with Hahnemuhle 188 gsm it kept spitting it out with a “Paper Sensor Error” warning. It takes the thicker Hahnemuhle (308 gsm) and I am able to do a Uni-D alignment, but when it reaches the end of the pattern, it says “Paper Out” and I need to insert a new sheet to continue (which is different than the directions in Epson’s manual). I insert the new sheet to continue doing the Bi-D- All alignment, and it prints the first bank of color patterns and then again says “Paper Sensor Error”, not completing the printing of the Bi-D Alignment. One time I was able to print a second bank of color patterns, but it is not completing the alignment, which is quite off at this point. Question: Do I need to do the alignment with the recommended Epson Enhanced Matte paper (it also suggests using Epson Doubleweight Matte) or is there something wrong with the printer’s software? ANy help is greatly appreciated!!
Best to all-
UPDATE to the above post! I discovered you can only do the Bi-D All printhead alignment with 24" wide paper- hence the “Paper Sensor Error” I was repeatedly getting. I also discovered that the Uni-D alignment was not printing out the entire set of patterns on 8.5" X 11" paper. (It does not say this in the manual, nor did the Epson rep tell me this when I called for help). So I did both an AUTO UNI-D and an AUTO Bi-D ALL alignment, but did so on single weight Epson Matte paper, all that I had on a 24" roll. The printhead is still not aligned perfectly. When I compare the same file printed on the original printhead, the image is sharper and there is no slight ghosting around certain edges the way there is with the new printhead. So, I’m stumped! Should I get a roll of double weight Epson paper as they suggest and redo the AUTO Alignment? Or should I do a manual alignment? If I proceed with a manual alignment, where can I find instructions on how to interpret the printout? Having a hard time finding anything on alignment online. ???Is it possible that this printhead has an issue? Thank you for your input!!!
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