Problems with my 9900. Need advice.

[iCanvas]

My 9900 has worked OK for 6 and a half years. Today I ran into something that has never happened before. The printer started printing dull prints and I can't figure it out. The nozzle check is OK. All the channels are printing and all the lines are good. I have done several cleanings and nothing is working. I have tried letting Photoshop manage the colors and letting the printer manage the colors, but nothing is working. I tried printing on different type of media....nothing but dull prints. I print on a Mac using the latest OS X and I print using Photoshop 6. Any advice would be appreciated.

Gar

[iCanvas]

OK, I found out what the problem was. I had been putting drops of distilled water on the capping station after each print job to see if I could avoid clogs and head cleanings. It seems as if that distilled water mixed with the ink, especially the blacks and was taken into the lines. I did two heavier cleanings and the printer is back to normal. Putting distilled water on the capping station didn't work for me. I had gotten that tip from the forum here and wanted to try it.

Gar

[Wayne Fox]

distilled water in the capping station to help soften ink or in clearing clogs is useful, maybe even if the printer is going to be shut down for a few days, but doing it after each print job is definitely too much water. the best medicine to prevent clogs or missing nozzles is printing.

Even doing it everyday is probably too much ... I don’t do it at all but instead keep the room at 45% humidity. 

[iCanvas]

I agree with you Wayne about getting a humidifier. However, the printer is in a 1800 square feet storefront and to humidify that large a space may not be possible. I have had this 9900 printer for 6 1/2 years and am lucky to have never changed the head or any of the other major problems that are seen on this forum. If I print in the morning and do another job in the afternoon, I have to do a cleaning after a nozzle check. The humidity in Pittsburgh is pretty high all year round. I don't have enough work to keep the printer going all day. I print about 50 canvas prints a week of varying sizes. It's strange but when it's raining outside, the printer clogs more. Go figure. I am about to purchase one of the new Epsons and keep the 9900 as a backup until I sell it on Craigslist. Your input is always appreciated.

Gar

[langier]

After five years owning my second-hand 9900 I think I found a secret in keeping the heads clog-free. Get a professional cleaning and maintenance service call from an expert and the head cleaning issues go down drastically.

I had my 9900 cleaned and the pumps/capping station repaired earlier this year no longer have to run numerous cleanings. This week, after five weeks of sitting while I was on the road, I ran a test sheet upon my return. It needed a simple cleaning and I was back in business.

Before the service, I'd need to run the cleaning cycle, sometimes a couple of times a day. Now perhaps once every week or so and I'm not running this thing daily.

I wish I had figured this out years ago...

[iCanvas]

I also had my capping station replaced and cleaned but not all that much improvement. What do you mean by pumps?

[langier]

If I recall, my tech replaced both the capping station and the pumping unit as part of his service, besides cleaning the head of years of caked ink and lint. The module seemed to be a pretty large part and it wasn't inexpensive to do both, but I'm very pleased it was all done.