Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: CrazyPugLady on June 08, 2017, 04:17:37 am
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Hello folks,
I just signed up here because you are all truly fantastic with printer diagnostics and help. I learned a LOT from just reading here.
Now, talking about printers... I was given an Epson 4900 for cheaps. Working, but Matte Black was not printing. As I'm not needing matte black, I bought it for 200 bucks. (Little did I know back then that the both blacks share the same nozzles...)
Well, turns out matte black works fine, there was just air in the line. BUT, the blacks have a very bad nozzle check with about 1/3rd of the nozzle check pattern missing.
After carefully printing a little, the nozzle check pattern slightly improved which made me hopeful the head would not be fried. I got a cleaning cartridge yesterday, put it in and started the clean - print - clean - print cycle.
At the end of the day, most of the nozzles had come back and I was a happy camper. Only 2-3 lines were missing. I thought I'd just swiftly clean out the few missing spots today and have a great printer.
But... after making the first test print today, looking at the nozzle check, and... it's exactly back to where I started, missing 1/3rd of the pattern. Yay. Why??
It's very rainy here currently and also rather cold, so the humidity should be good for it. I don't think the cleaning fluid in the head dried over night and clogged it. But what could be the real culprit? Is it the pump? The dampers? Anything I could do myself? I'm just an all time broke freelance photographer, so I'm not able to shell out 800 Bucks for a new print head, or 1000 Bucks for a new printer. There is an Epson service in town but they want me to bring the printer over to them... It weights almost as much as I do, no way I can do this, so I thought I'd try my luck and ask here.
I have now tried nearly everything, except for a line charge. I don't have enough ink for a full line charge. But don't know if it's smart to spend 900€ on new inks when I don't know if I can even revive the printer...
Any tips or hints for me?
Thank you!
Kind regards.
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MK and PK share a channel from the damper into the printhead, so if MK is working fine but PK isn't, it would suggest the problem is with the PK line leading to the damper, or perhaps with the PK cartridge. You don't say how many cleaning cycles you performed in the same day, or what strength of cleaning cycles, or what cleaning fluid you used and how you used it so it's hard to pinpoint what's going on with any precision. The cleaning procedures themselves may be the culprit, or you could have performed too much cleaning in one day, which can aggravate underlying issues, or the cartridge is defective. Perhaps if you could be more specific some kind of useful diagnostic may be feasible.
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Hello Mark,
thank you very much for your answer.
You are right, I need to give more precise information, I'll try...
Initially, MK was not working at all but it turned out to be just air in the line. It was a new cartridge and it wasn't properly seated I guess. I just drew out the air with a syringe, saw that there was ink comming out the cartridge, put it back, voila, MK ink :-)
HOWEVER, this of course has no impact on the nozzle check pattern, which is equally bad with both MK and PK because they use the same nozzles. Right?
I did like 3 - 5 cleaning cycles and always print 3 A4 sheets in between. Mostly "normal" cleaning cycles, only 2 strong cycles and not immediately after each other. I let the printer rest 6 hours in between and then again over night.
The cleaning fluid I use is called "Clean:Red". I don't know much about it other than it's sold especially for cleaning epson pigment ink. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get any other cleaning fluid yet.
What baffles me, is, that the nozzle check pattern gradually got better and better. More lines appearing. The banding in the purge prints got less and less until it was very even. I went to bed and hoped that the night's rest might help clean the remaining "clots" but when I returned this morning, the nozzle check pattern was as bad as it was before I even started. All the improvement: gone. Like nothing had happened.
Now I just don't know how to proceed from here. Can this be clogs when the pattern improved and then snapped back to the original state? Can it be the head, because if the nozzles were dead, the pattern shouldn't have changed through my tries? Can it be a pump, or the damper unit? I am overwhelmed with all the possibilities...
I don't think it's the cartridge because it's the same results with MK or PK. The MK cartridge is almost full and it's OEM.
Kind regards
Edit: I did not power down the printer. I leave it always on. In case that is important.
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This adds a bit of clarity. So what you meant when you said the MK was OK wasn't really that it's OK, but that ink was flowing through the line as far as you could see it. But now you say the nozzle check pattern is poor for both MK and PK ink. That's a different story and would seem to suggest there could be an issue in the damper or the printhead. As well, your cleaning procedure seems OK, apart from the use of the cleaning fluid which remains an unknown factor (by that I mean there is no indication of what the chemical composition is and whether it could be harmful, especially if it isn't backed by an Epson authorized service facility or reseller). So the problem could be that (a) the cleaning fluid has left residues that need to be worked out, or (b) the damper needs to be changed, or (c) the head has a defective PK/MK channel.
The over-arching question is how you acquired the printer - when you bought it, did you have a chance to see whether all the channels were passing the nozzle check before buying? What is the usage history of this printer? What representations did the seller make to you about its condition? How was it transported to your residence? It could be that the printer was defective from the get-go, why you paid so little for it.
But reverting to points (a), (b), (c) above, if it's (a), spend more days (say up to a week) doing no more than three clean-print-clean print cycles on that LK/PK channel pair (use Power Clean) per day and see whether it settles out; make sure you are using a good PK carrtidge. If it's (b), you need to change the damper. The part costs somewhere in the 200 dollar range and you MAY be able to change it yourself if you are very technically adept and have detailed instructions, but I wouldn't recommend it. If it's (c), cut your losses and send the printer to recycling.
You said there is a service facility near you. If you could find someone to help you bring the printer to that place for a diagnosis, it may be a useful idea to do that.
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Mark, thank you again.
Yes, you are right, I meant that MK is now getting ink to print, but the bad nozzle problem remains for both blacks.
I know about the risk of the cleaning fluid, however it seemed a bit more safe than using window or floor cleaner....
I bought the printer from a graphic design agency that gave up their offices and it was left over. I was told that it works fine except for the matte ink, that's why they printed everything with photo black. Indeed, the printer *IS* working, and the prints look "ok". But a photographer can see the very faint banding that the missing black nozzles produce. So while it does indeed print, it's not suitable for photo printing right now. I was stupid and didn't ask for a nozzle check print. They made a test print for me and it looked fine, but of course no nozzle check.
The machine has about 4000 prints done, but the majority of it was office printing and small packaging proofs. I don't know how old it is exactly but it looks very unused and is also quite clean on the inside (I did clean the wiper, the flush pad and the capping station when I got it home and it looked not very used).
Transportation was quite quick, 20 Minutes, and I drove very carefully. Printhead was fixed and I made sure the printer was not tilted when loading/transporting.
I am pretty sure the printer had the problem from the beginning when I bought it. And yes, you are totally right about a, b or c.
I found a damper assembly here in Germany for 100€ incl. tax so I might give this a try. I think I can change it myself or with help of my husband. But this would also need an ink eject and then ink fill, which also means I have to buy new cartridges for a few hundred Euros....
