Faint banding at dark arias -- Epson 9890

[Cornelius]

Hi guys

Since yesterday my Epson 9890 is constantly printing faint horizontal bandings at darker image areas. See the attached picture.
I already invested hours in cleaning and it's still there. Anyone any advice what I can try?

Here what I've done so far:

• Printhead cleaning done several times. Nozzle check looks perfekt (see attached 2nd image)
• Manual cleaning of wiper blade, capping station and printhead using clean red
• Printhead alignment (auto) for monodirectional und bidirectional printing
• Printed from 2 different computers
• Tried roll papier and sheet paper
• Reduced paper feed to -2 (don't know how this is called in english) and maybe I should try to a bigger value here

Hardware I'm using
MacOS X Monterey, MacPro 2019, Lightroom for printing. Printer driver 10.9

Paper:
Tecco PFR295 fine art rag as rollpaper and sheet paper

I did not change anything within the last 3 weeks. The banding startet from one day to the other. Last week I printed a large 80x120cm print (rollpaper) and several sheets. Now, about 5 days later every print has the banding using the same paper roll and sheets. 😫

[Cornelius]

Just printed an ink purge page with solid colors for every ink. Only the MK shows the banding. Even though the nozzle check looks normal. I'm now trying an ink swap to PK and check this again.

[Cornelius]

After several additional head cleaning cycles, black ink swap (MK -> PK -> MK) and a SS cleaning using the maintenance mode, I still see the bandings.

Meanwhile I can see that the black nozzle check is not perfectly regular/aligned. All nozzles seems to fire but the pattern looks not 100% aligned.
Any further ideas. I already invested some hours in cleaning and wasted tons of ink and paper.. 😖

[George Marinos]

Unfortunately this seems to be a print head problem and I don't think you can fix it except of course if you replace it. I had similar problems of faint banding and the nozzle check looked perfect! I don't remember if this has happened on my 9900 or my P9000 or ...on both of them. The only warning was persistent cleanings on start up. I hope i am mistaken concerning your case. Please keep informing us.

[Cornelius]

@ Idololab
This is what I fear at the moment. The printer is already about 10 years old. I bought it as a used printer several years ago for a really cheap price. It printed many really nice posters from my work but now he is making more and more problems.

I'm going to contact an Epson service company and ask them if a service makes sense or buying a new printer will be the better option. As I'm only printing on matte paper and my work does not have extreme saturated colors, I thought about the SC-P8000. In case I need to replace the printer. Would you recommend the P8000? Most of my prints are 30x45cm, 40x60cm and 60x90cm. But from time to time I also print larger formats like 80x120. So a 44'' printer still makes most sense at the studio.

[deanwork]

That is really odd. There is no sign of head delamination. The nozzle check looks really good.
Don’t keep doing head cleanings, especially power cleanings, that is what blows the head when nozzles are clogged.

Is the MK ink low? I’ve seen banding like this with good heads when the ink cart is low. Air gets in there and particles are more common to clog.

Also black ink carts need to be shaken, more than any colors due to heavy carbon load. A lot of people don’t do this .  Longer they sit the more shaking the carts becomes mandatory. Big production use, rarely a problem.

If it’s not a low ink and a couple of pair cleans do nothing I would replace the dampers first. If they haven’t been replaced replace the unit called “ink selector unit”. That contains all the damper filters .  It’s fairly common to have the black damper especially clog up.

It’s a solid printer I have one .  It’s definitely worth replacing the selector unit, But replacing the head, I wouldn’t unless you get really cheap price.

@ Idololab
This is what I fear at the moment. The printer is already about 10 years old. I bought it as a used printer several years ago for a really cheap price. It printed many really nice posters from my work but now he is making more and more problems.

I'm going to contact an Epson service company and ask them if a service makes sense or buying a new printer will be the better option. As I'm only printing on matte paper and my work does not have extreme saturated colors, I thought about the SC-P8000. In case I need to replace the printer. Would you recommend the P8000? Most of my prints are 30x45cm, 40x60cm and 60x90cm. But from time to time I also print larger formats like 80x120. So a 44'' printer still makes most sense at the studio.

[tastar]

In my opinion, it's definitely a bad head - I've identified 4 spots on the nozzle check where the head is damaged. The damage is slight, but enough to cause the problems that you are describing. I don't believe that dampers have anything to do with the issue.

