Epson 9890 print head replacement

[hazany]

My oldest printer is an Epson 9890.  One of the nozzles is clogged and whatever I have done has not worked.  I usually succeed by doing manual cleaning with Simple Green.  I have never tried Piezo Flush.  I watched a long Youtube video showing how the print head can be removed and cleaned.  It seemed a bit tricky but not impossible.  I am tempted to try replacing the head.  Not having this printer has been inconvenient.  My Epson 9900 has had 2 head changes by Epson but each time it cost a couple thousand.  Both times they also changed the pumping station.  It's not worth paying for that but I also don't want to give up on it.  I wanted to know if anyone has tried this.  From previous posts, I am pretty sure there is no 'delamination".  The colors are not mixed with each other.  It looks like a new head can be purchased for $1000.  I was thinking if the cleaning doesn't work, I can buy a new head.  I also wanted to know if dampers or other parts might be worth looking at but don't know much about them.  Thank you.

[langier]

IDK where you are but I'm in Northern California. Within an hour is my printer expert who rebuilds a family 3880 every few years and keeps my 9900 going and going...

He is fixes and maintain these beasts both in his shop and in the field.

About 2020, my 9900 (purchased second-hand years ago) finally couldn't clean head. I tried every non-disassembly cleaning method knowing that if I couldn't clean things, the head could be replaced or I could find a replacement on eBay within a day or two drive...

His advice is what I took. With any used machine, you don't know what can of worms you will buy. If you personally know the history of the machine or can find a NIB, that's another thing. I really didn't want to have to find four friends to remove the old machine and take it up the stairs and deal with a dead carcass neither did I

I considered a newer model but then what to do with all my ink then having to deal with new sets of ink. Plus, I was told, the machines aren't quite as well built.

So, I scheduled for my independent repair expert to come down and in an hour or so, my 9900 was printing better than ever and it was a lot less than calling Epson for service.

I had him also do the capping station and clean the printer last year and I should be good for several more years of service from this beast.

In the mean time, I bought a P900 new. It never quite worked right with the paper feed so Epson replaced it. The replacement printer worked better but about a year later, it started spitting ink randomly on the prints, grabbed several sheets of paper and bricked.

I replaced it with a third-hand 3880 which needed to have the black valve issue fixed and it's printing up a storm reliably.

My advice, find a local (within a few hours) independent repair expert, talk to him then decide what to do with your printer. You may get lucky and he knows of a good unit or has a replacement in his shop that you can replace or can replace the head and other parts at your place.

In my experience, the advice has been priceless, the printers keep putting out, and my prints continue to amaze.

[hazany]

Thank you for sharing all this.  When I had the head replacements, Epson had referred me to the nearest authorized repair company.  It wasn’t cheap.  I am in Philadelphia.  I can try to find an independent repairman.  I am not sure how though.
I am tempted to try myself.

[langier]

I found out about my expert from Epson years ago. I think it was when I still had a 2200 and it was out of warrantee. Epson suggested this man since the printer was no longer made. He brought it back to life.

It may be worth a call to Epson and ask them for a local in Philadelphia or within a reasonable drive to your location.

The smaller printers are easily driven to my guy and if I make arrangements, I can bring the printer to him in the morning and pick it up a few hours later. But with the "4 pall barer size" (9800, 9900, etc.), it's a different story...

If you have friends or colleagues with larger Epson printers, ask them for recommendations.

One thing I seem to remember regarding the heads is that you need to have the service software to register the head to the printer if memory serves me. It's a little more complex than just doing some disassembly and parts replacement.

Ifixit has a lot of videos on fixing electronics but I don't know what they have for primers. It may be worth checking out for how-to.

20+ years ago, I broke my MacBook titanium display. I used their instructions and swapped out the display but it took hours. A new display back then was more than the computer was worth so I went to eBay and found a used display and got the thing fixed.

[mcbroomf]

Thank you for sharing all this.  When I had the head replacements, Epson had referred me to the nearest authorized repair company.  It wasn’t cheap.  I am in Philadelphia.  I can try to find an independent repairman.  I am not sure how though.
I am tempted to try myself.

I had the head on my P8000 replaced 6 months ago by an ex (retired) Epson repair tech.  He replaced it 5 years ago and I got his details then and he since retired.  He had me buy all the parts myself so they were ready and he just came in and did the repair/alignment etc.  I'm in Mass but I think he is from NJ.  PM me if you want his details.

Mike

[dgberg]

Another option near Philly is Kathy Stinson near Baltimore ([email protected])
She works on my bigger Epson's and I am near Morgantown, Pa.
Very thorough.

[hazany]

In fact Kathy was here and replaced the head and pumping station of the 9900.  It cost close to $3K.
Mike, can you please let me know about the Jersey person?  Thanks

[dgberg]

If you are shopping price then check their hourly rate. I believe Kathy was $175 an hour plus $250 to come out. Epson is probably $200 an hour from Decision One in West Chester, Pa.
10 years ago Epson service replaced my 9900 head and dampers for $3100 so sounds about what it costs. Kathy replaced both heads on my s80600 to the tune of $5100 and as a small one man shop that was a pretty big choke number.

[langier]

Large format printers are not for the feint of heart when it comes to $$$!

However, spending the bucks to repair over replacement in my experience just most cost effective and time saving than replacement.

[mcbroomf]

In fact Kathy was here and replaced the head and pumping station of the 9900.  It cost close to $3K.
Mike, can you please let me know about the Jersey person?  Thanks

Sent

[Lessbones]

The real question is where are you finding that head for $1K?

I've replaced quite a few of those heads, and I've never spent less than ~$1700-1800 for one that was actually new and not some fake "refurbished" ebay crap (which I have also bought, and... don't.)

$3K feels like what I'd be charging to do it including the price of the head itself.  It's not too terribly difficult to do, just make sure you've got some long magnetic screwdrivers.

[dgberg]

The real question is where are you finding that head for $1K?

I've replaced quite a few of those heads, and I've never spent less than ~$1700-1800 for one that was actually new and not some fake "refurbished" ebay crap (which I have also bought, and... don't.)

$3K feels like what I'd be charging to do it including the price of the head itself.  It's not too terribly difficult to do, just make sure you've got some long magnetic screwdrivers.

Mike you may know this. Does Epson still offer the One Time Service call for an older 9900 model? I know they did for your P8000.

[mcbroomf]

Mike you may know this. Does Epson still offer the One Time Service call for an older 9900 model? I know they did for your P8000.

Epson no longer offer the One Time Service plan we have used in the past.  I'm not sure it's the same but their repair page now offers; "1-Year Epson Preferred Plus Next-Business-Day On-Site Repair Extended Service Plan (Out of Coverage)" for most printers.  Here's the page though scrolling through I could not find the 9900 (I may have missed it).  I looked through the plan details and I think it might be the same (as the old One TIme Repair), but would have to call Epson to verify you can buy the plan for a printer with a pre-existing condition.
https://epson.com/search?q=repair%3Aprice-asc%3AproductReftypes%3AWARRANTY%3Aprice%3A%25241%252C000-%252424%252C999&page=0&text=repair#products

Here is the example for my (and your) P8000; $1535 which is not bad given the price (we would pay) for the head ($1379 from Compass, up $120 from November when I bought one for the repair last year).
https://epson.com/Accessories/Printer-Accessories/1-Year-Epson-Preferred-Plus-Next-Business-Day-On-Site-Repair-Extended-Service-Plan-%28Out-of-Coverage%29---SureColor-P8000-Series/p/OWP8000S1

[dgberg]

Thanks Mike.
I will take $1535 over $3000 anyday.