Interpreting the info on the bottom of the Nozzle Check printout (Epson 7880)

[uintaangler]

As mentioned in a previous inquiry ( transporting an Epson 7880 printer ) I found what appears to be a nice used Epson 7880 locally
I went to look at the printer yesterday to give it a visual inspection and make a test print
The owner warned me that he had not used the 7880 for three months and as predicted in many threads on this Forum, we spent over an hour running nozzle checks (and ink through the lines) before we finally got a printout showing zero clogs ( breaks ).
I just wanted to be certain that I wasn't buying a printhead replacement problem, if there is any way to be sure of that?
On that last printout there is some information supplied that might be useful to me as a prospective buyer of this used 7880
For instance, Cur. Paper Count = 18329.8 cm
Does that number indicate low usage, average, or high?
Maintenance tank is at 10% , so I know I have a $40 investment coming up immediately
Do any of the other numbers carry significant meaning, outside of ink levels which can be seen pretty easily without this printout
Thanks,
Bob

[Paul2660]

With Epson, you are always possibly buying a print head replacement problem, brand new, 1 year old, just runs with the brand. 

As for your 7880, I believe the printer count is for total length of paper that has been run through it.  You would have to convert cm to inches. 

The 7880/7800 family to me are much easier to maintain if you do develop a clog.  The head design is much less troublesome.  The wiper is easy to clean and it takes just a sec to move the head out of the way.  Prints will look darn close to the 7900/9900.  I still use a 6.5 year old 7800 for matte printing and it's still working fine. 

One thing to look for, is move the head out of the way, look at the capping station, look for a lot of extra ink on the metal surfaces and very heavily soaked felt pad.  If you find this, then yes this printer has has some use, possibly heavy.  Also look at the felt pads on the platen, see how much ink is on them.  This will also tell you if the printer was used for small prints or mainly larger prints.  The pads are to catch extra ink as the head reaches the end of the short prints, i.e A3, super A3.  If the pads for the first 16 inches are clean, then the printer was mainly used for 24" wide paper.

There is one catch that comes up eventually with all Epson's at least the older 78xx family, the belt will come up with an error stating it needs replacement.  As I recall this will stop the print until that error is cleared.  However odds are the belt is fine and this error can be reset.  Epson used to pass this info on via the "tech support" however not sure any more. 

Only other possible problem, and this is the one I would worry about, are the dampers.  If the printer has not been used in a while, these can dry out and totally clog.  The damper is where the ink flows first from the cart before going to the head.  The dampers on this printer can be problematic if the printer has been no in use for about 6 months.  A clogged damper is not an easy fix and pretty much requires a service call.   

Paul Caldwell

[Wayne Fox]

Also look at the felt pads on the platen, see how much ink is on them.  This will also tell you if the printer was used for small prints or mainly larger prints.  The pads are to catch extra ink as the head reaches the end of the short prints, i.e A3, super A3.  If the pads for the first 16 inches are clean, then the printer was mainly used for 24" wide paper.

Assuming they were printing borderless prints.   

As mentioned, the 7880 head design is less prone to outright failure than 78/9890 and 79/9900 series heads, it has 50% fewer nozzles with more spacing between them, so I assume the internals are less delicate.  That doesn’t mean it won’t fail, but the fact all nozzles are firing now is a pretty good indicator.

I assume the measurement you ask about is linear (otherwise it would only be 20 square feet).  That’s about 600 linear feet, seems pretty lightly used. I’ve got an 11880 with about 30,000 feet on it.  I guess the only comment is the printers are designed to be worked, and light use can be bad for them.

No guarantees, but assuming you are getting a killer deal.  The amount of ink (and perhaps paper) would be important in factoring the value.

[BrianWJH]

I just wanted to be certain that I wasn't buying a printhead replacement problem, if there is any way to be sure of that?

Bob, if you could get a full nozzle check print then that tells you that the printhead is currently clear of any blockages, to fully test the machine you would need to do several full page prints that use all the colours.

Others have mentioned that the other possible issue may be blocked ink dampers, this should show up in the full page prints if it was a problem.

Damper replacement is really not that difficult on the 7880, you would need the service manual to guide you and have some general disassembly/assembly skills, replacement would use a fair bit of ink though but really not that complex a task.

Brian.