I finally took the time to figure out why a Lt Lt K cart for my 9900 since the machine told me it was bad and to replace it. I figured I'd better do it before the expiration since the date was getting closer by the minute.
So, I went to the on-line support. Put in the issue and tried the canned response. Within an hour, it told me to call service.
I did and got Andrew. He had me check the firmware and update it and as we waited he asked me about the printer and what I had been printing to pass the time (he obviously knew it would take several minutes). Had a great conversation with somebody who did have a clue about the Epson pro printers and different media and techniques. Our conversation was on the last project producing 600+ canvas prints (on non-Epson canvas) and I filled him in with our approach. He also had hands-on and I got a couple of hints as part of the conversation. I wasn't dealing with somebody reading a script! He knew his stuff and knew how to have a good conversation!
The cart still didn't work, so another would be sent.
As we were wrapping things up, I asked about costs for having my machine serviced. He told me the rates and also suggested our walk-in guru in North Highlands, but said that unless there was a quality or printing issue that a cleaning couldn't fix, don't worry and save my money. He told me for my other printers, both a 9800 and a 4000, and couple of things to keep them clog-free and printing like a champ which is to clean the capping station if there are problems.
I sort-of remembered this but hadn't needed to do this in a couple of years and this was a good reminder if I do have issues with clogs.
Basically, Andrew knows his stuff and probably saved me several hundred since I was all set to simply have my stable of printers clean, lubed and adjusted and was told to not bother unless the printer can't clean itself.
One of the things that was mentioned that the new firmware (November 2011) for the 9900 was one can Powerclean pairs, so you don't have to dump tons of the non-clogged ink as part of the cleaning.
Thanks, Epson!
