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Author Topic: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues  (Read 14432 times)

Gulag

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How to Permanently Resolve Print Head Clog, Nozzle Clog & Banding on Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Printer

https://youtu.be/Bf6kOEtgQqE

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"Photography is our exorcism. Primitive society had its masks, bourgeois society its mirrors. We have our images."

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ricky02

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2015, 04:17:58 am »

There is another way............. is called Canon  ;D
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2015, 07:15:09 am »

How to Permanently Resolve Print Head Clog, Nozzle Clog & Banding on Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Printer

https://youtu.be/Bf6kOEtgQqE



This is about 18 months old and too silly for comment. Let's use this forum for productive discussion please.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Landscapes

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2015, 11:22:29 am »

This is about 18 months old and too silly for comment. Let's use this forum for productive discussion please.
To be honest, I'm starting to think that you are here to just pump up Epson.  Don't get me wrong, they make gorgeous prints, but even in the other thread, it got me thinking that its quite odd to say that the switching blacks isn't an issue, when clearly, this hasn't been a problem with Canon for a very long time.  I don't know your history or what printers you use or if you have ever had any problems with them.  I've owned an Epson 4000 and a 4800, and they were both horrible in the clogging department  (granted, I didn't use them all that much).  But whenever I did a clean cycle, it actually often made problems worse than better.

Ever since I've had a Canon 6100 and now a 6400, my life is like night and day.  Clogging is simply not a problem, and if ever after a year or two it is, I can replace the heads myself.  Never mind also the fact that I can print on any media without every worried about switching inks.  I understand that Canon has no good option in the 17 inch range, so the P800 sounds fantastic, but when it comes to big printers, I cannot understand why anyone is sticking with the clogging Epsons.  The way you always defend them surprises me, but this is fine, its just an opinion.  But to call the video silly and disregard it makes me not respect your opinion.  This is a real user who was frustrated to no end and wasted money and got nowhere.  Do you really think a person would do this to their printer unless they were pissed off to no end?  I know the video is old, but your reply just makes it seems like you're a rep for Epson.  Even if 90% of the Epsons work flawlessly, and I doubt its this high, for the users that have problems, its a living hell, and I know because I've lived it.  I would venture to guess that if you compare user satisfaction of the 24 and 44 inch models between Epson and Canon, you will absolutely have a huge difference  (I base this on all the posts and videos I've watched).

So I think its important to not sweep these issues under the rug.  Lets hope the new P800 ends up being as great of a machine as the 3800/3880 ended up being, but when it come to the big printers, Epson is sorely lagging Canon in many ways and the video isn't just silly, its representative of the torture that a person goes through who relies on their printer to make a living and the pain they go through when it isn't working as it should.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 11:25:02 am by Landscapes »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #4 on: July 16, 2015, 11:25:49 am »

As I said, let's use the forum for productive discussion. Personal attacks on my integrity is not productive discussion and against the rules here.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Kevin Raber

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #5 on: July 16, 2015, 11:53:45 am »

I have a 4900 and a 9900 as well as a 3880.  While the 4900 has had its clogging issues the 9900 hasn't given me that many problems.  On start up I do a regular cleaning and then do a nozzle check.  9 out of 10 times I am ready to go.  I don't print every day.  Many times I am gone for weeks before printing again.  The Epson 9900 has been a workhorse for me and my gallery for many years.  I have only needed one service call and that was for an ink cartridge seating problem and the chip on the ink cartridge not making contact with the sensor on the printer.  Otherwise this printer has been great.  I am hoping that now that Epson has introduced smaller printers that they have something coming for the larger printers.  Definitely time for an update regardless.  Also, I have problems watching someone beat a printer to death.  I am sure a school or charitable organization would have loved to receive it as a donation and maybe would have invested in getting it fixed. 

Kevin Raber
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Kevin Raber
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Landscapes

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #6 on: July 16, 2015, 02:09:25 pm »

Also, I have problems watching someone beat a printer to death.  I am sure a school or charitable organization would have loved to receive it as a donation and maybe would have invested in getting it fixed. 

