Epson 2880 ink blobs

Hello
I have read all articles concerning this problem and have tried everything in them.
I purchased carts from you last year and called shortly after using them with this problem.
I am still having this problem and it starting to annoy me.
If I let the printed set, weather on or off for more than 3 day when I print I get blobs of ink sometimes red sometimes black and sometimes blue. its random.
To fix this I have to do about two cleaning cycles as the first on leaves gaps in my test print. sometimes it takes three times. this is wasting ink.
Yes capping station is clean and flows well and wiper is clean too. ink was filled as instructed also. printer is not that old.
What I was wondering is do I have defective carts. I see many different type that other ink company use. Do you have an updated version of these that work better.
I have put back my Epson carts and this does not happen even after letting it sitting for 2 weeks…I put yours back in and get the same problem. I use your ink in my 4000 and have no problem.
Please let me know if you have any suggestion. I HAVE TRIED EVERTHING.
Thanks
Bob

Hi Bob~

I’m sorry to hear of your experience with our refill carts in your R2880 printer. I checked my email, and don’t have record of you contacting us for support last year, who did you talk with, and what did they say?

The R2880 cartridge design hasn’t changed in at least two years, so the carts you bought last year are the same as we have now, and have been selling/using for years. We have received a few reports about dripping ink during printing with the R2880 refill carts, but most of these situations have been fixed by either cleaning the inside of the printer, filling/refilling carts correctly, and/or adjusting the printing environment to have the right temp and humidity conditions. The R2880 refillable cart system is a popular product for us, and we have sold hundreds of sets of this model cart over the last few years, plus we use R2880s as our main test printers in our R&D lab, so we have a lot of personal experience with these carts and printer model, and consistently have great results, with no dripping…

Do any of your cartridges’ ink levels seem to be going down faster than others, and/or faster than the status monitor reading? When you remove carts from the printer, do any leak ink from the exit valve (other than a drop)?
After you do two cleaning cycles and get a good nozzle check, does ink flow well and you’re able to make beautiful prints, until next time the printer sits unused for a few days? What is the humidity and temperature in your print environment? Have you cleaned the bottom of the print head, or just the capping station and wiper blade?

Please let me know so I can help.
Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

Hello Dana
Not sure who I talked to it was a male gave me the same suggestion as on forum.
I live in San Diego so humidity and temp are always the same about 70-80 deg and humidity around 30% or less.
Yes I have noticed that the ink goes faster than the status monitor, and the do not leak when out of printer even when tapped lightly.
The printer track is clean as is head. I have never emptied the carts and refilled them just refilled them as instructed.
The printed prints great after I run cleaning cycle 1, 2, or three times and prints sometime two days later but more than often blobs appear so I have just got use to cleaning every time before I print.
Just a waste of ink. I have moved over the head before printing to see if there is ink anywhere but always clean and empty capping station.
any other suggestions
Thanks

Thanks for the additional information Bob.

The temp is high and humidity is low. High temp and low humidity can certainly cause ink flow issues, such as drying, clogging, and mis-firing nozzles. Dry/hot climate can cause thickening/gumming of ink and paper dust. We constantly monitor humidity and temp levels in our printing environments, and maintain proper levels by using A/C is the hot humid summer months, and humidifiers in the cool/dry winter months.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have further questions, or if there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regards~ Dana

Hello Dana
I put ink in all carts and reset them to full. did 2 cleaning cycles to get print pattern good.
I printed two test pages ( looked great) and waited 3 days. printed a test pattern, no problems, but when printed a print, blobs came back. I check cart ink by removing and yellow was almost gone and photo black down to 10 % maybe.
magenta also 1/2. Epson monitor indicates all levels at full. I also check them none do not leak when tapped on and area where they sit is clean. there was some yellow on capping station side walls.
Should I get all new carts and see if that fixes the problem. also San Diego weather is just about perfect for ink conditions right now 75 degs and 50% humity

Thanks for the additional information Bob.

Have you manually cleaned your printer’s capping station, wiper blade and bottom of the print head following our instructions, or are you saying it looks clean, though you haven’t cleaned it?

In your previous post, you said the humidity is less than 30%…
The outside conditions fluctuate, and differ from inside, so it’s best to monitor the conditions in the printing environment, and not go by what the weather station says for outside conditions.
I recommend getting a new set of carts, in case the ones you currently have aren’t providing good ink flow for some reason; and clean your printer (if you haven’t already) following our instructions, here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?133-Printer-Cleaning-and-Preventative-Maintenance

Please keep me posted, and let me know if you have further questions or there’s anything else I can help you with.

Best regards~ Dana

The capping station, wiper blade and bottom of the print head have been cleaned and are in as new conditions.
blaming the problem on weather conditions is pretty lame. As I have had this printer for 2 years and had not ONE problem with it using oem inks
I do believe the ink carts are to blame as the photo black and 2 others leak out, when not even used. Epson status monitor sezs they are 100% full and they should be as I just filled them (and yes as per instructions.)
1 week later almost empty after no use. I will get new carts and see if this solve the problem as I am getting tired of wasting ink.
Thanks for you time. In the future try to be more helpful then defensive. as this is how you come across in all your forum emails. sometime you just have defective products due to tolerance in manufacturing and its not you fault.
I do realize you deal with some people that are not well informed about their printer and function. don’t get me wrong you have a great product.
Bob

Thanks Bob.
I apologize if I come across defensive, that’s certainly not my intention. I have been head of R&D and technical support for many years, so have lots of experience with our products in many different printers and situations. Yes, there is absolutely a normal defective rate for any product, and if your carts are leaking, they may not working correctly. Since I support so many customers with a wide range of products and situations, and I’m not there to see for myself or know the history of a printer, etc… I have to rely on information provided by customers, therefore ask direct questions and suggest possible solutions, based on my experience, to learn the details of each customer’s setups to troubleshoot and resolve their issues. In my experience, I know that environmental conditions, and printer cleanliness have a lot to do with how well a printer works.

Please let me know your results with the new carts, if you have further questions, or there’s anything else I can help you with.

Best regards and Happy New Year
~Dana

I posted my findings/testing conclusions on this thread, closed it and added a new thread in the discussions to keep the discussions off the COMMON thread http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/showthread.php?1246-COMMON-THREAD-Older-2880-Printer-Cartridge-issues