Problem Epson 4900 (clogging of course)

[Dahlmann]

G'day all

I have some trouble with my Epson 4900.

First of all,
I keep the temperature steady on 19 degrees and the humidity between 45-50% in the room.

Sometimes I swits of the machine and sometimes I keep it on for a couple of days.
I'm printing at least one Nozzle check test everyday and do some printing mabey 3-4 days in a week.

I always have at least one channel clogged when Im do nozzle checks.

Not big clogs,maybe GR is clogged.

Then i do an cleaning to clear the GR and after the cleaning GR is fine.
BUT after the cleaning, 9 of 10 times another channel cloggs and sometimes multiply channels get clogged.
So i clean 1 channel and 2 new channels get clogged.

This is really frustrating and I wasting lots of ink everyday to keep the machine clear from cloggs. 

Do you guys have a suggestion? Or do i have to live with this?

Im really tried hard to get my English right so please be kind.


Cheers Daniel





 

[Mike Guilbault]

I've read in several places (and from Epson themselves) that you should turn the printer off when not using it.  I only turn mine on for the printing job and as soon as I'm done, turn it off.  This on both my 4900 and 9900.  I rarely get troublesome clogs. 

[jferrari]

There is a good reason that Epson places the instruction: "Shake the cartridge well before installing it" on their pigment carts. The pigment settles over time (think of that can of paint you opened and it had all the liquid on top before you stirred it) and then gets sucked into the tube feeding the print head. If you don't print often enough the pigment may settle. I take my carts out for a "shake" every couple of months just for good measure. Works for me!

[Dahlmann]

OK

Then i have to power off every time i'm finished with printing.
I try that and see how it goes.

Thanks Mate..


Cheers Daniel

[Dahlmann]

I did that the first time when i loaded all the cartridge.
But i have only had the printer for 3 weeks, And I printing every day (at least a nozzle check)
So you mean that i should shaking maybe once every week?


Cheers Daniel



 

[Ernst Dinkla]

A printer 3 weeks old and used frequently since the installation should not have those issues. Fresh ink shaken should last for months if not a year, the more if that printer is used as frequently as you describe. You have not done anything wrong. I would guess there is something wrong with the ink pressure system or the head does not fit correctly on the maintenance station seals. Call your Epson supplier for a service man.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[jrsforums]

OK

Then i have to power off every time i'm finished with printing.
I try that and see how it goes.

Thanks Mate..


Cheers Daniel

4900 can be set to automatically power off after  period of no usage.

[Dahlmann]

A printer 3 weeks old and used frequently since the installation should not have those issues. Fresh ink shaken should last for months if not a year, the more if that printer is used as frequently as you describe. You have not done anything wrong. I would guess there is something wrong with the ink pressure system or the head does not fit correctly on the maintenance station seals. Call your Epson supplier for a service man.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

Hi sorry for late answer
And thanks for the answer Ernst.

So you mean that i have to send away my printer for a replacement?! or du you think the sending at serviceman?
Bloody hell i'm living in a remote area.

Just to really point out the problem

[Ernst Dinkla]

What policy Epson has on 4900 service I do not know. But a proper printer used as frequently as you describe and in the studio conditions described should not show nozzle checks like that in the first three weeks of use. I have seen all kinds of recommendations for Epson pro printer use, switched on all the time, switched off when not in use, humidity high etc. But a head properly seated on the maintenance station and used as often as you do, should not show the pattern in the image you did attach and certainly not show that every time you want to use it or after a first cleaning step. There are users that have the auto-cleaning routines on or switched off due to excessive ink use.  Some will say to increase the humidity level to at least 55% (at 24 degr C) and that is a good level in general for printing but a good fit on the maintenance station will keep the humidity level at the nozzle surface higher than that. The possible causes I already described may get solved a bit by one of the solutions but there is in my opinion an issue in the hardware for some reason. Could be a cartridge with some air leaking so not enough ink pressure. Could be issues in the ink tubes created during transport of the printer. Deal with Epson, the longer you wait with that the more difficult to get the message across.

Normally I do not react on Epson pro printer issues as I do not have an Epson like that anymore. In this case I did because the other replies imply that you have  not done the installation correct or you should maintain the printer differently. You did not do anything wrong so far in my opinion.

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
July 2013, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.

[JRSmit]

Wayne Fox posted an testimage in one of the threads a while ago, and the purpose of that image is to excercise a ink laydown from all ink colors/nozzles. I usually do that before printing, especially when my 4900 is not used for a few days. If that print shows signs of clogging i do the nozzle cleaning. Wayne's experience is that the nozzle check can give a false indication because of some air being sucked in into the nozzles, which will show up in the test pattern as your images indicate. You should check his posts on this, he seems very experienced. Also i have my printer covered with a soft liable plastic sheet, initially intended to keep dust out, sort of a dustcover or dustcap, turns out it helps against clogg development as well.