If possible, I'd like to avoid the service facility. I called and before I even said more than "Epson 4900", they already came with "new print head!". Yep, the print head MAY be the culprit, but it sounded like they want to replace it before even trying anything else....
Kind regards
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What the service facility told you is not best practice, not even correct procedure, based on the supposition that you told them exactly what you are reporting here. Like going to the doctor, the correct procedure, especially before even seeing the machine, is to rule out the simple things first, then progress to the more serious possibilities. They may be right, but how one gets there is important, just in case they aren't. Once you need to replace a printhead on that model the usual calculations suggest it just isn't worth it. If the printer was defective when you bought it, would be useful to know how much the previous owner put into trying to fix it and what they did in the process. That may be a clue about whether it is even worthwhile buying new cartridges and parts for either (a) or (b) approaches.
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The problem with the 4900 is often not using them enough, and thus keeping the installation ink cartridges in too long. ....They need to be used up as fast as possible and normal cartridges put in. Just my opinion. (I gave up mine at last. ) Bought a p800
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Can you post a scan (or close-up camera phone photo) of one of the nozzle checks showing the missing sections of the PK/MK channel? There are several possible reasons for a "clog", which Mark has covered. Some of these occasionally can be determined by a very close look at the nozzle check pattern, if one knows to look for something specific.
Epson x900 series heads are prone to failure, for example. It's a common issue and if you search these forums or on Google you'll find countless stories of people fighting to de-clog their x900 printers only to be forced into a head replacement in the end. Well, one of the common failure patterns of the x900 heads leaves a small but very distinctive tell-tale sign in the nozzle check pattern. Every single time I have seen that tell-tale, it has meant the head was blown and needed to be replaced. So I'd be looking for that, in particular...
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When the head on my 9800 failed, the salient observation was that, despite frequent and varied attempts at unclogging, no changes were observed in the clogged channel.
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If the printer was defective when you bought it, would be useful to know how much the previous owner put into trying to fix it and what they did in the process. That may be a clue about whether it is even worthwhile buying new cartridges and parts for either (a) or (b) approaches.
Yes, you are right. However, the guys I got it from don't seem to be very interested in fixing it. They said they had a technician over for a half day who made a few powercleans and couldn't fix it. I don't know if they can tell me much more. I mean, they thought the matte ink would be "dead" and there was just a bit of air in the line... it was the first thing I checked and it was done in 10 seconds.
I have attached a nozzle check image, I was able to get an even better pattern yesterday evening but I couldn't find the print right now. As you can see, the middle where the pattern is broken has some dirt spots. This is where I think the printer might want to print but probably can't build enough pressure? After the print - clean - print -clean marathon yesterday there were only 2-3 rows of lines missing, the others were good. Even the bulging borders (deflections?) were straight. But then, after the night, back to square one.
So I am really not sure if the print head is dead, because it WAS able to print yesterday. If the head was fried, it wouldn't have changed the pattern, or am I wrong?
Kind regards and thanks for all of your answers. Helps me a lot!
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If the print head recovers, for even a single nozzle check, then it's not the culprit 99% of the time. When the blocked nozzles are moving around, it's another sign that the head itself is fine.
I'd be looking at the ink supply path, all the way from the carts to the damper. That might require a tech, but that's what needs to be inspected.
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If the print head recovers, for even a single nozzle check, then it's not the culprit 99% of the time. When the blocked nozzles are moving around, it's another sign that the head itself is fine.
I'd be looking at the ink supply path, all the way from the carts to the damper. That might require a tech, but that's what needs to be inspected.
Phil, given the cost of tech support and her unsatisfactory experience with it to date (as well as for the previous owner) - in Germany it seems - would it make sense for her to keep doing several cleaning cycles a day for the next week or so and see whether it improves? I'm wondering whether that cleaning fluid just aggravated the problem and its residues need to be displaced by ink before the nozzle checks will return to normal.
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Phil, given the cost of tech support and her unsatisfactory experience with it to date (as well as for the previous owner) - in Germany it seems - would it make sense for her to keep doing several cleaning cycles a day for the next week or so and see whether it improves? I'm wondering whether that cleaning fluid just aggravated the problem and its residues need to be displaced by ink before the nozzle checks will return to normal.
It's entirely possible. The cleaning fluid won't be visible if it prints out (short of checking with a very good / powerful loupe or microscope). Some cleaning to properly purge and some time to allow it all to settle down isn't a bad idea at all. If that fails, I still doubt it's the head and checking the ink path (and the cleaning assembly) would be the way to go.
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Good morning,
after sleeping over it, I decided that I want to invest in the printer. It looks like a solid machine and the built quality seems good. A new P800 with the roll attachment costs around 1300€ and it doesn't even cut paper. The new P5000 is 2000€ and out of my budget. They seem to be quite new, so no used or demo machines available. A new printhead for the Epson 4900 is around 800€ and it still has roll printing, auto cutting etc...
So what would be the best way to go forward with it? Clean - Print - cycles again and see if it recovers or if it snaps back again?
A new ink supply unit is 100€, a new pump is 50€. That would be a small investment compared to the mainboards or the print head.
Is there a cleaning fluid you could recommend, that I would be able to get shipped to Germany? I could get the "Magic Bullet Head Cleaner" from the United Kingdom, but ordering from outside the EU is always slow and much hassle (customs). I eyeballed the cleaning fluid from AIS but not sure how much I need and if they would even send out small quantities overseas.
Another question about "tinting" the cleaning fluid... Would you recommend adding a very faint amount of ink to the cleaning fluid, so the nozzle check patterns would be easier to see? Or is this a big no no?
Farmer, you mentioned checking the cleaning assembly... Any hints what I need to check for? The capping station is pretty clean. The "borders" look good but I am not sure I am experienced enough to decide this. Would a picture help?
I cleaned the flush pad and the wiper blade. What else could I check the cleaning assembly for?
I have the service manual and I'll work my way through it this weekend.
Thank you very much again, with kind regards.
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You know Brexit was only triggered, not yet completed - UK is still part of the EU ;-)
If the capping station looks clean it's probably OK. I'd start by following as per Mark's suggestion. Some cleaning, some waiting, some cleaning, some waiting. See if it comes good. I wouldn't get too far ahead until you've tried that to get some ink flowing through.
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You know Brexit was only triggered, not yet completed - UK is still part of the EU ;-)
If the capping station looks clean it's probably OK. I'd start by following as per Mark's suggestion. Some cleaning, some waiting, some cleaning, some waiting. See if it comes good. I wouldn't get too far ahead until you've tried that to get some ink flowing through.
Yes yes, I know :-)
Buying the Magic Bullet stuff from UK is not the problem - getting american or chinese products is ;-)
So the suggestion is cleaning, printing, waiting, not with the cleaning fluid but with a new full black ink cartridge, right?
