Avoiding blocked nozzles in periods away from home

[digipub]

I am planning to travel a fair amount in the coming year or two and will often be away for 3 months at a time, so my printer will be unused for longish periods. To avoid blocked nozzles I believe it should be used at least once a week however, if only to print a nozzle check. The possibilities I have considered for doing this are having a friend drop by and print a test sheet from time to time, placing the printer in an air tight bag, and leaving the printer switched on and using remote access of some sort to print a nozzle check periodically. None of these options seems perfect and I would be interested to hear any views or other options people may have.

[Mark D Segal]

Did you do a search of this Forum? There have been a number of ideas mentioned over the years. But in case people can suggest more, perhaps you could say what printer you have - does it take rolls for example? The approaches could vary depending......

[digipub]

Thanks for your reply Mark. I have an Epson 3800 and do not use roll paper. I have already left it unused for one 3 month period and on my return found several nozzles had some blocking. I managed to clear them without too much trouble by carrying out a head clean and leaving the printer switched on for 2 days, but I assume the problem will get worse as I make more trips away. My 3800 is about 10 years old now and is beginning to show it's age so I am considering replacing it with either an Epson P800 or a Canon Pro 1000. Researching them brought me to this forum. I am an amateur photographer, taking mostly landscape, wildlife and travel images. I do not do a lot of printing, perhaps 150 - 250 prints a year, but I like them to be of as high a quality as I can manage as I put some into local competitions from time to time.

I did make a search but didn't find anything really useful, maybe I didn't choose the most appropriate search terms?

[Mark D Segal]

Possibly.

The 3800 was the most clog-free printer Epson ever made in the 17 inch lineup of Pro printers since they started in 2000. It's exceptionally stellar in this regard. You can probably continue using it that way for some time to come. The few cleaning cycles you'll need are cheap relative to replacing the printer. But if you're noticing some other issues that aren't worth repairing, then yes, you're into a decision about a new printer. Either the P800 or the Pro-1000 will deliver moderately improved results over the 3800 - better Blacks, longer lived yellows, the Vivid Magenta, and along with that somewhat wider gamut. Both those machines are also relatively light on maintenance, but they will drink some ink after prolonged periods of non-use.

[Kenneth Sky]

I just started using my Epson P800 after a 2 month hiatus and it worked perfectly. Obviously, Epson has made some changes in their newer models to overcome the reputation of older models.

[digipub]

One worrying sign of wear that has had me considering replacing my 3800, is that recently the photo black stopped printing. Although the cartridge showed about 30% remaining it was actually empty. I replaced it and the printer continued working correctly again, but I read this could be a sign of the photo black ink damper beginning to fail and to allow the ink to run away into waste cart. If this is the case cost of replacing it may not be justified on a printer this old, although it has not been heavily used of course.

You say both the Epson P800 and the Canon Pro 1000 "will drink some ink after prolonged periods of non-use". Is this because the firmware will detect the absence of use and run extra cleaning cycles where the 3800 might not be so smart, or is there some other reason?

[digipub]

Thanks for replying Kenneth. It's good to hear your Epson P800 worked perfectly after a 2 month hiatus. Did you notice and delay in it starting up when you first switched it on again, or notice it carrying out any extra cleaning cycles, or did it simply start up as usual?

[nirpat89]

I just started using my Epson P800 after a 2 month hiatus and it worked perfectly. Obviously, Epson has made some changes in their newer models to overcome the reputation of older models.

Same with P400 after 3 months....touch wood.

[digipub]

Thanks Niranjan, that's further good news on the newer Epson printers.

[Mark D Segal]

You say both the Epson P800 and the Canon Pro 1000 "will drink some ink after prolonged periods of non-use". Is this because the firmware will detect the absence of use and run extra cleaning cycles where the 3800 might not be so smart, or is there some other reason?

Something like that. I don't have either printer any longer (I'm using a P5000). As I recollect from casual observation, with the Canon for sure, with the Epson you have more control over what's manual and what's automatic, but even here depending on the length of non-use it seemed that cleaning cycles can kick-in when you first fire it up.

[patjoja]

Thanks for your reply Mark. I have an Epson 3800 and do not use roll paper. I have already left it unused for one 3 month period and on my return found several nozzles had some blocking. I managed to clear them without too much trouble by carrying out a head clean and leaving the printer switched on for 2 days, but I assume the problem will get worse as I make more trips away. My 3800 is about 10 years old now and is beginning to show it's age so I am considering replacing it with either an Epson P800 or a Canon Pro 1000. Researching them brought me to this forum. I am an amateur photographer, taking mostly landscape, wildlife and travel images. I do not do a lot of printing, perhaps 150 - 250 prints a year, but I like them to be of as high a quality as I can manage as I put some into local competitions from time to time.