Tony

[deanwork]

That doesn’t bad to me at all.  It looks like poor ink flow to the MK channel. He keeps doing head cleans it will be damaged though.

In my opinion, it's definitely a bad head - I've identified 4 spots on the nozzle check where the head is damaged. The damage is slight, but enough to cause the problems that you are describing. I don't believe that dampers have anything to do with the issue.

Tony

[datro]

The printer is already about 10 years old.

If this printer has gone this long without a head replacement you are extremely lucky.  I agree with tastar that you have the very early start of head delamination.  To me the delay in firing of the nozzles at the left top/bottom is the indicator. Over time you will see more bowing on the right.

[Cornelius]

Thx guys! That helps and actually confirms what I already feared a bit.

So the question now is, does it make sense to get the printhead replaced (might be around 1500-2000 swiss francs) or buying a new printer. The SC-P8000 would be fine for my purpose and is currently available for around 3600-3800 swiss francs.

[Cornelius]

If this printer has gone this long without a head replacement you are extremely lucky.  I agree with tastar that you have the very early start of head delamination.  To me the delay in firing of the nozzles at the left top/bottom is the indicator. Over time you will see more bowing on the right.

Well, I bought the printer from a liquidation where it was used for several years in daily production. I'm not printing that much. Something like 50-100 prints a year. In total maybe something like 2-3 24inch rolls a year.

[Cornelius]

The more I think about it, I don't believe a repair makes sense, even if I buy a printhead by myself and follow the instruction vom myx900.com. During the last years I rarely printed bigger than 24inch (60x90cm is my typical largest size).
I looked now deeper into the Epson P7500 24inch printer. No need of black ink swap, easy access to the capping station and print head for manual cleaning and the bigger color gamut of my 9890 are really interesting. Also the price of 2600 swiss francs. Nice side effect, the ink cartridges (350ml) are even cheaper then the cartridges of the 9890.

Replacing the 9890 with an P7500 feels quite well.

[Remko]

The more I think about it, I don't believe a repair makes sense, even if I buy a printhead by myself and follow the instruction vom myx900.com. During the last years I rarely printed bigger than 24inch (60x90cm is my typical largest size).
I looked now deeper into the Epson P7500 24inch printer. No need of black ink swap, easy access to the capping station and print head for manual cleaning and the bigger color gamut of my 9890 are really interesting. Also the price of 2600 swiss francs. Nice side effect, the ink cartridges (350ml) are even cheaper then the cartridges of the 9890.

Replacing the 9890 with an P7500 feels quite well.

Gruezi Cornelius,

Please have a look before you decide to buy this printer here at the printer forum at LuLa and especially in the Epson Wide Format Group as there are still some very serious issues with these new printers.
You can find the Epson Wide Format Group here: https://groups.io/g/EpsonWideFormat

Ade,
Remko

[Cornelius]

Gruezi Cornelius,

Please have a look before you decide to buy this printer here at the printer forum at LuLa and especially in the Epson Wide Format Group as there are still some very serious issues with these new printers.
You can find the Epson Wide Format Group here: https://groups.io/g/EpsonWideFormat

Ade,
Remko

Hi Remko

Thx, still waiting for beeing approved for the group there.
Already read quite a lot about the 9500 and 7500 here in the forum. As I'm not printing hundreds of pages on my plotter per month and not doing fancy stuff (stuff 300g FineArt Rag from Tecco and Ilford) I thought the P7500 should work quite well. Only thing I'm not sure about yet if I should pay Epson for a CoverPlus including print head.

[deanwork]

Unless great speed is paramount for you I’d stay away from the latest Epsons, at least for now. Too many true nightmares out there.

I’d personally go with the P 700 or one of those for 24” . Only downside is switching the black channels . If you can you could print Pk one day and all the MK on another day.

John

Hi Remko

Thx, still waiting for beeing approved for the group there.
Already read quite a lot about the 9500 and 7500 here in the forum. As I'm not printing hundreds of pages on my plotter per month and not doing fancy stuff (stuff 300g FineArt Rag from Tecco and Ilford) I thought the P7500 should work quite well. Only thing I'm not sure about yet if I should pay Epson for a CoverPlus including print head.

[Cornelius]

Unless great speed is paramount for you I’d stay away from the latest Epsons, at least for now. Too many true nightmares out there.