[Dahlmann]

Wayne Fox posted an testimage in one of the threads a while ago, and the purpose of that image is to excercise a ink laydown from all ink colors/nozzles. I usually do that before printing, especially when my 4900 is not used for a few days. If that print shows signs of clogging i do the nozzle cleaning. Wayne's experience is that the nozzle check can give a false indication because of some air being sucked in into the nozzles, which will show up in the test pattern as your images indicate. You should check his posts on this, he seems very experienced. Also i have my printer covered with a soft liable plastic sheet, initially intended to keep dust out, sort of a dustcover or dustcap, turns out it helps against clogg development as well.

Ok sounds interesting.
Can you please link to the thread?




 

[inHaliburton]

While on this subject, I am considering purchasing a "factory refurbished" 4900:

http://www.imagingspectrum.com/epson_refurbished_stylus_pro_printers/

I wonder if anyone here has done this? Also, I wonder where Epson locate these printers to "factory refurb?" Do you think they replace the heads? I'm wondering if these used printers have been worked hard.

I'm a hobbiest, a relatively "light" user. I do want the ability to use rolls. However, if this printer is going to clog all the time, maybe I should be considering a new 3880.

I would appreciate your thoughts and recommendations.

Regards, Paul.

[John Caldwell]

...I'm a hobbiest, a relatively "light" user...

Forgive the by-now trite comment: You are not an Epson 4900 customer in my view, unless while you aren't using the printer, someone else is.

John Caldwell

[inHaliburton]

Thanks for your opinion, John. What's bugging me re the 3880 is its inability to use rolls.

[Wayne Fox]

You can find the file I created here . The page was specifically designed to make sure every channel gets worked constantly, trying to use a similar amount of ink for each color.  (which isn't perfect but it's pretty close)

I try to print this image at least every other day with my 4900 (which sees very sporadic use).  I also print this image before a nozzle check, and most of the time after a head cleaning.

On Epson printers, it is (and has always been) common for a color not affected to show problems after cleaning another color.  Many nozzle problems like this are not from clogs, but just lack of ink because of air being pulled back into the nozzle while the printer is running the cycle.  Printing something often will get the ink flowing enough to resolve the problem.  This is especially true of power cleans, and you should always print something immediately after doing a power clean.

[chez]

So for a 4900 that doesn't get used daily, how much excessive wasted ink and your time does it consume just to keep it clog free. My God it seems finicky.

[Dahlmann]

You can find the file I created here . The page was specifically designed to make sure every channel gets worked constantly, trying to use a similar amount of ink for each color.  (which isn't perfect but it's pretty close)

I try to print this image at least every other day with my 4900 (which sees very sporadic use).  I also print this image before a nozzle check, and most of the time after a head cleaning.

On Epson printers, it is (and has always been) common for a color not affected to show problems after cleaning another color.  Many nozzle problems like this are not from clogs, but just lack of ink because of air being pulled back into the nozzle while the printer is running the cycle.  Printing something often will get the ink flowing enough to resolve the problem.  This is especially true of power cleans, and you should always print something immediately after doing a power clean.

Thanks Wayne
I really appreciate your help.


 

[Sal Baker]

Thanks for your opinion, John. What's bugging me re the 3880 is its inability to use rolls.

The simplicity of the 3880 and the somewhat lower-tech print heads may be the reason why the printer is such a solid workhorse.  I regularly print on 17x30 inch paper cut from rolls and have no issues at all.  

The trade-off for not having roll paper capability might be the way the 3880 handles sheet paper, which is much better than many wide format roll-capable printers.  Quite frankly, I'm happy to deal mostly with nice, flat, sheet paper.  But then, I'm not a high volume commercial printer.

Sal

[Wayne Fox]

So for a 4900 that doesn't get used daily, how much excessive wasted ink and your time does it consume just to keep it clog free. My God it seems finicky.

The 4900 and larger printers are engineered to be used.  The type of users on this forum are not typical of the majority using these printers.  But I own my own printers not to save money, but to have ultimate control.  If you analyze the ROI of any of these printers that are lightly used, between the cost of the machine, ink, paper and time, you probably aren't saving any money.  (that's not just Epson printers).  If you actually produce prints for income, different story, but then you are printing many prints every day.

So yes, you may have to spend a little time keeping it tuned up, or you may spend a little more time and ink just dealing with it when you fire it up once a month to print a few prints.

Takes about 30 seconds to print out the page so a couple minutes a week - that's assuming you aren't actually printing anything.  as far as ink usage, it's much less than running a cleaning cycle.

This won't solve the missing nozzle problems but does seem to help.

edit:  someone asked about which paper I print this page on, just trying to make sure there was nothing he was missing by using plain paper.  I use cheap copy machine paper to print this, and often it is over the top of a couple of nozzle patterns I've printed.

[chez]

I use multiple z3100 printers 24 and 44 inch models and never have to babysit them. They just do their nozzle checks on their own and I have given up printing nozzle checks as they always came out perfect. The nozzle checks are very frugal, don't even notice any depletion of ink even when I was away on a 6 week trip.

I know the nozzle technologies are different between the two manufactures, but for the majority of people that struggle with Epson clogs...why? There are better alternatives for the casual printer.