Should I be concerened: Epson 9890 always issues with Light Magenta clogs

[disneytoy]

Hi Guys!

I'm almost at my 1 year mark on my Epson 9890. I'm a light printer. I do regular printing. Recently a big order of a 150 square feet.

I've noticed my Vivid Light Magenta's test print has missing nozzles. In fact my last print run, I had to run in Maintenance mode 2 CL-1s and then a CL-2. All came back and printed very well. After a few days I'm test printing again and I have a all heads great except the VLM. I'll do a cleaning, but is it weird for only 1 color to be the big issue? Is it the placement of that colors nozzles??

Just wanted some input before i go past 12 months.

Thanks

max

[JeanMichel]

Consider buying the extended warranty! And/or call Epson to get the printer head fixed before your warranty runs out.

I just purchased a SC P6000 to replace my 7890 that has a permanently clogged PK channel -- I did all that i could to clear it, all to no avail. The quote for repairing the printer from Epson/Decision One was CDN $2023 for parts plus $100 for the call, plus $175 per hour for the technician with a minimum of two hours, all adding up to close to the cost of the new printer. My printer is out of warranty and I therefore had no real choice: $3000 to fix or $3,100 to buy. Had I purchased the extended two-year warranty for about $1500 I would have saved myself about the same amount.
Jean-Michel

[André Denis]

At least report to Epson the fact that your vivid light magenta is regularely giving you issues, even if you cal clear it. Ideally, demand that they fix it.  Have them note innyour file that the issue was there before the end of the warranty.

The cyan of my 7900 constantly had missing nozzles, but i could alwYs bring them back fairly easely, during the first year after purchase.  Only cyan, no other colors. 2 months after warranty, half the cyan went out and i could not bring them back.  Called epson.  They said sorrry, and since i had not called them before, they did not want to accept that the symptoms were there before.  My printer is now scrap. Cost to much to fix it.  In fact i don't even believe its a clogging issue. I think its an electric issue in the head and bad qualify control.

[Garnick]

Hi Guys!

I'm almost at my 1 year mark on my Epson 9890. I'm a light printer. I do regular printing. Recently a big order of a 150 square feet.

I've noticed my Vivid Light Magenta's test print has missing nozzles. In fact my last print run, I had to run in Maintenance mode 2 CL-1s and then a CL-2. All came back and printed very well. After a few days I'm test printing again and I have a all heads great except the VLM. I'll do a cleaning, but is it weird for only 1 color to be the big issue? Is it the placement of that colors nozzles??

Just wanted some input before i go past 12 months.

Thanks

max

Hi Max,

Before I took possession of my 9900 in early 2010 I started what I called the "9900 issues log", based on information I had already collected from this forum.  During the first year of use i encountered a number of issues and regular visits from Decision 1.  I decided early on to extend the warranty for the full three year period.  Although not an inexpensive deal(especially in CDN $s), it did let me sleep at night without wondering if the printer would perform when I started up the next morning at work.  My work is based on this printer and I cannot afford to be out of commission for any length of time.  By the time the final warranty year had finished it seemed that the printer was working very well with no issues other than the usual nozzle gaps, which could be easily remedied in service mode cleanings.  On many occasions I have offered the advice to others here that the cost of the extended warranty, although rather high, is not as costly as a major visit form D1 and the accompanying downtime.  So what this all boils down to is me once again offering that same advice to you Max, extend the warranty.  These printers do a great job, but they can be prone to nozzle issues and regular cleaning cycles.  The other piece of advise I would offer is to make sure your humidity level is at least above 40%, which seemed to make a considerable difference with my own situation with the 9900.  I have now been running the 9900 for almost six years, six days a week with medium to large volume, and now have to deal with nozzle issues very seldom.  I hope this helps Max, and please do renew that warranty.  I don't believe you will ever regret it.

Gary     

[JRSmit]

Hi Guys!

I'm almost at my 1 year mark on my Epson 9890. I'm a light printer. I do regular printing. Recently a big order of a 150 square feet.

I've noticed my Vivid Light Magenta's test print has missing nozzles. In fact my last print run, I had to run in Maintenance mode 2 CL-1s and then a CL-2. All came back and printed very well. After a few days I'm test printing again and I have a all heads great except the VLM. I'll do a cleaning, but is it weird for only 1 color to be the big issue? Is it the placement of that colors nozzles??

Just wanted some input before i go past 12 months.

Thanks

max

Could be you have a not completely airtight connection between cartridge and ink-system. A symptom is ink spill on the white patch on the backplate of the slot in the cartridge holder, and on the cartridge itself around the hole where the ink is drwawn from the cartridge.