I’d personally go with the P 700 or one of those for 24” . Only downside is switching the black channels . If you can you could print Pk one day and all the MK on another day.

John

Yeah, the more I read about the issues with third party media on the P7500 I rather might go for the 7000. The 7500 sounds so nice on the paper, and with mainly one paper in use, it should work, but still.. and as speed is nothing I need, the 7000 would work well for me.

So what I'm absolutely not sure about with the 7000 series. How big is the difference between the standard version (10 colors) and the version with additional violet?
My own work is rather desaturated and has basically no colors out of the color gamut from the 9890. So I guess, the 7000 series without violet would be more than I need.. ‍♂️

[datro]

If I were in your situation I'd probably go for either an SC-P6000 (24", 8 color) or SC-P7000 (24", 10 color, includes Orange and Green).  These are the most solid and reliable 24" printers from Epson at the moment.  The P6000 is out of stock here in the U.S. but the P7000 is available.  I'm assuming the supply situation is probably similar in Switzerland.  In the case of the P7000, you would definitely want the "Standard" edition (NOT the "Commercial" edition which is intended only for commercial proofing applications, not photography).

As mentioned by others here, the newer 7570 and 9570 printers are still problematic in many ways.  I'm sure they can make beautiful prints, but there seems to be just too many firmware and paper-handling issues for printers in this class.  So it really depends on how much you are willing to babysit and put up with those annoyances.  I have a P9000 (and also had a 7900 before I completely dismantled it and recycled the whole thing).  My P9000 has been rock-solid.  And for the small amount of printing you are doing, having to switch blacks would be a very small thing.

[Cornelius]

@ datro
Thx, just read more about the 7000V and saw that the violet ink is replacing the LLK (or was it the LK?). For color proofing this makes def. sense. For my photo printing the STD version should be absolutely perfect. It even gives me a wider gamut compared to my current 9890.

My dealer currently has one 6000 and one 7000 at their warehouse. So both would be available, but I guess I rather go for the 7000. As I'm downsizing the printer to a smaller format, then a least I'm going to have a wider gamut. Even if I might not need it. 😂

Still the 7570 (in Switzerland it's named 7500) looks promising. But I might rather go for an older printer, but more reliable which hopefully makes me happy for the next 10 years. 😇

[Remko]

@ Cornelius,

In general the difference between the P6000 and P7000 is very small and ONLY noticeable in a small range of images with highly saturated greens and orange colors. And then only in a side-by-side comparison between an image printed on both printers. For most people it therefor does not add up to go for the P7000.

As you said in a previous posting that the images you print are de-saturated, the P7000 will not give you anything.
As the orange and green inks will not be used (much), you run the risk of clogging those channels.

As well as I get what you say, giving yourself the printer with a bit bigger gamut as you down size, I would not recommand it.

Cheers,
Remko

[Cornelius]

Alright guys, decision made after a call with and experienced printer guy from Tecco/Ilford germany. I ordered the P7500. 😇🙈 Mainly because of the new features like better access for maintenance, no black ink swap and the upcoming upgrade from my 3880 to P900 this year. After that, I gonna have to printers from the same generation, same ink set and hopefully same results. As I often mix small prints (3880) with bigger prints (9890) for clients.

The black ink swap was the cause, why I never really tried glossy papers yet. I was just to lazy for regulary swapping.

I mainly print on 2 different FineArt Rag papers, but also like to test a bit more with semigloss and Baryt. Especially for Baryt I got the hint, that paper thickness is quite different to the Epson papers. Ilford Baryt is working, when setting everything correct as custom paper, starting with sheets (not with rolls). This seems be best method to test if the printhead as enough distance to the paper, as the sheet at the pops a bit up. They also promised Teamviewer/video help to me, when getting into troubles.

What is still an issue, the Epson media importer is not a bi-directional software. So working with several computers as source for the printer (this issue was also discussed here in another post). As I'm only printing from 1 computer, no problem here.

Another thing with Mac computers. They recommended to not attach the printer with USB, as MacOSX tends to install the printer then als AirPrint printer without all the paper/medias. OSX does not seem to show this in the printer system settings. They found out, using Ethernet and IP printing provides better driver support on Mac.

So, lets see if I will be happy from next week on or if I like to throw out the printer from my office window. 🤪