Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: mcbroomf on April 17, 2020, 12:11:58 pm
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I've had an Epson P8000 for exactly 4 years now without any significant cleaning issues (Mass, so humid in the summer, normal spring/fall but dry in the winter). However it just developed an impossible to clean issue with LK.
It tried an auto clean yesterday and failed and the nozzle check showed 1/2 a dozen or more missing bars from 2 lines. I tried 5 cleans yesterday, 3 normal 2 heavy, LK and PK head only, result may be even a little worse. The manual recommends leaving it for 24 hours and trying again if it doesn't clear so I did, no change (heavy clean) today although I lost 1 bar on the Cyan head so cleaned all. Cyan cleaned up fine but again no change on the LK head. Image attached.
Any ideas? I have read (I think) just to keep trying more cleans, and I will, but wonder if there is anything else I could try. I am intermittently printing on it (2 yesterday, 1 today), just avoiding images with mid to dark continuous tones which I imagine might band.
Thanks
Mike
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Mike, have you considered wiping the printhead using some cleaning fluid? In this video (https://youtu.be/m8NkgKw7mDw) (at about 6:50) one can see the process. The video is about a larger printer, but that might work with a P800, too.
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Oh Mike I wish I could help but I think you know all the tricks. Might be worth trying the large format cleaning kit with Piezo Flush from Jon Cone.
My P8000 is running a different inset (dye sub ink) and fingers crossed it stays healthy.
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Mike, have you considered wiping the printhead using some cleaning fluid? In this video (https://youtu.be/m8NkgKw7mDw) (at about 6:50) one can see the process. The video is about a larger printer, but that might work with a P800, too.
Thanks, I will give that a try. The P8000 is a 44" printer so if it's similar enough to the ones in the video it may work.
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Oh Mike I wish I could help but I think you know all the tricks. Might be worth trying the large format cleaning kit with Piezo Flush from Jon Cone.
My P8000 is running a different inset (dye sub ink) and fingers crossed it stays healthy.
Thanks Dan, if the wipe does not work I'll try a flush.
PS. Lucky that I got that 40" square abstract printed just before this happened :)
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yes follow that inkjet mall video. They have a large studio full of Epsons of every size shape and generation.
First all do everything in that video. You don’t have to use piezoflush unless you have a big buildup, you can use a damp cloth with distilled water. Clean the bottom of the head, the entire cap station where the head sits, and also the wiper blade. Make sure none of your ink carts in these problem channels are low on ink. It has been my experience that the older the printer the more the pump seems to loose some pressure, which cleans the nozzles
If tyat cleaning doesn’t work you could buy a small bottle of piezo flush and apply it to the cap station and so cleaning and let it sit overnight..
If none of this works probably either the dampers are clogged, which filter the ink before it gets to the head ( that’s an inexpensive part ); or the pump cap assembly might need replacing. Buy looking at the nozzle check you don’t have a de laminated head. So you probably have some dried ink somewhere.
Thanks Dan, if the wipe does not work I'll try a flush.
PS. Lucky that I got that 40" square abstract printed just before this happened :)
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yes follow that inkjet mall video. They have a large studio full of Epsons of every size shape and generation.
First all do everything in that video. You don’t have to use piezoflush unless you have a big buildup, you can use a damp cloth with distilled water. Clean the bottom of the head, the entire cap station where the head sits, and also the wiper blade. Make sure none of your ink carts in these problem channels are low on ink. It has been my experience that the older the printer the more the pump seems to loose some pressure, which cleans the nozzles
If tyat cleaning doesn’t work you could buy a small bottle of piezo flush and apply it to the cap station and so cleaning and let it sit overnight..
If none of this works probably either the dampers are clogged, which filter the ink before it gets to the head ( that’s an inexpensive part ); or the pump cap assembly might need replacing. Buy looking at the nozzle check you don’t have a de laminated head. So you probably have some dried ink somewhere.
Thanks John, I'll give DI a go 1st ...
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The P8000 menu appears to be different to the older model in the video link above. When I turn on the machine into maintenance mode (bottom, center and right buttons depressed while turning the printer on) there is no maintenance option, and no wiper exchange. There's only "mecha adjustment" and "life" and I don't see anything obvious in mecha adjustment.
Has anyone done this on a Surecolour wide format printer and can point the way? I do recall with an older printer (HP I think) that you could unplug it during startup as the head moved when turned on and the head would stay unlocked. My plug isn't easily accessible (for quick access) so if I can do this through the menus I'd prefer it.
Thanks
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I found the procedure to uncap the station in this thread (post 42). Slightly different words in the menu now but more or less the same
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=118131.40
I didn't have any foam swabs so I left the capping station which did not look very dirty.
I pulled and cleaned the wiper blade (also did not look too dirty)
I cleaned the flushing box
I cleaned the head twice
On startup I got a 1439 error which was worrying. Had to power cycle 3 times to get rid of it.
On startup it ran a clean. I ran a double 14 balls image then a nozzle check but no change to the LLK.