I'll go ahead then. If there is no more progress or it reverts to the starting point once again, we know it's not the head but the ink supply, right?
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Yeah, print/clean with some ink, but also give it time (over a couple of days) to settle in between. So long as the blockages move or go away and then come back, it's not the head. It's not the mainboard or the ribbon cables either based on the nozzle check pattern working.
If the blockages stay exactly the same, then you may have a head issue. Without a trained tech actually looking at the machine and seeing how the ink is moving through the ink path and so on, there's some guess work doing this by remote over a message board, but a little cleaning and settling is the least expensive way to progress it and potentially completely effective.
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Yes yes, I know :-)
Buying the Magic Bullet stuff from UK is not the problem - getting american or chinese products is ;-)
So the suggestion is cleaning, printing, waiting, not with the cleaning fluid but with a new full black ink cartridge, right?
I'll go ahead then. If there is no more progress or it reverts to the starting point once again, we know it's not the head but the ink supply, right?
Piezoflush, from inkjetmall is a good, known product, and when I ordered, it arrived in the UK, in three days (along with the full piezography DN inkset :).
You'll need to pay import duties, but this stuff is a little short of miraculous. I've resurrected a 4800 that had sat in an airconditioned / heated room for the best part of five years, with this.
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This thread gives me an idea for a Luminous Landscape project / article / tutorial video.
How about a tutorial on "Fixing Seriously Clogged" Epson (and other?) printers? Perhaps an interview with an Epson technician to discuss how the darn things work, and how to perform "user maintenance" properly. Tech could discuss / demonstrate head, damper, wiper replacement also and "what to expect" when the tech shows up at the studio for a repair. Then a "Part 2" where Piezoflush is used (and other magic techniques) to solve problems. Obviously a disclaimer would precede "doing this yourself at home" - but having said that, this could be a really valuable contribution as opposed to tossing a printer on the trash heap as some have done. I know there's a lot of stuff on YouTube, but who knows the quality / sanity of some of what is proposed? The collective expertise of some of the LULA folk, combined with the clout to get Epson to speak to the issues, could provide at least a sound and comprehensive approach to raising the Epson "Lazarus Models" from the dead. :-)
Maybe the grand finale could be Jeff Schewe, in appropriate flamboyant shirt, smashing the heck out of a printer that refuses the command to rise! (Kinda kidding, but maybe not fully.)
Rand
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My first post in here so a quick hello, great forums by the way. I bought 4800 stylus pro recently, we took it out of storage where it had been for a couple of years. Ran a couple of cleaning cycles and it was still 2 colours down. So I kept the head over window cleaner soaked kitchen towel, did this for 5 days. Ran a cleaning cycle a couple of times, and it worked perfectly. I also keep the maintenance tank quite damp spraying a little water in it. I've learned that the printer spiders not like high humidity.
I use mine every few days, I usually do a nozzle check the yellow tends to show a problem, a quick nozzle clean sorts it out. Fantastic printer when it's running well. Just thought I would give you my experience, hope your get sorted.
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This thread gives me an idea for a Luminous Landscape project / article / tutorial video.
How about a tutorial on "Fixing Seriously Clogged" Epson (and other?) printers? Perhaps an interview with an Epson technician to discuss how the darn things work, and how to perform "user maintenance" properly. Tech could discuss / demonstrate head, damper, wiper replacement also and "what to expect" when the tech shows up at the studio for a repair. Then a "Part 2" where Piezoflush is used (and other magic techniques) to solve problems. Obviously a disclaimer would precede "doing this yourself at home" - but having said that, this could be a really valuable contribution as opposed to tossing a printer on the trash heap as some have done. I know there's a lot of stuff on YouTube, but who knows the quality / sanity of some of what is proposed? The collective expertise of some of the LULA folk, combined with the clout to get Epson to speak to the issues, could provide at least a sound and comprehensive approach to raising the Epson "Lazarus Models" from the dead. :-)
Maybe the grand finale could be Jeff Schewe, in appropriate flamboyant shirt, smashing the heck out of a printer that refuses the command to rise! (Kinda kidding, but maybe not fully.)
Rand
Interesting idea and perhaps useful to some who are mechanically very adept; but for a number of reasonable commercial and legal reasons, the probability of Epson or Canon going beyond what they publish in the user manual or tell you over the phone is pretty much zero.
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Interesting idea and perhaps useful to some who are mechanically very adept; but for a number of reasonable commercial and legal reasons, the probability of Epson or Canon going beyond what they publish in the user manual or tell you over the phone is pretty much zero.
Mark,
I figured as much . . . but hope springs eternal. I wonder if there are authorized Epson printer repair people who might be willing to share. Probably get their knuckles rapped by Epson, though, if they were "too honest"... (meant without cynicism).
Rand
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Maybe the grand finale could be Jeff Schewe, in appropriate flamboyant shirt, smashing the heck out of a printer that refuses the command to rise! (Kinda kidding, but maybe not fully.)
Rand
Or he could try this approach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv0onXhyLlE
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Or he could try this approach:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv0onXhyLlE
I think we've all come close to doing that to our printers at some time or other! :)
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Mark,
I figured as much . . . but hope springs eternal. I wonder if there are authorized Epson printer repair people who might be willing to share. Probably get their knuckles rapped by Epson, though, if they were "too honest"... (meant without cynicism).
Rand
I think service providers would be allowed to say whatever they want that isn't covered by any non-disclosure agreements or similar.
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The current debate and legal battles over "right to repair" is very interesting in this respect.
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What legal battles are you referring to Peter? I wasn't aware there is any such thing as a "right to repair". I would have thought any one can try to repair anything; whether they know what they are doing, or can get their hands on the requisite tools and supplies is of course another question. However, to become an officially authorized service person means that the person(s) must be trained enough and able to demonstrate a level of competence satisfactory to the dispenser of the authorization.
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Mark, the current battle over right to repair does indeed focus heavily on access to tools and parts. There is also insight required as to whether or not you're breaking a warranty by doing so.
Apple, as an example, is opening up a bit. They have started selling tools and parts to replace screens in iPhones as an example.
You can always go it on your own but there may be consequences.
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Mark, the current battle over right to repair does indeed focus heavily on access to tools and parts. There is also insight required as to whether or not you're breaking a warranty by doing so.
Yes Ron, I can see that being an issue. The companies often won't sell proprietary materials to unauthorized parties. They probably have a legal right to do that. And companies often specify what kind of intervention on their products will void the warranty. I would think this is also within their rights, and people undertaking unauthorized repairs are responsible to understand the limits. So I remain somewhat perplexed about the legal cases Peter mentions. Perhaps he'll explain.
