EPSON SureColor P7000 - Leave on or off

[John V.]

Is it better to leave the new EPSON SureColor P7000 on or off when not in use?

Our 4900 did better powered off, and the 11880 did better if you left it on all the time.

This in regard to nozzle clogging.

What's your experience?

[ShirleyB]

I have a P8000 and I leave it on all the time, I only turn it off if I am away on vacation.   It's 2 years old and I have had no clogging problems at all.

[Ken Doo]

P9000.  I turn it off at the end of the day.  It's been in use for several years.  No issues.  Left for vacation and returned.  No issues at all.

I just think the Surecolor P series are much better printers than the previous generations.

[Wayne Fox]

I don’t think it makes much difference with the p6000-p9000 printers.  Basically it goes into hibernation state, so it’s almost off if you allow it to sleep.  Think it takes a little less time to wake up as it does to power up (never actually timed this though).  I have mine set to turn itself off if I haven’t used it, although it seems some network traffic somehow resets the sleep timer, that function only seems to work about once a week, so for me it’s on and sleeping most of the time I’m not using it.

It could be leaving it on avoids some auto nozzle checks which are often triggered when you power it up.  I haven’t noticed a nozzle check happening when I wake it up, I know my p5000 will almost always check nozzles when starting up, as well as when it’s waking up after a couple of days of being asleep.

[I.T. Supplies]

All printer manufacturer's recommend the user to leave it on so this will help with ink usage, but also with the new series having the time feature integrated, it can wake up from sleep mode when not being used, check the nozzles and clean if needed.  Once it's done, it will be idle and sleep if not used in the time frame.  The reason for leaving it turned on vs on/off each time is that this process will make it go through more ink when turning back on.  It does the agitation process and pushes more ink through the head to make sure it's working properly vs having the printer check and clean itself where less ink goes through.

Yes, the sleep mode to on is quicker, but it's also helping on the nozzles.  One of my customers that had a previous vs (4900) spoke to someone that dealt with the older printers found out that if you leave the printer unattended for a long portion of time (a few weeks to months) while turned off, this won't technically help with the nozzle issues.  Since the power cord is still connected, it still puts a current through the body which makes the head "act" like a magnet and this can attract dust to try clogging nozzles.  Most understand how fun it may be to unclog certain colors.  As long as you cover the printer when you leave, WHILE you unplug the power, you should be good.  If you do your own thing and it works, great!

But, it's recommended (with the P series) to leave it on if you can, and the automated timer (which can be adjusted per your choice) will usually handle the maintenance when it's not being used.

[Wayne Fox]

All printer manufacturer's recommend the user to leave it on so this will help with ink usage,

But, it's recommended (with the P series) to leave it on if you can, and the automated timer (which can be adjusted per your choice) will usually handle the maintenance when it's not being used.

Any source from Epson for this?  I’ve never seen an Epson publication recommending this.  In the past Epson specifically recommended turning off to seat the head with their older printers (x600, x800, x880 series), whereas Canon recommended leaving it on to keep nozzles primed.  The new epson are certainly a different beast.

Not debating your logic or disagreeing, just curious. 

[I.T. Supplies]

Wayne,

We have an Epson technical rep that mentioned this because the way the agitation process goes, you will be using slightly more ink from the on/off method vs letting go into sleep mode.  Canon is the same way as HP since they have the same head technology (at least for aqueous models).

We've had customers that spoke to Epson/Canon and they really haven't told customers about this process.  Probably not familiar with it as much as their techs are since customer service may not deal directly with the units (though I can't confirm that).  Since we use them to provide upfront assistance (aside from technical issues), we can confirm it's accurate or not.  We have all brands (Epson, Canon and HP) in our office that we use/test and the on/off option as well as leaving on.