Next I think is to get some of the cleaning agent in the video to see if I have some persistent dry ink on the head.
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BTW my LK ink level is OK, a little under 50%. My PK which shares the head is low though, maybe 10%'ish. I have read about low ink causing problems (on specific heads) but not on large format printers. Thoughts?
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Since your printer is not old and your head doesn’t look damaged and the other channels look normal, I don’t think your capping station or pump should need replacing. If after using the piezo flush you see the same I would replace the dampers. They can be gotten from Compas Micro. Always make sure printer is unplugged before doing any of this stuff. The black and gray channels are carbon so if the inks were sitting in there for awhile and you didn’t shake your cart, you can often see more clogs in those channels. If you haven’t tried printing a large 30x40 ish rectangle of light gray on some cheap paper a few times I would try that also before replacing dampers.
BTW my LK ink level is OK, a little under 50%. My PK which shares the head is low though, maybe 10%'ish. I have read about low ink causing problems (on specific heads) but not on large format printers. Thoughts?
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Since your printer is not old and your head doesn’t look damaged and the other channels look normal, I don’t think your capping station or pump should need replacing. If after using the piezo flush you see the same I would replace the dampers. They can be gotten from Compas Micro. Always make sure printer is unplugged before doing any of this stuff. The black and gray channels are carbon so if the inks were sitting in there for awhile and you didn’t shake your cart, you can often see more clogs in those channels. If you haven’t tried printing a large 30x40 ish rectangle of light gray on some cheap paper a few times I would try that also before replacing dampers.
Thanks for the additional suggestions. I ordered the cleaning fluid today. Not sure how long it will take to ship these days ...
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PS, what level of grey should I be printing to exercise the LK channel heavily if I have to do that?
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Light Gray
PS, what level of grey should I be printing to exercise the LK channel heavily if I have to do that?
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In PS there is only a mid-grey 50% option to fill with. Is that what you mean? Just wondering if it should be a little lighter or heaver for the LK channel.
Thanks
Mike
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Many ways you can do that. If it’s easier for you, fill with gray ( you can fill with less than 50 % ),or just make a levels layer to lighten whatever you fill with. This doesn’t have to be any exact percentage just lighten until you see some form of light gray on your screen. I would use something in the range of 10% - 15%. Do it in grayscale so you don’t use any light color.
If you don’t see any improvement after a couple of 30x40s it’s probably not going to help you. I would do this after applying the piezo flush and letting it sit there at least overnight. You want to put the piezo flush on the capping station and have it sucked into the head with one power cleanings, and let it sIt there for 12 hours or so. If you see an improvement but not full nozzle you can try it again. If you see no improvement personally I would stop and replace the dampers.
In PS there is only a mid-grey 50% option to fill with. Is that what you mean? Just wondering if it should be a little lighter or heaver for the LK channel.
Thanks
Mike
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You could try the printer purge file from Marrutt. I believe the RGB on the Light Black is 127/127/127.
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Thank you gents. I'll get a file ready to go. Just waiting on the Piezo Flush which I ordered yesterday, but running a daily with Qimage Ultimate to try to ensure it doesn't get worse and other heads don't develop a problem.
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The piezo flush arrived and I did another external head clean. The kit included some foam swabs for cleaning the capping station so I cleaned that as well this time. I also noticed some (telling?) grey particles on the white strip below the capping station. Possibly dried gray ink?
Once cleaned I ran a heavy clean of MK/LK (I had switched from PK) then a heavy clean of all inks and ran a nozzle check, but no joy, looks pretty much like the original clog.
I'm leaving it capped overnight and will try another clean tomorrow. If that doesn't work I guess I'll have to try the line flush.
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Ran a clean this am, then two 22x22 grayscale mid grey prints (I have 24" paper loaded), then a nozzle check. No change so I just cleaned the head and capping station again and I'm going to leave it to sit until this pm and try another clean, 4 grey patches and a nozzle check. If that doesn't show some change I'll see what I need to buy and do to flush the line with the Piezo Flush.
BTW no lines on my grey squares, is that expected? I would have thought I'd get some pretty bad lines from the missing nozzles, especially as just about a whole row is gone
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No change from the 2nd clean, sit, and many greyscale patches. I'm trying to find the single line P8000 flush kit from Inkjet Mall to buy for the next step.
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I received the cartridge flush kit a couple of days ago and had the chance to use it today. Even though many of you have way more experience with this than me I thought I'd put a few details down for reference.
For the Surecolor wide format printer you have to buy a single cartridge flush kit in parts rather than a kit which is offered for older models. Still I spoke to Wells at IJM and he had some pointers as well as knowing the parts I needed. I had originally bought a 350ml Piezoflush bottle and didn't buy any more as he told me it would be enough to charge the 700ml cartridge. I needed the chip, the cartridge, and a nozzle (which comes with a small syringe) to fit to the cartridge to prime it.
