7900 printer update and question

[Peterretep]

I thought I'd share where I'm at with my Epson 7900 printer. To briefly recap I had run a alignment on it when I wasn't getting a perfect nozzle check though the prints were just fine. My bad I know. As a result of the alignment my prints were terribly out of focus. After thought and debate as to what to do I finally decided that maybe because the matte black nozzle was the the one that would not clear that if I switched to photo black thus eliminating the matte black head that the resulting prints would look sharp again. Well I'm happy to report that this works. I'll not be able to print with matte surface papers anymore but at least I have a functioning printer with photo black ink.

I do have one issue that I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice on. The printer at this time is running an auto clean cycle just about before every print. When a sheet of paper is loaded I'm getting the message "Clogged Nozzles Detected Cleaning Recommended" The print quality looks good but I want to prevent such frequent cleanings. Auto check nozzle in the control panel is checked off yet it is still running the clean cycle. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Peter Montanti

[Wayne Fox]

After thought and debate as to what to do I finally decided that maybe because the matte black nozzle was the the one that would not clear that if I switched to photo black thus eliminating the matte black head that the resulting prints would look sharp again. Well I'm happy to report that this works. I'll not be able to print with matte surface papers anymore but at least I have a functioning printer with photo black ink.

I do have one issue that I'm wondering if anyone can offer some advice on. The printer at this time is running an auto clean cycle just about before every print. When a sheet of paper is loaded I'm getting the message "Clogged Nozzles Detected Cleaning Recommended" The print quality looks good but I want to prevent such frequent cleanings. Auto check nozzle in the control panel is checked off yet it is still running the clean cycle. Any suggestions?

There is a setting which disables auto nozzle detection.  There are a couple of choices, one is to check before every print, one is to check occasionally, and one is to not check.  If you choose that it still will check after switching black inks but other than that all nozzle checks are left up to you by printing a pattern.  There is a history of the Auto nozzle check being overly aggressive and triggering cleans when perhaps they aren't necessary.

Regarding the idea of "eliminating the matt black head", the 7900 does not have a matt black head.  Matt black and photo black share the same set of physical nozzles on the head. There is a supply tube of both inks to the head, so when you switch the printer clears out the current black and replaces it with the other black.  But it doesn't switch any heads.  Guessing that the process of switching might have cleared up some issues because that does move about 3 or 4 ml of ink through the head, much like an aggressive nozzle clean. You may find that you can now switch to the matt black OK.

[Peterretep2]

Wayne, thanks for your reply. I tried to reply immediately after your's but was unable to log in and just now established a new account.

I had the Auto Nozzle Check turned off but it still was running a clean cycle. However, as often helps I just did a reboot of my mac and turned off the printer and back on again and the cleaning cycles have apparently stopped.

Regarding my comment about the matte black head. I'm glad I was mistaken about there being a separate head for each black. I should have known better but being I didn't I decided that maybe using the PK head and ink would result in correct prints. I'm at a loss as to why the misalignment of the heads could have been rectified by switching to PK from MK but I'm very glad it did. I had decided to not spend a large amount of money on having an Epson tech repair the 7900. I couldn't justify the expense of that repair for what I earn with the printer. So now I'm very happy that the 7900 is printing again. It will be interesting to see printing results when I do switch black ink types again. But for now I'm going to explore using PK inks and different paper types. I had been using different matte fine art papers for years so I'm excited to now explore more glossy alternatives. I've started with what seems to be a very reliable choice, Ilford Gold Fibre Silk. I used to use Ilford's Smooth Pearl so I'm curious to see how different prints on IGFS will be.

Thanks again,

Peter