Kevin Raber

If you have to spend $1800 to maybe get it to work, and this is deemed as a terrible investment by an individual, then why would a school be in a better position to take such a gamble?  Unless Epson would provide the printhead for free, I think a school has to be even more careful with their spending than an individual.  It makes no financial sense to take such a gamble, regardless of who is taking the gamble.  Perhaps it could have been sold for parts... maybe someone could have bought the mainboard or perhaps some motors in there and such, but perhaps the satisfaction that the user got my making this video was more than whatever money he could have gotten for getting rid of it as parts. :)
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #7 on: July 16, 2015, 02:47:47 pm »

Well, yes. On this continent we have the freedom to trash our printers, make videos of us trashing our printers, posting them on the Internet and thereby making a point - intended of course as a desperate comeback against a manufacturer with whom we are totally frustrated. I have no problem with any of that, silly as it is my privilege to find it - there are other ways, but that's neither here nor there. The only intent of my intervention with the OP, for sake of clarity and to avoid all misunderstanding, is that this is OLD HAT, and there are umpteen threads on this Forum dating from several years back about cloggy Epson printers (so is my 4900, BTW) and differences between Canon and Epson in how they handle clogs, etc. etc. It's been hashed over so often, in so many ways and in such detail that there is little if anything more to be said about it - unless someone sheds a whole new light on the mysteries about why pigment printers clog - that would be of interest. Yesterday's stories are yesterday's stories - doesn't mean the problems have gone away - it's just that we know about them in spades either from personal experience or just hanging out here. So that's way I recommend - let's use the bandwidth productively. 
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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MHMG

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2015, 02:56:38 pm »

The economics of buying and servicing prosumer or even wide format inkjet printers got turned on its head quite a few years ago. These bigger printers are often being sold new at no more than 1 or 2x the cost of a full set of replacement cartridges. That reality stands the whole repair or replace equation on end, and it becomes very unclear whether receiving a donated older printer without a full set of carts thrown in the deal is any deal at all. Recently, I gave away a Canon ipF8100 to a friend. It just needed several hundred dollars in new ink cartridges, but was otherwise in perfect working order, and I'd just replaced one head. My friend is a really competent photographer and all around good guy but on a very tight budget. So, that printer sits and sits, waiting for him to scrape up the money to feed the beast. I seriously question whether I did him any favor at all.

Back in the day when I started making digital fine art prints new Iris printers cost $100,000 and the used one I bought was $45K. However, at that time the truly skilled printmaking shops were not being beaten on price by an Epson 7880 making cheap poster prints over at Walmart, so an $1800 service call made total sense and was factored into the cost of doing business. Today, the need for an out of warranty on-site service call often means it's time to junk the printer, and most extended warranties are just about as high as that first service call.  I'm somewhat surprised the internet doesn't have many more "I'm about to trash my printer" videos. :)

cheers,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 03:08:52 pm by MHMG »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2015, 03:24:33 pm »

Mark - yes; the whole economic landscape has been heavily affected by technological progress, no question; but in truth the cost-effectiveness of repairs depends on what you need to have done relative to the cost of a new printer. Take for example a new 9900. Today you can buy it at B&H for a bit over 4000. It comes with ink and a warranty. If you own a 9900 and all you need to do is change the capping station for a few hundred dollars, it pays to do that. If you need to spend 1800 on a print-head replacement it becomes marginal whether you repair or replace, given the added-value of the ink and the warranty. On a 4900, no question you'd also buy the capping station, but no way would you change the print head because B&H sells a new printer with ink and warranty for only several hundred more than the print head change alone. In this case the print head is the printer. The day my service tech tells me my 4900 needs a print head, the printer gets donated to whoever wants it for whatever purpose (not smashed) and I buy a new whatever looks best for my purposes at the time. Fortunately my service tech (independent guy, not Epson) tells me in his many years of experience with these machines, print head replacements are rarely indicated, but capping stations more often the issue.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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MHMG

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2015, 03:46:23 pm »

...If you own a 9900 and all you need to do is change the capping station for a few hundred dollars, it pays to do that...

Unless perhaps you also need a nearly full set of new inks as well. And you aren't sure what the problem is truly going to cost you until the repair guy gets to your studio, messes around with the machine for a while, and then says "it's only your capping station".  

I purchased my Canon iPF8300 for $2300 with free shipping and free tail gate delivery, and the dealer was also throwing in a new ipad 2 to sweeten the deal, which I personally didn't need, but my wife loves it. Anyway, my iPF8100 was pretty much totally out of ink at that very moment thus I was going to have to put nearly $2K into ink cartridge replacement. I opted for the brand new ipF8300. If truth be told, I did ultimately go back and fill the 8100 with new inks and continued to use it for various projects before finally giving it away because it seemed such a shame to have it sitting in my studio taking up space.

