Recurrent Cyan Staining

InkjetMall Customer Support Piezography Inks & Printing
21

Thanks for the additional information Ron. I’m glad to hear your cyan purge sheets aren’t coming out cyan colored anymore, so hopefully the new ink has made it’s way to the print head, and printing pure (not still mixed with some old ink).

What version of QTR Print Tool and QuadTone RIP are you using?
Yes, it sounds like you’re checking the linearization correctly. Are your linearization checks both coming out similar when printing thru the custom and canned VFA curves?

Please let me know, thanks~ Dana :slight_smile:

22

Hi Dana,

The batch number for my original shade 2 is 980417.

It turns out I was getting recurrent staining on my Black AND Cyan channels. After a series of rest/test/purge cycles with piezoflush I seem to have cleared whatever that was and I ended up with clean test pages after rest.

I switched back to my Warm Neutral inks (and the new Shade2) but it seems I’m still having the same issues I originally had. The dark grays get kind of flat and the solid black comes on really strong. A new print of the scale looks exactly like the one I shared originally. I’ll see if I can scan part of a print to illustrate.

I have a ColorMunki so I should be able to check the linearization, right? Before I give up on this printer maybe I’ll try that to verify my concerns with real numbers.

23

Hi smmcbride, thanks for the additional information. It’s very strange that you’re having the same results with new shade #2 ink after flushing your printer… Yes, you can check your linearization by measuring a printed 21 step strip with your ColorMunki. Did you shake all your Piezography carts before reinstalling? After reinstalling the Piezography carts, did you do an Initial Fill, Power Clean or other cycles to purge flush and get ink to the head?

Please let me know so I can help sort this out, and get you back to happily printing,
Warmly~ Dana :slight_smile:

24

Well, there it is, I think this highlights the problem I’ve been having with my prints. I wish I had realized sooner that I could do this.

My workflow for this is as follows. Does this look correct?
[ul]
[li]Load the QTR ColorMunki 21 step wedge into print tool.
[/li][li]Print with the K7-2880-EpUltraPresMatte profile onto Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte Paper
[/li][li]Use the ColorMunki to measure a 21 color ‘palette’
[/li][li]Export palette as csv, sort the L values and paste into the luminosity column of the linearization_checker.
[/li][li]
[/li][/ul]

Dana, when I switched from piezoflush back to the piezography inks I did a power clean initially, then I did a few pages of 8-channel purge until I couldn’t see any more pink in the lightest channels. I did one extra purge just on the Cyan channel to move the old ink out of there. Maybe I need more purges on that channel?

25

Thanks for the additional information smmcbride~

This linearization actually shows your shadows are the problem, which are printing very light (the top/left is highlights and bottom/right is shadows). There’s also a slight lightness to your mid-tones, possibly around the shade 5 range.

One power clean cycle and a few pages of 8-color flush sheets aren’t enough to get all flush purged, and pure ink printing. I recommend doing a second power clean cycle, then print a nozzle check to make sure all channels are fully printing, and print a 21 step strip to check your linearization again.

Please let me know your results, or if you have any questions.

Thanks and best regards~ Dana

26

Hi Dana, that mirrors my experience so far, the dark grays go kind of flat and then the black jumps right out. I’ll do some more cleaning this evening and see if I can get this in line.