I did make a search but didn't find anything really useful, maybe I didn't choose the most appropriate search terms?

Hi digipub,

I have a 3880 which I did not use for probably 1 1/2 years.  When I turned it on I had to run a few power cleanings and after a few prints it seems to be working fine again. I think I also pulled the carts out and gave them a shake to stir up the pigments. I won't claim that will be everyone's experience, but it was mine. As far as cost, 3800 and 3880 ink cartridges are currently discounted to about $53 a cart at IT Supplies.  A new maintenance cartridge runs about $20. 

Ink costs are certainly not cheap, but I've found they last longer than I originally anticipated.

Patrick

[digipub]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks, that's more good news. I am beginning to think I may be over-worrying and perhaps won't make any special arrangements for my next trip. I'll just see what happens on my return.

Ken (digipub)

[digitaldog]

If you're on a Mac, you can setup an Automator 'script' to print from the Calendar application when you desire. Just print a tiny postage size image on plain paper. Or, there's a utility you can use on the Mac called InkJet Plumber.
https://github.com/jt70471/InkjetPlumber/releases

[digipub]

Thanks Andrew. I am on a Mac, I'll try your suggestion.

[Nick Walker]

I have owned Epson printers from the late 1990's. More recentlyI owned a Epson 3800 and 3880 both print heads failed. I wasted a great deal of ink with head cleans which cost a fortune. When the 3880 failed after approx 3 years, I decided enough was enough and purchased a Canon Pro 1000. I am extremely pleased with the Pro 1000.

Likes:
Print quality
Mototrised ink catridge agitation
Paper vacuum
Double print nozzles - printer detects if one has failed - use back-up.
Replaceable print head
Accurate paper print alignment
No loss of ink swapping blacks

Dislikes:
Can't turn off gloss optimiser (clear coating option) - uses a lot even on auto (resticted to lighter areas), only other option is 'Overall'.

http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/canon-pro-1000-printer-review/

[digipub]

Hi Nick,

Interseting to see your views on the Canon Pro 1000. I am seriously considering a Canon Pro 1000 to replace my Epson 3800 but have not made my mind up yet. However I have just seen jtoolmans concerns about ink wastage resulting from automatic head cleaning cycles on the Pro 1000. In my case, with fairly low usage, this could be a real issue. I live in the UK and will be going to the UK's major annual trade show, The Photography Show, next weekend so I will try to follow up on these issues on both the Canon and Epson stands. It would be interesting to hear any Epson P800 users experiences of the frequency of head cleaning cycles and what triggers them.

Ken

[Mark D Segal]

While I still had a P800 it sat in about 25% humidity, which is toward the lower end of the range in the specs. It did go for days and sometimes longer unused. Sometimes there were no deflected nozzles on restarting it, sometimes there were. When there were, I cleaned them up with a light cleaning cycle. I didn't experience any protracted repetitive cleaning sessions as I did on certain previous printer models (4000, 4800, 4900). So on the whole I would say well-behaved. Over the time I had it (a year or so), it did not self-trigger or request the user to trigger massive cleaning episodes that consume gobs of ink, such as I experienced once with the Canon Pro-1000 (involuntary) and once with the Epson P5000 (voluntary but persistent nags on the LCD till I did it).

[digitaldog]

While I still had a P800 it sat in about 25% humidity, which is toward the lower end of the range in the specs.

Try 10 or less as we have in Santa Fe. I don't think humidly is the sole factor if part of the issue based on all the Epson's I've had here. The 4900 clogged nearly every other day. POS. The 3880 and P600 then P800 never clogged even weeks and months without printing.

[digipub]

Thank you both, that's very helpful.

[Mark D Segal]

Try 10 or less as we have in Santa Fe. I don't think humidly is the sole factor if part of the issue based on all the Epson's I've had here. The 4900 clogged nearly every other day. POS. The 3880 and P600 then P800 never clogged even weeks and months without printing.

Yes, I know humidity is not the only factor, but every senior Epson technical resource I've discussed this with raises humidity as the first item of discussion, so I just wanted to make my operating environment known to the O/P. You are correct that the 4900 performed poorly on this variable, otherwise was an excellent printer, as is the P5000. You're right about the 3880, very similar to the 3800 for clog-free performance, possibly the most trouble-free printers in this size that Epson ever made. Which indeed makes one think that design factors are more determinative of how the machines perform in this regard.