I recall the review by MHMG of the P600. This issue was mentioned:
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.com/news.73.html
Note the "April 17, 2015: Uh, Oh, I spoke too soon....Stealth cleaning cycles on my P600" section about ¾ way down the page.
It says "According to Epson support:
1) Yes, the P600 does have an "auto cleaning" sensing feature not discussed in the User's Guide. It will auto initiate a cleaning cycle if it somehow detects one might be needed. The feature is not user selectable, i.e., it can't be turned off by the end user, hence, no mention in the user manual. "
There isn't any report about whether the replacement printer reduced the number of these cleans. Desktop, non-Pro printers have always had seemingly random head cleans that couldn't be prevented. Since the P600 is desktop rather than Pro this is not entirely surprising. What is surprising is the amount of ink that is reported as being consumed. On the older desktops I'd have said that 3% per channel was normal, but that's on much smaller cartridges.
I will have the followup article posted once my redesigned website gets up an running. Hoping for the end of the month soft launch. It's a big project.
In the meantime here's some good news:
The second P600 Epson kindly sent me under warranty followed the same behavior as the first. I experienced approximately four cleaning cycles (noted by a rather annoying four minute time period where tha printer is cleaning rather than printing just as the OP has described). All happened in the first week of ownership, thus much like what caused me so much concern with the first printer I received. Since that time I've printed over 100 8x10 equivalent size prints during a nearly six month period of ownership without experiencing any more cleaning cycles. The printer has performed flawlessly. On a couple of occasions the unit has been off for over two weeks and in one instance it went over one month without being started up. So, my tentative conclusion is that brand new units are not really clogging, they are just purging tiny micro bubbles of air in the lines as those first dozen or so prints are being made. Once the unit get this out of its system so to speak, it settles right down into some very consistent trouble free performance. Changing out subsequent ink cartridges does not lead to further cleanings, so again, the frequent initial cleaning that is indeed disconcerting did go away once the lines were trully filled entirely with ink. I heard from a another photographer who was also experiencing the same "cleaning cycle" behavior on her new P600. I advised her to give it a couple of weeks and report back to me. She did. Her unit also settled down nicely.
So, that's N=3 P600 units I"m aware of exhibiting anxiety provoking initial cleaning cycles followed by very trouble free operation after that initial purge period
Anyway, after nearly six month of ownership, I've become very fond of the P600. To date, it's the most trouble free Epson printer I've ever owned, and I've owned quite a few, including the 3880 which has a pretty good reputation amongst its owners for clog free behavior.
best,
Mark
http://www.aardenburg-imaging.comPS. the auto clean feature is not user selectable to turn on or off with the P600. It might be with the P800, but definitely not with the P600. However, as noted above, auto cleaning on the P600 does not appear to be a chronic problem.