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Author Topic: Another 4900 horror story  (Read 55557 times)

davidh202

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #140 on: February 12, 2014, 11:29:34 pm »

Copy paper is fine for nozzle checks.PK and Matte PK use the same printhead nozzles, so from a nozzle point of view either primary Black will exercise the nozzles, however switching the primary Blacks periodically is a good idea because it purges ink through the associated ink dampers and ink lines which helps to stop ink pigment settling in them.
Brian.

 I fully concur with that
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davidh202

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #141 on: February 12, 2014, 11:38:01 pm »

Update 6 / Feb 12, 2014

  It's very possible that I have fried the delicate piezzo in my heads by injecting Windex, water, nail remover, 95% alcool and compressed air -- the works.

 What a saga. Better dump the printer now? And order a new one?
 

Yep, at least a new head, you killed it. :'(


http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=86649.msg703998#msg703998
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=86649.msg705966#msg705966

your new nickname is now  Eric II  ;)

Sorry,
David

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Mark D Segal

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #142 on: February 12, 2014, 11:49:01 pm »

I think the lesson of experience from both this thread and the 7900 thread simply is that if our printer experiences problems we cannot repair using the means Epson provides in the customer manual, refer the issue to an Epson authorized technician. Those of us who do not have the technical competence to service these complex machines should not try to do so.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #143 on: February 13, 2014, 08:01:13 am »

I wish there was a way to recirculate inks? Either when the printer sits idle for days or when the it is purged onto the Maintenance Tank.
Not the best system, currently. But, for daily usage, the current system is adequate since the expectation is to expend inks!
But for printing occasionnally, it is murder.

I, too, had my printer set on Auto Nozzle Check by default. Never touched that setting. In retrospect, didn't seem like a bad Policy even though I resent the fact that it spent ink everytime I turned the printer on since it contributed to keep my 4900 clean for 2 1/2 years. Say that it could have gone on that way for maybe a few more months had the Photo Black not become completely clogged?

I'm at a crossroad this morning. I need to find a way of recharging the empty cartridges with water to carry on testing the head? I don't want to spend $700 of inks to find out later that the head is hopelessly dead. That would really piss me off. So, water, it seems, would be perfect from this point of view. I am going to spend researching the net for ways to refill the cartridges with water while looking for that chip replacement, or how to reset it. If anyone has suggestions, please say so.

Best / Roger
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Alan Goldhammer

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #144 on: February 13, 2014, 08:52:31 am »

So, water, it seems, would be perfect from this point of view. I am going to spend researching the net for ways to refill the cartridges with water while looking for that chip replacement, or how to reset it. If anyone has suggestions, please say so.

Best / Roger
Water alone is likely not to work.  Epson inks contain up to 25% glycerol(s) by weight that act as a solubilizer/suspension agent for the pigment compounds.  Unless you have some in your purging liquid it's doubtful in my mind that you will succeed.  You should be able to get USP grade glycerin at a pharmacy or on line.  A suitable solution in line with Epson's would be one part glycerin to four parts water. 

NOTE:  THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION BASED ON THE CHEMISTRY AND NO GUARANTEE THAT IT WILL WORK!
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #145 on: February 13, 2014, 09:49:14 am »

Thank's for the excellent Glycerin suggestion. Why I thought simple water would work is because the Epson technician that visited me tuesday suggeste it. He gave me the example of one of his clients who only uses Photo Black in the printer and leaves all other lines filled with water. But I will investigate Glycerin...
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #146 on: February 13, 2014, 09:58:18 am »

I have come across the following chip resetter on quite a few web sites :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=X5XzIQ7s5xo

From observation, it seems to have the same 9 contacts as on my Epson 200ml ink cartridge, 4 at the top and 5 at the bottom.
I bet I could even find this chip resetter model locally, in Montréal?

If that's the case, all I have to do is to figure out how to refill the cartridges with that mix of water and glycerin...
Can't wait to get back to testing.

A good friend of mine has just gotten his 3880 which I plan to see...
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #147 on: February 13, 2014, 10:02:21 am »

BTW, if anyone's interested, I located a seller in China, on www.alibaba.com, who would be willing to sell me a set of 11 refilable cartridges for $14/pc = $154 + shipping. Lowest I found while looking around was $235 from a US seller.
Not that I intend to use refilable cartridges to save money on inks, although that's a possibility.
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digitaldog

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #148 on: February 13, 2014, 10:25:05 am »

BTW, if anyone's interested, I located a seller in China, on www.alibaba.com, who would be willing to sell me a set of 11 refilable cartridges for $14/pc = $154 + shipping. Lowest I found while looking around was $235 from a US seller.

If inks from China are the same quality as dog food from China, I'd pass! ;D
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jrsforums

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #149 on: February 13, 2014, 10:32:54 am »


But for printing occasionnally, it is murder.

I, too, had my printer set on Auto Nozzle Check by default. Never touched that setting. In retrospect, didn't seem like a bad Policy even though I resent the fact that it spent ink everytime I turned the printer on since it contributed to keep my 4900 clean for 2 1/2 years. Say that it could have gone on that way for maybe a few more months had the Photo Black not become completely clogged?

Best / Roger

I had similar experience using auto check.  The black dropped out after switching.

I gave since followed Mark's suggestion, which he left out of above post.  Decide which black you want and stick with it.  I decided on PK for the 4900. Use 3880 for mixed bag of blacks, mostly MK, and mixed bag of paper sizes, such as for cards, which 4900 was not designed for.