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Yes Ron, I can see that being an issue. The companies often won't sell proprietary materials to unauthorized parties. They probably have a legal right to do that. And companies often specify what kind of intervention on their products will void the warranty. I would think this is also within their rights, and people undertaking unauthorized repairs are responsible to understand the limits. So I remain somewhat perplexed about the legal cases Peter mentions. Perhaps he'll explain.
Mark,
the issue is that companies argue that repair manuals are intellectual property and can only be distributed to those who are 'certified' repair persons by that company. Nikon was infamous for this in times past; don't know what it is like today. The voiding of the warranty is a read herring; obviously a 'certified' repair person is backed by the company if he/she screws up the repair. The fact that an individual wants to bear that responsibility should be OK as long as it is clear to them that the product may no longer be covered in the event they screw up. Because Epson have been so closed regarding repairs of their printers we have had long threads here on how to do things (including the huge tread by Eric on how to resuscitate a 7800 (I think that was the printer model)).
I don't by the argument about selling things to "unauthorized" parties. Heck, they sell printers to anyone who wants to buy one. Printers are merely a conglomeration of parts (though it would be expensive to start an Epson parts story by purchasing and stripping a bunch of printers for parts).
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Mark,
the issue is that companies argue that repair manuals are intellectual property and can only be distributed to those who are 'certified' repair persons by that company. Nikon was infamous for this in times past; don't know what it is like today. The voiding of the warranty is a read herring; obviously a 'certified' repair person is backed by the company if he/she screws up the repair. The fact that an individual wants to bear that responsibility should be OK as long as it is clear to them that the product may no longer be covered in the event they screw up. Because Epson have been so closed regarding repairs of their printers we have had long threads here on how to do things (including the huge tread by Eric on how to resuscitate a 7800 (I think that was the printer model)).
I don't by the argument about selling things to "unauthorized" parties. Heck, they sell printers to anyone who wants to buy one. Printers are merely a conglomeration of parts (though it would be expensive to start an Epson parts story by purchasing and stripping a bunch of printers for parts).
Alan, I find this portrayal of the situation unusual in the sense that:
(1) Epson service manuals are created by Epson and therefore they are Epson IP. Furthermore, they were not created to be safely usable without training. They were written to COMPLEMENT the training of printer technicians. I know this, because I have discussed it with someone who authored one or more of those manuals. And I've been advised of their copyright and distribution status. So this isn't an "issue" - it's just a matter of legal and operational fact.
(2) I would like you to point me to the law in the US that would obligate Epson to sell machinery components to unauthorized parties. As far as I know, a company is within its legal rights to do this, whether we like it or not.
(3) Epson is not closed to the repair of their printers. They have contracted with (and trained) a service network to do this - what people think of it is another talk-show - opinions are all over the place, but it's available to repair the printers. The long thread by Eric occurred because Eric decided that he wanted to do this himself and not involve the authorized service facility. That of course was his choice, he was courageous, it was educational for himself and many readers, even humourous at times, and Epson never prevented him from embarking on this odyssey.
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I have attached a nozzle check image, I was able to get an even better pattern yesterday evening but I couldn't find the print right now. As you can see, the middle where the pattern is broken has some dirt spots. This is where I think the printer might want to print but probably can't build enough pressure? After the print - clean - print -clean marathon yesterday there were only 2-3 rows of lines missing, the others were good. Even the bulging borders (deflections?) were straight. But then, after the night, back to square one.
So I am really not sure if the print head is dead, because it WAS able to print yesterday. If the head was fried, it wouldn't have changed the pattern, or am I wrong?
Hi there, thanks for posting that image. In my experience, this is exactly diagnostic of a failed (or failing) print head. I've annotated those "bulging borders" in red circles, see attached. Whenever I've seen those (and I've seen them quite a few times), it has proved out that the head was done for. I believe it's a physical failure of the head surface. As you continue to try to clean and print with the printer, this area eventually will just "fail hard", and probably will grow in size. If some of the lines are coming and going right now, it's probably just earlier in the failure cycle.
Now, if you want to learn things about rehabbing a printer, I would never say don't bother to do the things described in this thread and elsewhere in order to get to grips with a bunch of printer maintenance tasks. You'll definitely learn a lot through the process. I just believe that you'll ultimately find yourself replacing the head, if you want to get this printer working. If the budget for doing that is workable, then it's just some extra time and cost to do the other activities first, and then proceed with the head replacement as need be.
Note that Epson has not designed a head replacement to be a user service kind of thing. Even if you buy the head and are technically accomplished enough to do the actual replacement (which is a bit involved), there are some other things that go with it beyond just installing the new head. These include making a few adjustments using a specialized Windows-only maintenance software program that's not normally available to us users.
I'm comfortable doing quite a lot of maintenance on our fleet of Epson printers, including some fairly involved parts replacement tasks that involve a lot of disassembly. But I don't do head replacements myself... I get Epson authorized techs to do them. YMMV of course. :)
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Hi Royce,
I believe you are correct about all that, possibly except for one thing: what to do about a head failure. You have laid out one option, which is to replace it. Let us take into account that the Epson 4900 is now an outdated model, replaced by the SC-P5000, key advantages of which I outlined in my review on this website. And this particular 4900 was purchased second-hand posing the risk of other problems waiting to happen with no warranty. Around here, a new head for a 4900 costs about $1500 plus the service call and installation time. By the time all that gets paid for, one is dangerously close to the cost of a new SC-P5000 with a one year warranty and 800 ml of an improved inkset. Once I saw myself into endless cleaning cycles, I donated my five-year old 4900 to the Electronic Recycling Association here in Canada. I think CrazyPugLady has a choice of two options based on your diagnosis and it's pretty clear to me, at least, which is likely the more prospective.
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There are no hard-and-fast rules about printer repairing, as proven by Mark Lindquist's experiences. There are people in the printer user world who have all the technical skills to deal with complex machinery like printers, and then some.
Sometimes such a person will seek out others who are like minded users and it's of little help to hear again about intellectual property and the rights and wrongs of having access to service manuals.
Many skilled folk borrow manuals in the engineering world and that isn't illegal. (e.g. The Public Lending Right in the UK.)
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There are no hard-and-fast rules about printer repairing, as proven by Mark Lindquist's experiences. There are people in the printer user world who have all the technical skills to deal with complex machinery like printers, and then some.
Sometimes such a person will seek out others who are like minded users and it's of little help to hear again about intellectual property and the rights and wrongs of having access to service manuals.
Many skilled folk borrow manuals in the engineering world and that isn't illegal. (e.g. The Public Lending Right in the UK.)