If you look at the previous version of Epson, they didn't have the integrated timing feature that helps to check the nozzles after it's idle (or sleep mode) for the specific time; wakes up and checks (cleans if detects clogs), and waits to either be printing or back into sleep mode.  Since the P series have the timing feature, it's been helping as long as you leave it on and default is 60 hours (I believe), but can lower the time to 8 hours).  Canon's system is slightly different and you can leave it on or turn off as well and should be ready to go even a few months after sitting.

We do suggest our customers to leave it on unless you are leaving for long periods of time (many months), but it's the customers choice how they want to do it.

[Garnick]

Wayne,

We have an Epson technical rep that mentioned this because the way the agitation process goes, you will be using slightly more ink from the on/off method vs letting go into sleep mode.  Canon is the same way as HP since they have the same head technology (at least for aqueous models).

We've had customers that spoke to Epson/Canon and they really haven't told customers about this process.  Probably not familiar with it as much as their techs are since customer service may not deal directly with the units (though I can't confirm that).  Since we use them to provide upfront assistance (aside from technical issues), we can confirm it's accurate or not.  We have all brands (Epson, Canon and HP) in our office that we use/test and the on/off option as well as leaving on.

If you look at the previous version of Epson, they didn't have the integrated timing feature that helps to check the nozzles after it's idle (or sleep mode) for the specific time; wakes up and checks (cleans if detects clogs), and waits to either be printing or back into sleep mode.  Since the P series have the timing feature, it's been helping as long as you leave it on and default is 60 hours (I believe), but can lower the time to 8 hours).  Canon's system is slightly different and you can leave it on or turn off as well and should be ready to go even a few months after sitting.

We do suggest our customers to leave it on unless you are leaving for long periods of time (many months), but it's the customers choice how they want to do it.

I've now been working with the P7000 for more than a year and a half.  I don't do as much printing as I did before I moved my business to my home location and downsized somewhat, however, I do still have some of my former customers and through references some new ones as well.  Due to my present situation the P7000 does not see as much use as the SP9900 I was working with for more than 6 years.  I turn the P7000 on ever two days and run a nozzle check as well as a print that exercises all colours.  The one thing I miss most from the 9900 days is the degree of control I had over the printer in many ways.  I don't recall the 9900 ever running a cleaning cycle on start up, since I had turned off ALL Auto actions immediately.  But of course even though one turns off these actions on the P series printers it will override that setting and run a clean cycle if it hasn't been turned on at least every 2 days in my experience.  I can only imagine that Epson is answering the call of some owners who had negative experiences with the SP series printers and nozzle dropouts, by overthinking the situation and instead having the P series printers run a clean cycle at start up, whether or not it is needed.  Of course the operator has no way of determining whether or not there were issues that caused the clean cycle at start up, it just happens.  With the SP series one could start up the printer, run a nozzle check and determine if a clean cycle is necessary, which is not always the case if only one or two nozzles have dropped out near the bottom of the channel.  And of course we can no longer start up in "Service Mode" and run a nozzle check, which could easily bypass the AUTO CLEAN CYCLE in standard mode.  I don't subscribe to the theory that leaving the printer turned on all the time will necessarily have a positive effect on the nozzles.  If that's Epson's way of of overcoming the nozzle drop out situation, why did they incorporate an ON-OFF button?  Simply plug in the printer and leave it alone for the rest of its life cycle, which could possibly be shorter than if the printer is turned on when in use and off when not.

Gary
   

[I.T. Supplies]

Gary, I get what you're saying but with any aqueous printer, there is a really good chance that it will never have a clean startup every time.

I like what our Epson technical rep stated a few years ago that regardless of the printer (pigment versions), if it's aqueous ink (water based), there will ALWAYS be clogs because that's the way the ink works with the head.  You may not have the extreme hassle that others may, but you will most likely experience some clog along the way; even if it's a small one that a quick clean resolves.

Some users don't have the issues that others do and vice versa.  It also depends on how the printer is being maintained as well as the environment that could play factors in how the head acts.

Again, it's really up to the user how they want to deal with the "leaving on or turn off" option.  These are suggestions from manufacture reps for "their best test" results, but don't need to do it if something works well for you.