John
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #150 on: February 13, 2014, 10:57:07 am »

Hi Andrew, I'm only looking for a way to complete the tests I can possibly throw at my printer before I declare it dead.
If *ever* I can recussitate the printer, I plan to continue Epson inks. I never minded paying for Epson inks.

Roger
« Last Edit: February 13, 2014, 10:59:49 am by Roger_Breton »
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #151 on: February 13, 2014, 10:57:54 am »

Mark, that sounds like a sensible conclusion.
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RachelleK

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #152 on: February 13, 2014, 11:19:32 am »

BTW, if anyone's interested, I located a seller in China, on www.alibaba.com, who would be willing to sell me a set of 11 refilable cartridges for $14/pc = $154 + shipping. Lowest I found while looking around was $235 from a US seller.
Not that I intend to use refilable cartridges to save money on inks, although that's a possibility.

If you get the refillable cartridges maybe you could also get some PiezoFlush from InkJetMall instead of mixing your own solution:

http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/it.A/id.5756/.f?sc=18&category=31348

(I think his inks come from China.)
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #153 on: February 13, 2014, 01:16:11 pm »

I was considering filling the cartridges with PiezoFlush, as a cleaning solution. Not the most expensive thing and maybe the last trick I can think of I can try on this printer before I turn it to the garbage collector, next week? Thank's for reminding me.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2014, 04:40:07 pm by Roger_Breton »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #154 on: February 13, 2014, 04:07:11 pm »

Hi Andrew, I'm only looking for a way to complete the tests I can possibly throw at my printer before I declare it dead.
If *ever* I can recussitate the printer, I plan to continue Epson inks. I never minded paying for Epson inks.

Roger

Well, the present state of the printer is kind of a "sunk cost". The probability of rehabilitating it from all we have read so far would appear to be pretty low, so if you think that's correct, then the only question is how much of your time and money you think is worth committing to "research", because all you have to lose from this point forward are those incremental inputs of time and money, knowing that any prospective pay-off is a long-shot.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #155 on: February 13, 2014, 04:45:10 pm »

Mark,

I just don't want to throw the towel just yet. The head is probably "dead" but this research I'm doing, while soaking up an alarming amount of my time, is teaching me a thing or two about a world I'm still going to be confronted with in some future. I mean, suppose I buy another 4900 because that's what I need for my work, then it does not hurt to have lost all that time researching the possibilities of what can be done to this printer. Yes, my morale is at its lowest but, if I can only try some additional cleanings... But I don't want to do it with expensive inks. I know. It breaks my heart and my bank account.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #156 on: February 13, 2014, 04:58:46 pm »

Mark,

I just don't want to throw the towel just yet. The head is probably "dead" but this research I'm doing, while soaking up an alarming amount of my time, is teaching me a thing or two about a world I'm still going to be confronted with in some future. I mean, suppose I buy another 4900 because that's what I need for my work, then it does not hurt to have lost all that time researching the possibilities of what can be done to this printer. Yes, my morale is at its lowest but, if I can only try some additional cleanings... But I don't want to do it with expensive inks. I know. It breaks my heart and my bank account.

Oh - agreed - you can always consider it a learning experience, no doubt, and only you can decide when it's best to "throw in the towel". But I also think you may want to consider very carefully whether another 4900 will be right printer for you based on how you would use it and the environment in which you would keep it.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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Roger_Breton

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #157 on: February 13, 2014, 05:35:36 pm »

Are you ever right! I loved my 4900 during the 2 1/2 years I used it. I wish that Epson would come out with a replacement model in a month or so. I would not mind waiting a bit. But I can't hold my breath for that to happen. I wish I could go to Canon or HP to "teach Epson a lesson". But, they don't care, they're a business and they have no sympathy for users like me who dare to venture out in the group of folks who turn a lot of prints with these machines professionnally, day in, day out. But I looked at HP and Canon, and have not found anything palatable in the 17" format. Epson has a monopoly on that market segment. Canon makes a 17" iPF5100 (is that the right model number?) but from what I can read, from people's experience, it appears even riskier than another 4900. At least with the 4900, with hindsight, I can rationalize buying a second one knowing I would not be stupid enough to buy a new one *without* buying the additional 2 years contract. That's at the bare minimum. I regret not having done that because i would not be in this mess today. Still, what's going to happen after three years of ownership? By then, Epson is probably going to have another 17" model out, with new features and what not. From a business point of view, I have to approach it from the point of view that this is some kind of "annuity", that if I want to have the convenience of printing in this size of output, I have to accept not paying some lump sum initially and then to forget about it, but adopt a Policy instead whereby I am willing to set aside about $800 a year for maintaining this capacity, regardless of ink usage. I know it sounds crazy, Mark.
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #158 on: February 13, 2014, 05:42:34 pm »

I don't think it's crazy at all. From all I've seen and read it remains the best quality printer in its size range and works well as long as it used regularly and kept sufficiently humid. I also think buying the extended service contract makes sense in light of the experience you've had and if you are using it professionally.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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HSakols

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Re: Another 4900 horror story
« Reply #159 on: February 16, 2014, 09:26:18 am »

At first I thought I killed my 4800 but it has come back to life!!  I first used MIS cleaning solution and ran a power cleaning.  I then ran some nozzle checks and cleanings.  I left it for a couple of days and then ran another power cleaning.  Next I ran test prints until I got zero black streaks.  After that I replaced my Epson carts and have run at least five nozzle checks / test prints.  Between each on I put a half and half solution of simple green and water on the dampening pads.  I finally am getting clean test prints showing that my nozzles are clean.  I have ran zero power cleaning cycles while I have been using my Epson Inks.  My printer is squeaky clean and not using it for nearly a year.
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