Don't shoot the messenger, but I'm only telling you that in the particular case of Epson service manuals, they are Epson's IP, and like it or not, we have been reliably advised previously in this Forum that the ones in the public domain are there illegally (bootlegged). Of course nothing has prevented mechanically savvy people from buying one of those bootlegged manuals and repairing their printers - no one is going to be apprehended for it; but that doesn't change the legal status of the manual. It just means people are working around it. I'm not passing judgment on the "rights" or "wrongs", I'm just pointing out the legal position in the context of a discussion with Alan about court cases purportedly resulting from the company exercising the kind of control it does over this aspect of its after-sales programs. Given how long this has been going on and the absence of a successful challenge to date as far as I know, I suspect they are within their rights. But you're right - that doesn't help people with DIY repair intentions. In this regard, of course one also wants to consider what is worthwhile doing from a purely practical perspective. In the particular case under discussion in this thread, even if the person had the manual, the technical skill and a replacement printhead etc., it's by no means clear that it's worthwhile putting that kind of time and money into this machine.
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Hi Royce,
I believe you are correct about all that, possibly except for one thing: what to do about a head failure. You have laid out one option, which is to replace it. [...]
Yes, Mark, quite true. I caveated that option if the owner wished to get this particular printer working and/or wanted the experience of rehabbing a printer. Obviously buying a new printer would sidestep the whole issue of repairing this one, and provide a new manufacturer warranty, etc. Although at a higher cost; budget was stated as a constraint in the original post.
I didn't offer an opinion on what I'd recommend doing, but in fact if it was me I would not choose to replace a 4900 head. In my experience the x900 series simply has too dodgy of a track record in particular with head failures. I personally would not spend a significant fraction of a new printer purchase cost to repair any x900. It galls me to say that, because I hate the modern culture of disposable tools. I love to tinker and maintain my kit, and I try to keep good gear running as long as I can. But the x900 series is fatally flawed in my opinion, and I wouldn't be prepared to spend much to keep one going...
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Guys, I think you are right. The head is failing. I've been trying to clear the pattern again by printing and cleaning, but so far, it *always* improves a bit but then snaps back to the starting point. Damnit. :-(
What to do now? I don't know. It's a shame because I'm a bit in love with this printer. Now I can't imagine going back to my cute little Pixma Pro 9500 MK II.
A new head is around 800€ here, and I am pretty confident I could install it myself. I have the Service Program and I know where to enter the new head ID. But the question is... is it worth it?
I see the new P-5000 is currently costing around 2000€. Sure that's a big load of money.... Does anybody know how reliable these are? Is the clogging still the dreading issue or did they improve the head designs? I don't want to spend 2K on a new printer and then it keeps on clogging, clogging, clogging. Surely, I am not a heavy user but I'm also not going to let it sit idle for more than a few days. I have stuff to print on a regular basis but not daily.
Different thought I have:
Would it be possible to convert it to an 8-color-printer somehow? All other channels are working, wouldn't it be possible to ditch the orange, fill the cart with black and *somehow* tell the printing software that all the blacks are orange now (you know, orange is the new black anyway :D )? Yeah, I know that's maybe a pain in the butt to do but it hurts my heart to throw away a perfectly nice printer just because of those few failing nozzles....
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On your "further thought" - fuggetaboutit.
Having the service manual is no guarantee of success in replacing the head. I've been reliably informed from more than one very knowledgeable source that it wasn't written for untrained people and may not be a complete enough substitute for training. Of course if it didn't cost anything except some time to try, nothing to lose trying, but there is - you're taking a risk with 800 Euros. If you'd be happy to settle for eight inks, your least cost and perhaps most advantageous alternative would be to buy a P800. The inkset is more up-to-date, it makes beautiful prints and is much less sensitive to usage rates than was the 4900. The SC-P5000 is too new on the market to have accumulated a sufficient track-record on longer-term reliability in respect of clogging behaviour. Anything I have to say about that is in my review, but it makes no predictions.
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Replacing the 4900's head would be worth it if that's your budget limit, and you're confident you can do that service task, and the new head doesn't fail very quickly. Unfortunately, the latter is not guaranteed. That's why I wouldn't repair an x900... the heads essentially can fail at any time, and the amount of usage is not a factor that determines when or if they fail. If you're prepared to keep putting heads in the machine, then go for it... it's your lowest cost way to get a machine of this caliber going right now today, based on what you've already got in hand.
Switching out the inks as you describe, to work around a failed channel, would only be possible with very high-end RIP software that allows you to allocate different hardware channels to different inks, and then create custom profiles to control the rendering the image file to ink on paper. RIP software like that will cost as much as buying a new printer, so it's not really an option if budget is already the constraint in dealing with fixing the hardware.
The new Epson printers (with the exception of the P10000 and P20000) appear to use nearly or identically the same head technology as found in the x900. I've seen some early reports already of head failures on the new SureColors. So I'm personally afraid they will continue in the same pattern as the x900's, but I hope I'm wrong.
As for clogging, that's a separate issue. In my experience, effectively all Epson printers clog and you simply have to combat it if it affects you. (This includes the new P10000 and P20000 which we're running.) Not everybody has the same degree of clogging issues, due to some combination of environment conditions, workload, and perhaps luck. :)
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In Germany you can buy a new P-800 for 1048 EURO, or a Canon Pro-1000 for 1187 Euro. I have reviewed both of them on this website, as have several others on other websites. I recommend that you evaluate these options. I think either one of them would end-up being better value than plunking 800 plus the time and effort into a failing 4900.
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You guys are great! Thanks to every single one of you, you are so helpful!
I soaked the head on a towel with the RED:CLEAN print head cleaner over night, just because I wanted to see what happens. Guess what: It recovered a lot. How funny. I am almost sure it's going to snap back later today, unfortunately.
Royce, which RIP Software would be able to do this? Actually, it could be done on a software basis probably? Quad Tone RIP has those purge swatches with the color values responding to specific channels. Wouldn't it be possible to convert certain colors in photoshop (as spot colors or sth.) and then just let another printer channel handle it? The printer wouldn't know it's not printing black but orange (or other way round).
Need to think about it a bit.
As for the Canon printer... I took a gooood, very good look at it but I think I'd miss the roll printing. So the P-800 it is then, with roll attachment. Bit sad about the missing cutter, and hugely sad about tossing my 4900. If only the orange channel was dead, not the black one... Such a waste! I wish I'd find another 4900 with a good head but broken mainboard or something. So I could swap the head for less than 800 €.
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Aaaaand... it snapped back to where it started.
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Decision time.
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Are the print heads for the 7900 and the 4900 the same heads? I know somebody with a dead 7900, with a broken mainboard ;D
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They would probably need to be identical in every respect and I'm not sure that's the case. For example, the 4900 head sits at a 90 degree angle to the paper, whereas for the larger model the head sits at a slant. I really don't know if this makes a difference to the attachments. Someone who has gotten into both machines may know - I haven't. The core technology is the same but that isn't good enough for you - you need to know if it's an exact fit in all respects.