Bottom line, more often than not it makes little sense whatsoever to spend much money on repairs unless your printer is pretty darn full of ink or you have a lot of spare ink on the shelf that can't be used in a newer printer.  Due to the exorbitant cost of OEM ink, I keep none in stock. I can get it from B&H literally overnight with free shipping. The ink is where the sunk money is in this whole debate. Follow the money :)

cheers,
Mark
« Last Edit: July 16, 2015, 03:50:16 pm by MHMG »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2015, 03:50:46 pm »

Yes, ink can be a real consideration - I too only replenish it as I need it. One never knows, and you don't want to be a prisoner of inventory.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Paul Ozzello

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2015, 05:52:17 pm »

but in truth the cost-effectiveness of repairs depends on what you need to have done relative to the cost of a new printer.
In truth, if you don't spend money on an extended warranty, be prepared to pay for several new heads in the course of a 9890's liftime. I use mine regularly, I keep the environment humid, use Harvey Head Cleaner to spit out a nozzle check 4 times a week, and Epson has replaced the heads twice already.

Epson - NEVER AGAIN.

deanwork

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2015, 07:53:31 pm »

That was a VERY PRODUCTIVE video and should be shown to every young student in photo school today.

I spent all day yesterday trying to unclog my 9890 MK channel and wasted a typical ton of ink on that. Every time I turn it on I cringe wondering if this is the day that I too have to pull out the sledge hammer. I appreciate that guys efforts, he did a great job with the video.

Epson used to make great printers. My CF 10000 lasted me 10 years with 0 clogs. I never even did nozzle checks. And you know what else? It came with one big waste tank which after daily printing for 10 years in a business context never had to be emptied or replaced. If this printer had contained one gray channel I'd probably still be using it.

The 9900 and 9890 printers, as beautiful the output is, suck. That is the bottom line. They had better do a LOT better with this next generation of LF printers or their reputation is going to be toast.

john
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enduser

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2015, 09:24:34 pm »

A bit of humour here and there is very productive,psychologists tell us, unless you are an Asperger's sufferer.
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Paul Ozzello

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #15 on: July 16, 2015, 09:26:34 pm »

How to Permanently Resolve Print Head Clog, Nozzle Clog & Banding on Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Printer

https://youtu.be/Bf6kOEtgQqE



Great video by the way !

holzphoto

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #16 on: July 16, 2015, 10:51:54 pm »

Wait until you guys hear my story about my epson 11880.  I do not want to post more until everything is settled in the next couple of weeks.....
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #17 on: July 17, 2015, 04:48:32 pm »

In truth, if you don't spend money on an extended warranty, ...............

Let's spend a moment on this proposition. In your case it likely paid. In others it would not. Another anecdotal example - an EW on my 4900 would not have paid for itself. The amount I've spent on service has been less than the cost of the EW. Moving beyond anecdotes (specific cases) to the general paradigm - an EW is a technical insurance policy, so the premium would be set consistently with conventional insurance methodology - designed so the insurer doesn't lose money. The expected payout over the term of the policy would be estimated claims times expected cost per claim. Estimated claims would be based on historical data and some probability-based calculations. The policy revenue needs to be at least sufficient to cover the expected payouts plus a contingency. They estimate the likely number of policy sales and derive a price based on the relationship between EW unit sales and expected payouts plus contingency. A high EW price could mean that expected payouts are high (troublesome product) or expected number of policy holders is low or some combination, or the company trying to make a lot of money selling EWs that have a low probability of being called. We have no basis for gauging which circumstance is most at play, no valid aggregate experience data to go by, so it's a difficult bet to make and therefore hard to know on balance whether buying one of these EWs really makes sense, the only relative certainty being that the house wins.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Paul Ozzello

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #18 on: July 17, 2015, 05:10:14 pm »

Let's spend a moment on this proposition. In your case it likely paid. In others it would not.

The main problem with these printers (7900/9900 and 7980/9890) is the print head. It clogs, ALOT (Even Jon Cone says "don't consider buying one without an extended warranty"). And it's probably designed that way; the printers are inexpensive and Epson makes a killing on ink and service. It's a racket. A large percentage of Epson customers are frustrated and fed up, some post videos (I'm considering shipping mine to Long Beach CA and catapulting it into the east facing wall of Epson America. Note to NSA - I'm not actually going to do this).


One thing is certain :

« Last Edit: July 17, 2015, 05:14:13 pm by Paul Ozzello »
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holzphoto

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Re: Video: How to Permanently Resolve Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Issues
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2015, 06:48:04 pm »

as long as epson doesn't make me sign an NDA, you will be getting another epson wide format printers suck story.   


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