Epson 7900 ink usage

[richfred]

I own an Epson 7900 and am very pleased with the print quality. I just read Michael's review of this printer and am in good agreement with him on all fronts except one:  Excessive (in my opinion) ink usage (waste). I don't think he addressed this in his review. I have become alarmed at the amount of (expensive) ink this printer consumes and I consider most of it to be waste. Even though I have disabled the Auto Nozzle Check, the printer continues to exersize it's auto clean function. Before I make a large and/or critical print I always do a manual nozzle check from the utility tab in the printer driver. More often than not it produces a perfect nozzle pattern. Then when I immediately thereafter send the image file to the printer, the first thing that happens is the message "Cleaning,   Please Wait" (seems like I spend half the day "Waiting"). This can take anywhere from 2 to 12 minutes. And of course this cleaning sends expensive ink to the maintenence tank. I have also observed that when the Epson status monitor shows less than about 5% remaing ink, the cleaning goes on & on, wasting even more ink, even though a manual nozzle check shows perfect nozzle patterns. I recently replaced a (matte black) cart for which the status monitor showed 2% (it still made a good print at that level). Out of curiousity I pried open that cart and discovered the little metalic bag that holds the ink. I got a graduated flask from my darkroom & measured 70 ml of ink remaining in the bag. I use 150 ml carts, so that is almost 50% !!! It pains me to think I am wasting almost 50% of the expensive ink I purchase. I would greatly appreciate hearing from any of you out there who are experiencing my ink heartburn. Thanks, Richfred

[dgberg]

Why did you replace the cart when it was at 2 percent. You do know that you print until the printer stops ,then you replace the cart. I have had carts showing that level for more then 3 months. The only thing you might want to do when you get the low warnings is order a new cart so you have one when it actually goes empty.
Do not be fooled by the shown percentages as these printers print for a very long time with the low warnings flashing.
Do a search here on the other issues you have as they have been discussed in great detail.

[Garnick]

I couldn't agree with Dan more.  ALWAYS print until the printer stops before inserting a new ink cart.  Of course there will be occasions when you'll have to put in a new cart to do a cleaning cycle or a PK/MK changeover, but then you re-install the cart that you removed in order to use every last ml of ink.  What puzzles me is why you are still experiencing auto cleaning cycles.  One of the first things I did after powering up the 9900 was to disable the ANC.  The only time it does an auto clean is after I've done the PK/MK switch, and I'm still trying to find a way around that as well.  I'd rather have complete control over when cleaning cycles are run.  If the machine is still under warranty I think you should be getting in touch with Epson about that issue and also make sure you have the latest firmware installed.  That simply does not happen with the 9900 once the ANC has been disabled.

Good luck,
Gary

[ghaynes754]

Gary, do the PK/MK switch in service mode and you won't get the auto clean. 

The other Gary

[richfred]

Thanks Dan, Gary & Gary. I will definitely follow your advice. What happens when the ink is really gone & the printer stops in the middle of a print?
Regards,
Richard

[dgberg]

It is designed to print until the printer runs a cart dry. All you do if it is in mid print is put the new cart in and the printer will pick up right where it left off.
You should not see where it started and stopped on your print. A very nice feature.

[Randy Carone]

I once had a customer's printer (an 11880) stop in mid-print on Friday and he left it alone until Monday morning at which time he got his replacement ink. He inserted the new ink and the printer started right up and finished his large print with no evidence that the print had been interupted. He was amazed (and happy)!

[Garnick]

Gary, do the PK/MK switch in service mode and you won't get the auto clean. 

The other Gary

Thanks Gary.  Yes, I've tried that procedure but I don't print in service mode.  Once I have rebooted in the standard mode and instigate a nozzle check it will automatically run a cleaning cycle.  Of course there's always a few dropouts so another cleaning cycle is required.  I would like to have more control than that, but haven't yet found the answer.  I think the switch over is somewhat cost effective, but the auto clean cycle and subsequent cleanings more or less defeats the purpose in my opinion.

The other, other Gary.

[mikev1]

Do the nozzle check while still in service mode.  You won't have the automatic cleaning when you restart the printer.  Works for me. 

And yes I agree the printer uses far more ink than advertised on the switch.  I was going over 20ml's, sometimes 40 on a switch.  The job monitor software used to tack on the amount used in cleaning onto the next job but curious enough one of the firmware updates eliminated this for me.

[bellimages]

I've always wondered why Epson designed the printer to use only one or the other at a time -- matte black, or photo black. Why not have each of the two black inks feed to the print head, and and use the one that's required for the type paper loaded in the printer? Then there wouldn't be any 'switching' between inks.

[Farmer]

Well, when they did do that on the 4000, people complained about having ink "go off" that they didn't use - because not everyone switches between the two.  In fact, most users (who are not photographers) don't switch, or switch very infrequently.

The 11880 has the capacity to do both, and the complaints of the 4000 users seems to have gone away, but probably it's a very different user who purchases an 11880 compared to a 4000 back then.

[Wayne Fox]

I've always wondered why Epson designed the printer to use only one or the other at a time -- matte black, or photo black. Why not have each of the two black inks feed to the print head, and and use the one that's required for the type paper loaded in the printer? Then there wouldn't be any 'switching' between inks.

Certainly doable, but it means creating an additional channel on the head, which with Epson piezo technology adds a considerable expense to the cost of the printer.

We all see the world from our vantage point, but the great majority of Epson printers are used in high production facilities with multiple printers, and are dedicated to one ink or the other.  They just don't ever need to switch.  So it's tough to add to the cost of a printer for a feature that fewer than 2 or 3% of the printers will actually ever use (in fact it might be fewer than 1%).  Switching in the head is a compromise, but is pretty functional for most.  What is odd is switching almost always triggers a false clog in  the ink detection circuitry and thus triggers a cleaning cycle. And to me what is unexplainable and totally illogical is this ink check/auto clean is does not seem to be disabled even if you disable all auto nozzle check functions in the printer.
Using service mode to switch inks seems to get around this, but really shouldn't have to do this.

[Doombrain]

Want to see your ink usage?

sign up to www.myepsonprinter.com for the US, www.myepsonprinter.eu for Europe and you'll be able to.

[davidh202]

.  What is odd is switching almost always triggers a false clog in  the ink detection circuitry and thus triggers a cleaning cycle. And to me what is unexplainable and totally illogical is this ink check/auto clean is does not seem to be disabled even if you disable all auto nozzle check functions in the printer.
Using service mode to switch inks seems to get around this, but really shouldn't have to do this.

I agree whole heartedly with that Wayne and often wonder whether it is deliberately programmed that way.
On the other hand, as a business man one should have these issues understood as an operating cost, along with depreciation, repair, and replacement,and should be covered in the charges for your end product.
David