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You are right... They also have different part numbers. Meh :-(
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That may or may not be decisive, but admittedly not a good omen. Perhaps call Epson service facility, they may tell you for sure whether the parts are interchangeable.
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I think I'll go with the Canon iPF5100. They go from 1300€ new and they bring almost everything that got me hooked on the Epson....
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I think I'll go with the Canon iPF5100. They go from 1300€ new and they bring almost everything that got me hooked on the Epson....
Seven year old technology, and discontinued product in North America. Unless you absolutely need a roll holder you'd be better off with a Canon Pro-1000; if you need roll-holding an Epson SC-P800.
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The head's not the problem. It keeps returning to a working state, so it's not faulty.
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Phil, based on whatever you've seen in this thread up to this point, what do you now think are the mostly likely reasons why the nozzle check keeps reverting to an unsatisfactory state?
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I think I'll go with the Canon iPF5100. They go from 1300€ new and they bring almost everything that got me hooked on the Epson....
If you are an assiduous B&W printer you may wish to consider converting your printer to a Piezography based printer. The boys and girls at Inkjet mall can advise you how to do this.
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I want to thank all contributors for this thread. It helped me decide at first to ditch my old 4900, which lost its magenta channel. Then I found the post about using it as a BW printer. That sounds worth while exploring.
Great forum......
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Seven year old technology, and discontinued product in North America. Unless you absolutely need a roll holder you'd be better off with a Canon Pro-1000; if you need roll-holding an Epson SC-P800.
But the Epson 4900 is old technology too, and it's wonderful (while it works) :-)
What I need is:
- Roll holder and - that would be nice - auto cut
- Paper cassette so I don't have to feed ever single sheet by hand (of course not working for some papers b/c of thickness)
If I remember correctly, neither the Pro 1000 nor the P800 offer this, right?
I would really go for the P5000 (the "new" Epson 4900) in a heartbeat but I'm afraid it will clog and die when I'm not using it permanently. I heard the head technology is the same, so I'm expecting head clogs and failures to be fairly common. I'm not a print studio owner. I do print on a regular basis and my clients order prints very regularly. But there can be a week with no printing when I'm busy with other things. Or maybe two weeks when I'm booked out of town or in the very rare case that I'm on vacation. I really don't want to have a 2000€ Printer die on me after 2 years and "light" usage. It needs to work at least 3 years to be profitable.
The Canon IPF 5100 does fit into my planned budget and so far offers everything I need. Yes, it may be "old" technology but the print quality is good, right?
The Canon Pro 2000 also really looks like a lovely machine. It's way over my current budget but I could probably work on this (save, sell my soul to the devil, photograph weddings...). It's bigger than my current printer, which is awesome, but also the downside, because I don't even know if I can get this beast into my office (old house from 1900 with tight doors and up in the 3rd floor...).
Now, back to my old Epson 4900, there is something else I noticed:
I upgraded to the newest firmware a few days ago and it now performs an auto nozzle check all the time (haven't yet found the option to turn it off...). While it was complaining about the clogged MK nozzles a few days back, after I started with the cleaning and printing procedure, it doesn't complain anymore. It doesn't "see" the nonworking MK nozzles as clogged. The pattern still has a lot of missing spots, though. Does this scream "fried head" or "failing pump" at you?
Maybe I should just order a new pump station and take it apart just for the fun of it. Now, that I decided I need a new one anyway, I could as well just try my luck with a screw driver...
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You're right - there's nothing necessarily unusable about older technology just because it's been superseded. The context here, however, is that you are on the cusp of deciding whether to buy another printer and if so what model, so it's an opportunity to take advantage of better print technology at the same time. I had a 4900 for five years until I had to ditch it, and while it lasted it made excellent prints. It's just that the inkset is superior for the P800 and the P5000, resulting in deeper Black capability, more permanent Yellow, and they say improvements to Orange and Green in the case of the P5000, as well as improved protection from clogging.
On the subject of clogging, I've had a P5000 in my office since April 1st, and it is now mid-June. This is too short a time period for coming to firm conclusions, but I have found with judicious settings for maintenance management that I described in my review, it's actually pretty good, and I have purposely left it unused for up to eight or ten days to see what happens. Yes, it needs cleaning cycles, but the printer handles them internally and satisfactorily. If you have a preference for roll-holding with in-built cutting mechanism, then this is the preferred model for you.
But before you do that, "Farmer" has doubted here - more than once - that you have a print head problem. He's consistently right about this kind of stuff so when he offers that opinion I take it seriously. Assuming he's right this time as well, the next most likely culprits are impurities remaining in the lines from your use of cleaning solutions, or failure with the pump/capping/damper assemblies. If the problem is confined to the Black channel (right?), it leans much more to the damper. The two assemblies can be replaced and they would life-extend the printer. But before going that route, I would suggest thoroughly purging the lines leading to the clogged channels using nothing but ink. Check the website of Marrutt USA (http://www.marruttusa.com/printer/support/epson-stylus-pro-4900-help.php) for further insight on dealing with this; it has extensive resources on the 4900.
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On the subject of clogging, I've had a P5000 in my office since April 1st, and it is now mid-June. This is too short a time period for coming to firm conclusions, but I have found with judicious settings for maintenance management that I described in my review, it's actually pretty good, and I have purposely left it unused for up to eight or ten days to see what happens. Yes, it needs cleaning cycles, but the printer handles them internally and satisfactorily. If you have a preference for roll-holding with in-built cutting mechanism, then this is the preferred model for you.
The thing I'm a bit afraid of, is, the printer becoming another "pet" to care for :-)
Think tamagotchi... I don't have any problem with a weekly maintenance routine, like cleaning the wiper, flushpad, capping station, paper path.... But I don't want to make a total fuzz about printing. Nozzle check, clean, another nozzle check, another clean, printing 3 sheets, seeing a clog, doing another clean, another nozzle check, print some more, repeat. I know printers need some love and attention, but I don't want one that gives me more grey hairs than my actual pets do :-)
Maybe Epson printers are very reliable and trouble free. And maybe I have the wrong impression because I bought a second hand troublesome machine. But currently, after reading so much about them, they appear a bit fussy. If the printer heads were 500€ each and user replaceable, no problem. But with them being at least double the price and non user replaceable, I am just a bit in panic about a premature head failure.
On my current 4900:
I'm not 100% sure how to proceed from here. I now saw that the head can recover quite a bit, although I have never seen it print a perfect pattern (3 lines keep missing). That means I could replace the pump/selector unit and still have a dead head. Who knows.
What I need to test it is a new selector unit and - the bad thing - new ink cartridges. With around 85€ a pop, this isn't so cheap to find out.
