Misplaced L K & LLK Ink Cartridges Epson 7900… EEeek!
Replenishing starter cartridges in a relatively new machine The LLK mistakenly got put in the LK Slot. The mistake was not discovered until after making several 8 x 10 color prints.
The images were reproductions of oil paintings and just looked weird tone-wise. I realized the trouble had to have something to do with the cartridge swap, and sure enough that was it.
Then the switch was made to put the inks in the correct place, and a few normal cleanings run. I printed a B&W photo and the print had a “solarized” look to it.
I dialed up tech support and they said no harm done, but the misplaced ink must be “flushed out” of the line from the cartridge to the print head. It was also suggested that running several cleanings of the color pairs containing LK & LLK.
Did that.
At this point I’m running 24 x 24" B&W prints of an image that is medium light in tone and not very contrasty, to try and “print my way out of it” Any input would be welcome!
Thank you!
Dear Experienced users & Fellow Cone Heads,
I’m thinking that maybe a POWER Cleaning should be performed next to try and rectify this ink mix up thing, but for the time being I guess I’ll read up some more and wait for replies on the forums to see if anyone else has com across this. Yes I feel like a dummy.
RayRay
Hi Ray Ray~ I noticed you posted the same issue/question in two places, so I will copy my response to the other for you and others to read on this post as well.
What I would do in your case to flush out the LK and LLK channels to correct the ink switch, is to use Calibration Mode with the QuadTone RIP. This will focus on the two effected channels without wasting ink in the other positions (which would happen if you did a bunch of power clean cycles). I included instructions for doing this below.
I hope this helps, please let me know if there’s anything further I can help you with.
Best regards~ Dana
Flush individual channel using QTR Calibration Mode:
To print from one specific ink channel (which is helpful when flushing just one line, without wasting ink in the other positions by doing power clean cycles), you can use the QuadTone RIP’s Calibration Mode.
Mac:
Open the “inkseparation8” image in Photoshop (located in Applications> QuadToneRIP> CurveDesign>Images folder) and select “Leave as is (don’t color manage)” in the Missing Profile window.
If using 10.6 or higher, Assign sRGB to the image; if using 10.5 or lower Assign AdobeRGB (1998) to the image.
Select the 100% patch of the color strip for the channel you wish to print (each strip is labeled with the color position) and make the entire image that color.*
Select the K7 version of your printer as your printer model then select the paper size you wish to print on in the Page Setup window.*
With Photoshop CS3 or below, select No Color Management in the Color Handling pull down list; with CS4*and above, select Photoshop Manages Color and the same document space as the profile (either sRGB or AdobeRGB) then push Print to continue.
Change the Copies & Pages pull down list to QuadTone RIP.* In the Mode pull down list, select QuadTone*RIP Calibration (which will gray out the three curve pull down lists).
Select 100% saturation if printing on scrap heavyweight, coated/print paper or about 50-80% if printing on*uncoated, very thin or typing paper.*Select the paper feed: either sheet or roll, 1440dpi is fine to select for this purpose bi-directional will print faster than uni-directional.
Windows:
Make a color flush image by opening the “inkseparation” image in Photoshop (located in the C> Program Files> QuadToneRIP> bin folder).*
Select the 100% patch of the color strip for the channel you wish to flush (each strip is labeled with the color position), and fill the entire image with that color- save the image as “QTRflush-color position”
Open QuadTone RIP and select the paper size you wish to print on
Select Tools> Options> Calibration Mode, which will automatically open an ink separation image file.
Open the flush image by selecting File> Open (this image is a very specific RGB color, which controls the individual channel when printed thru QTR’s calibration mode)
Select 100% saturation if printing on scrap heavyweight, coated/print paper or about 50-80% if printing on uncoated, very thin or typing paper.*
Select the paper feed: either sheet or roll,1440dpi is fine to select for this purposebi-directional will print faster than uni-directional
Thanks for your reply Dana,
I didn’t have QTR so I downloaded the trial version for my OS10.5. I almost got down thru step 5 of your message– at least I think so. I deciphered that I needed to create a .tif file image out of that tiny 100% block on the LLK strip. I sized it to the print paper I would be using: A 12" wide roll of semi gloss 170 gm paper. For step 4, I did not have an option to "select the K7 for the printer model. I searched the QTR tutorials and found no profile for the epson 7900. When I selected the x880 K7 version (as Jon had suggested in a separate forum post) the message I got was that a [7880] printer could not be found. I could not perform or figure out step 6 - there was no QT*Rip calibration or anything QTR in the print dialog menu.
In my applications folder under QTR among other folders of data there were 3 separate apps in the folder: QTR-Create-ICC, QTR-Create-ICC-RGB, and QTR-Curve View. The “Q” icon appeared in my apps. bar, but when clicked on the program didn’t seem to open as you would expect – the header was >File >drop down: Open + Help> drop down (message:help not supported) that’s it.
I did restart PS(CS4) before proceeding, and figuring that all I really need to do is “print gray” I set up to print the image as described in step 7.
I chose “advanced B&W printing as a logical choice, and printed out a couple of 9x11” gray patches. the ink did not dry as usual and remained very tacky– to the point where it stuck to itself and actually pulled the ink off the paper. I’m not usually the type that needs hand holding when following directions of figuring out logical paths, but the last thing I need is to create another problem.
p.s. before I tried any of this I printed a nozzle check– all good except the LK and LLK appeared as the same shade. Any other thoughts you have would be sooooo appreciated!
I have miles of paper, and don’t really care how much LLK or maintenance tank I use up to correct this if there’s another option. I just don’t know what to look for to know if the lines are purged of mixed up LK ink other than making a typical B&W print and having it look correct.
Sorry to bend your ear like this…
Kind Regards,
RayRay
You must install the Quad-7900 printer model (doesn’t have to be specifically “K7” to flush the channels, since you are using color ink) by running the install.command for that printer model, in order to use QTR’s calibration mode to purge the two channels you accidentally installed the wrong ink into. If you print thru the Epson driver and not as I instructed thru QTR’s calibration mode, then you will not be printing pure ink from the specific channels you wish to correct, so it won’t be as effective or quick.
You must install the Quad-7900 printer model (doesn’t have to be specifically “K7” to flush the channels, since you are using color ink) by running the install.command for that printer model, in order to use QTR’s calibration mode to purge the two channels you accidentally installed the wrong ink into. If you print thru the Epson driver and not as I instructed thru QTR’s calibration mode, then you will not be printing pure ink from the specific channels you wish to correct, so it won’t be as effective or quick.
Best regards~ Dana :)[/QUOTE]
Hi Again Dana,
FYI it turns out that my Epson 7900 is not listed in the profile scripts of the version of QRT that will run on my OS (10.5.8) The latest V of QTR does list it
but it requires hard & software I do not have.
The interesting thing is that the color swatch from the calibration print, converted to a generic gray profile must require more LLK because the problem is gradually clearing up.
I’ve run several 24"x 24" prints on a paper setting that doesn’t require a PK > MK swap. The printer is set to [control the color] with perceptual intent. The other settings for the driver are: standard proofing paper, 720 dpi.
I know the other channels are running too, but by selecting that type of paper (which I just happen to have ) and letting the printer “decide” it’s working.
Half way thru the second sheet a very subtle and gradual change in tone occurred blending from unwanted LK, back to the desired lighter LLK hue.
The moral of the story?
Don’t try to work when hungry & tired – have your head screwed on straight when changing ink carts.
What an interesting intro for me to QTR and the possibility of getting into Jon’s specialized B&W printing…
Thank you again- the forum is a terrific resource.
RayRay
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