No issues filling and changing the cartridge except that a lot or air had to be pulled out of the cartridge as I was using so little ink. The original manual cleaning kit came with a large syringe but the tip I needed for pulling air came with a small one. It would have taken ages to pull the air with the smaller one (took about 8-10 "sucks" to get the ink changed with the bigger one). The video shows the instructor having to push down on a plastic part to click it in place before installing the chip but this doesn't seem to be necessary now.
Wells suggested either downloading the Adjustment program linked on their website (to 2Manuals.com) to do a Init Fill (which charges all the inks) or run a grey square to purge the LK I needed to clean. I started doing that with a 23x23 square on 24 paper, but no sign of the red flush after 6 squares to I bought the adjustment program and ran it (Win only and it gave a install warning which I overrode). After an interminable fill cycle I ran a nozzle check. The Piezoflush is very faint and I'm not 100% sure of the result but it looks like it may have improved a little, but the same blank lines may now have some flush lines on them, but are fainter than the other lines. I ran another square but I'm going to leave it overnight now and check it again tomorrow after a clean.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks
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That’s a good sign If you are seeing something. You may have had air in the line somehow. I would do one or two power pair cleans in maintenance- cleaning- menu. If you see no change stop with the head cleans and run a few more squares of that channel and let sit.
I received the cartridge flush kit a couple of days ago and had the chance to use it today. Even though many of you have way more experience with this than me I thought I'd put a few details down for reference.
For the Surecolor wide format printer you have to buy a single cartridge flush kit in parts rather than a kit which is offered for older models. Still I spoke to Wells at IJM and he had some pointers as well as knowing the parts I needed. I had originally bought a 350ml Piezoflush bottle and didn't buy any more as he told me it would be enough to charge the 700ml cartridge. I needed the chip, the cartridge, and a nozzle (which comes with a small syringe) to fit to the cartridge to prime it.
No issues filling and changing the cartridge except that a lot or air had to be pulled out of the cartridge as I was using so little ink. The original manual cleaning kit came with a large syringe but the tip I needed for pulling air came with a small one. It would have taken ages to pull the air with the smaller one (took about 8-10 "sucks" to get the ink changed with the bigger one). The video shows the instructor having to push down on a plastic part to click it in place before installing the chip but this doesn't seem to be necessary now.
Wells suggested either downloading the Adjustment program linked on their website (to 2Manuals.com) to do a Init Fill (which charges all the inks) or run a grey square to purge the LK I needed to clean. I started doing that with a 23x23 square on 24 paper, but no sign of the red flush after 6 squares to I bought the adjustment program and ran it (Win only and it gave a install warning which I overrode). After an interminable fill cycle I ran a nozzle check. The Piezoflush is very faint and I'm not 100% sure of the result but it looks like it may have improved a little, but the same blank lines may now have some flush lines on them, but are fainter than the other lines. I ran another square but I'm going to leave it overnight now and check it again tomorrow after a clean.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks
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Thanks! That is in fact what I decided to do for a few days to see if it comes back a little better. To be honest I'm not sure that it IS much better, so faint it's hard to tell even on heavily processed photo of the check.
I'm switching back to the LK cartridge today which should still allow a good number of clean/square/check combos before LK purges through the line and I see the check for real. I'm putting in a new LK cartridge too as the old one got down to 10-15% after the last set of squares and then the Inti Fill.
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So no joy with the LK channel. I purged out the Piezoflush with a couple of gray squares and a clean every day and I can now see clearly what I was afraid of, that while there may have been a very small change the lines that were missing before are still gone.
I have a few non critical prints to make (I'm still not seeing any banding mind you) and will then likely have to make inquires about the one time service option.
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The nozzles got slowly worse and stared banding, with only about 50% of the nozzles firing, but just to close this, the printer is working again after a visit by Epson using their One Time Service
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=130563.0
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They have changed the print head?
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You answered my next question. So the one time service call covers the P8000. I saw only the 7900 and 9900 mentioned.
Great news if they cover the P8000. Was it sill $1395?
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Hi George, yes they replaced the head. A few more details in the link above.
Hi Dan, this service plan covers the SureColor 44" printers as well as the Stylus Pro 9900, and yes $1395.
https://epson.com/Accessories/Printer-Accessories/One-Time-Service-Plan---EPWPSP1R44/p/EPWPSP1R44
"This plan covers the Epson SureColor P-Series 44-inch or Epson Stylus Pro 9900 Printer for onetime, on-site repair service ... "
This one covers the Surecolor 24" printers or the Stylus Pro 7900 and is $995
https://epson.com/Accessories/Printer-Accessories/One-Time-Service-Plan---EPWPSP1R24/p/EPWPSP1R24
"This plan covers the Epson SureColor P-Series 24-inch or Epson Stylus Pro 7900 Printer for one-time, on-site repair services ... "
When I told them that the LK nozzle was 50% missing there was no further diagnosis. In fact they didn't even ask I send an image of the nozzle pattern.
Mike