If I interpret the service manual right, I need to do an ink eject on all inks, then change the selector unit with the dampers, and then do a new initial ink charge. That will burn through approximately 80-100ml of ink per cartridge, twice. At least 5 to 6 or the cartridges would need to be replaced for this. Muchos €€€ for just trying my luck. I COULD probably buy some cheap refill ink set for 300€ for this purpose (mainly, because I could continue using the carts with other, much higher quality Lyson inks for example), but if the nozzle pattern still doesn't improve after it, I have probably blown the money.
I guess I need to have another night of sleep over the decision. :-)
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I have an intuition that your 4900 is going to require long-term TLC - more than you would care to opt-in for. I also have an intuition that spending ANY MORE THAN the cost of one PK (or MK) and one LK ink cartridge to thoroughly clean-out that channel pair is quite likely a case of throwing good money after bad. That said, here is what I suggest before you buy anything else:
(1) Make sure you have enough genuine Epson ink in the PK (or MK) and LK cartridges to do many power cleans, and focus on cleaning the PK or MK/LK channel pair only. Download the Marrutt USA purge pages for those two inks. Use cheap paper like Epson UPPM for the printing. Do this three, maximum four times in a row per day for the next week: Print the purge pages. Power clean the channel pair. Reprint a nozzle check. If clogs show, reprint the purge pages, re-power-clean the channel pair. Do this cycle no more than three or four times in one day and then let the printer rest over night. Keep this up for at least a week or two, always doing the nozzle checks to track progress.
(2) If after a week or two of this, there isn't sustained success, I believe the next step is to replace the damper and see whether that works (about 200 dollars here in Canada).
(3) If after replacing the damper and running enough ink through it to get the whole pipeline properly filled, it is still not working properly, replace the pump assembly (about another 200 dollars here in Canada).
(4) Up to now, two possibilities: [a] you could have wasted about 600 dollars on ink and parts (plus time) if none of this works, either because (i) you just aren't proficient enough at doing correctly what a trained technician can do, or (ii) the problem really is in the printhead after all. Alternatively, if you do succeed, you have restored the printer at least incremental cost.
(5) In the case of [a] I think your obvious choice based on the feature set you say you prefer and your space and budget considerations, is to buy a new P5000. Recall, it comes with a one year warranty extendable for a price to three.
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I think I'll go with the Canon iPF5100. They go from 1300€ new and they bring almost everything that got me hooked on the Epson....
The 5100 is the only 17" fully pro-featured challenge to the p800, with all the features of the 4900 and more (eg full time PK/MK blacks), and why Canon chose to eliminate the roll feed on the "Pro" 1000 is beyond me. After 11 years - first five with the iPF5000, and in the sixth with 5100's (my second a year ago), looking at its output, be it subtle pastels, in-your-face colors, or stunning B/W, I see absolutely no reason to covet a new generation 17".
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Mark - I'm still back at the ink path and/or the cleaning unit. Those are things that create recoverable problems, either due to leaks or build ups or just general age eventually.
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Good morning folks,
weird things happen, so it seems.
First, after discussing the printer situation with my husband, we agreed on a higher budget than I initially thought. Yeah, it's my business and my money, but I discuss every purchase bigger than €500 with him, to rule out any case of Gear Acquisition Syndrome or "Oh it's so shiny I need it!" in the first place. But he is fine with it, wow :-)
The 4900 must have heard the discussions about bringing it to the recycling center, because the head started to improve again (without me doing anything but researching new printers). So now, I'm giving it the "cleaner on a towel under the head" treatment again for the day. Let's see if this does anything.
Going through my pile of purge pages, I DO notice an improvement. It started with badly overspraying the purge patches, which stopped completely. I now have around 3 lines in the nozzle check pattern missing, which are quite sturdy. No overspray but still, faint banding. The banding could also be an issue of misalignment. But before fiddling with the alignment, I hope to clear the head a little more.
*IF* the head improves further, I will go for the new capping station, new ink selector and new inks in general. If there is no more improvement over the next days, that's gonna be the end of the cleaning efforts.
The thought of converting it to a black and white machine is really tempting, but I don't know if it will get much usage. I do the most printing for my clients, and some stuff for my portfolio or my personal work. But I guess not enough to keep it healthy.
Let's see, wish me luck :-)
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I think if you would just do, in the order given, what I recommended in Reply 56 it will be your best bet. (BTW, I don't know how a couple of sentences ended up being in bold type; I just tried to eliminate that, but it's still there. Oh well..)
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Mark - I'm still back at the ink path and/or the cleaning unit. Those are things that create recoverable problems, either due to leaks or build ups or just general age eventually.
I'm with you based on your assessment of the condition of the printhead, hence the content of my Reply #56, which springs from a lot of previous experience and discussion of this issue with people well-trained on these machines.
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I'm with you based on your assessment of the condition of the printhead, hence the content of my Reply #56, which springs from a lot of previous experience and discussion of this issue with people well-trained on these machines.
I do what you told me to ;-)
However, I have printed DOZENS of purge pages already and I noticed some smearing from all the ink. So I'm cleaning the head with the towel a little. Then, back to print - clean - check - repeat.
Edit:
Is there a limit of power cleans the head can take altogether? I know I shouldn't do more than 3 a day and always print the purge patches in between, but how long can I keep this up? Will this damage the head in a week? or is the power clean "safe" over a long period IF pages are printed in between?
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I do what you told me to ;-)
However, I have printed DOZENS of purge pages already and I noticed some smearing from all the ink. So I'm cleaning the head with the towel a little. Then, back to print - clean - check - repeat.
Edit:
Is there a limit of power cleans the head can take altogether? I know I shouldn't do more than 3 a day and always print the purge patches in between, but how long can I keep this up? Will this damage the head in a week? or is the power clean "safe" over a long period IF pages are printed in between?
No - I didn't "tell" you - I "recommended" - I can never "tell" people what to do. We're all mature adults here :-)
I don't know that there is a safe limit to the number of days you can repeat this menu of three a day with prints in between the cleanings; especially as this is a resale printer whose prior usage and its effects are not known here. I suggested a week or so, which a head in reasonably good condition should be able to sustain from what I've learned. Ideally one wants to keep it to the minimum necessary, the alternative being to call in a technician to do a thorough purge and replenishment of the most badly affected lines - it's a bit of a complicated procedure. Phil - if you are reading this you may well have a more informed view on the question.
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https://youtu.be/yyVRONzrCV8 is worth looking at regarding nozzle clogs on Epson 4900
Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
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Don't hammer the power cleans. You actually want to more slowly move the ink through to clear the lines, but that will only help if the cleaning station is working properly (cap, wiper, etc.). Well, and if there are air bubbles or other materials in the lines, of course.
Given the constant improvement being seen, Mark's regime is ideal. It just takes time.
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Just not sure why the printer snaps back to the "bad" state so often. I noticed that the cleaner under the towel made it better, but printing purge pages made it worse again. After some rest, it sometimes recovers, sometimes doesn't. Maybe this is a pressure related issue. The towel sucks out a little ink and keeps the suction up maybe? Then, after printing, the pressure changes? I have no idea. However, the bulging borders don't look like deflections anymore. After this much of cleaning, the surface of the head should be squeaky sparkling clean. Maybe the head is really failing.
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If the head recovers, it's not failing.
The pressure within the head itself doesn't affect the general pressure in the lines or supply of ink into the damper - the piezo-driven channels simply doesn't create that level of pressure/suction. This appears to be related to ink supply and/or cleaning.
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If the head recovers, it's not failing.
The pressure within the head itself doesn't affect the general pressure in the lines or supply of ink into the damper - the piezo-driven channels simply doesn't create that level of pressure/suction. This appears to be related to ink supply and/or cleaning.
Yes, but so far it hasn't fully recovered. The "best" I could get it was 3 missing lines. Of course it's better than half of the pattern missing, but these bulging borders are really looking suspicious. What could probably cause them? I thought it was dirt on the outside or entrance of the nozzles. But now I'm not so sure.
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If there are some nozzles that never recover (i.e. they're identically missing on every single nozzle check), then it is possible that the head has a problem, but with major portions of it recovering and then failing it's more likely to be another cause.
Do you have pictures of these bulges? I don't recall seeing any in the thread so far?
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Yes, on the bottom pattern, the outer "rims" of this channel have these bulges.
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OK - that could be damage to the head or just some very stuck on detritus that isn't cleaning.
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These checks are from this morning. First one straight after the towel soak and the second one just now after printing a few purge patches.
As you can see, these deflections on the left side also got straighter. But the pattern is very jumpy, goes from half channel dead to 3/4th of the pattern fine, and back. There are 3 lines in the pattern that would never change. Also, the deflection (bulges) go from barely there to "omg, what's this?!" fairly quickly.
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OK, the ones that never change - that's a sign of a potential head issue. It's possible they can be recovered, but they may have failed or be unrecoverable. The moving bulge suggests poor or inconsistent cleaning by the mechanism.
I had been under the impression that you didn't have a lot of nozzles that never recovered. Based on those images and what you've said now, that's not the case. There is a real risk that the head is not going to be recoverable, but there is likely an issue with the cleaning hardware (more likely than issues with the lines), and the damper may also need replacement :(
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I was hoping to find out if the missing nozzles come back or not, but so far, they haven't moved, not even with the towel-under-the-head-method. Not a good sign, I see.
I think trying to fix it further would be too expensive. New capping station, new ink selector, new inks... I think I'll leave this machine for now. Maybe I'll keep it for b/w, maybe I'm trying to sell it. Not sure yet.... Thanks so far everybody! You have been SUCH a great help!
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Based on what Phil is now saying having seen the most recent evidence from your nozzle checks, if it were me, I would do one more week of the cleaning/printing procedure I recommended (without buying anything, as long as you enough ink left) and if it doesn't clear-up the problem, I'd be sending this printer to a recycling facility and buying a new one - we've discussed already.
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Based on what Phil is now saying having seen the most recent evidence from your nozzle checks, if it were me, I would do one more week of the cleaning/printing procedure I recommended (without buying anything, as long as you enough ink left) and if it doesn't clear-up the problem, I'd be sending this printer to a recycling facility and buying a new one - we've discussed already.
Sounds good. I'll report back in a week :-)
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So far, no changes. The black channel nozzle pattern keeps changing, but never improves over a certain point.
I have now ran through a half matte black cartridge, a half photo black cartridge and one complete waste tank.
I scored some other Epson 4900 print head from a dead machine, it may be broken, or not. It was cheapo, so it's not much waste.
Even though I already decided to get a new printer (either IPF 5100 or Pro 2000), I may keep the Epson to toy around with it.
My "master plan" is now:
- Get a new ink selector or even just new dampers.
- Get empty refill cartridges, fill them with destilled water and a drip of pigment ink (so they have a little color).
- Ink eject, damper repair, ink charge with water.
- Print a pattern
- Works? Good!
- Doesn't work? Try the other head.
- Doesn't work either? Ink eject, buy piezography ink system, map out non working channel, enjoy.
I am currently a bit busy so that's going to be my autumn or even winter project.
I'll keep you guys updated if I repaired or accidently killed it afterwards :-)
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Hello folks,
I am really sorry to revive this "dead" thread. But there is a question I would like to ask you.
I have been able to get rid of the banding issues I had by doing the manual head alignment. I didn't expect much of it, I just wanted to see how it works. The LLK was off a lot and caused the banding. That's funny because the black channels are having the issues with the broken pattern.
It's great that it worked though because now I can print smaller formats in really good quality as there are no printhead issues visible.
But this also makes me wonder...
I have attached the alignment pages and as you can see, the printing quality towards the end of the pages really suffers. Distorted lines, some parts missing almost completely. That really looks messed up. This must be the part of the print head where the damage is.
But when I do 'real' prints, the effect is not visible. Yes, of course, it may be because the black is mixed with the other colors, too, but: If the printhead is damaged, why are these damages appearing ONLY towards the bottom of the pages? Why not over the whole pages? The printhead is kinda small, it needs a lot of passes over a letter sized sheet. Why aren't the damages visible in a regular pattern, for example every 2 inches (or whatever the height of the head is)?
Any ideas? Sorry, I don't want to bother you, I am just curious and I would like to understand this machine. I don't have high hopes in terms of fixing it, but I would like to understand what's happening.
Thank you and kind regards!
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There may be more wrong with that printer than the print-head issues we've been discussing above, but what this is I have no idea. My remaining thought is as it had been - if it were me, time is my scarcest/most valuable resource, while money comes and goes (mostly goes) - early on I would have written this printer off as a sunk cost and unfortunate experience and bought a new printer. Short term pain; but amortized over time, long term gain.
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Yes Mark, I agree on that, I am not trying to fix it. But it still has some ink in it, and it prints those smaller prints quite well. So why not try to get some money back from the machine, while I'm saving for the new printer? Better put this one to a good use as long as it lasts, than having to send out my prints to the lab who charge at least 3-4 times than my cost. At least this is what I think. I just printed a few jobs on 5x7 paper and paid 23€ for the paper. The lab would have charged me 55€ for the same job. Plus, I can do it from my home while doing other work and surfing the web in my pyjamas ;D
Much better than relay on an external lab. So as long as it prints and there is some ink left, I'm going to squeeze it from it ;-)
Just super curious of the printer's mechanics and everything behind it. That's why I'm hoping to find some answers from you experienced folks.
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Sure - if it's meeting your needs alright in some tasks, why not. I just wasn't getting that impression from your documentation of its problems.