Can low but not empty ink cartridges cause print head clogging, Epson P900?

[tsinsf]

My Epson P900 is giving me "low ink"warnings on several inks, but I have continued to print many prints with this warning. I have learned from experience that I can make many prints when the "low" warning comes on before I get an actual empty message (which stops the printing). I have been making a lot of prints lately with no problems, but have noticed that if I turn the printer off even for a few days, when I turn it back on I have to clean the print head, this latest time it took four cleanings to unclog. Could this clogging be related to low ink, or is it just a coincidence?

[BobShaw]

That is the same experience I have with a P800. The moral is to never turn the printer off unless going away for weeks. I don't think it has anything to do with low ink, just not being able to do its own maintenance.

[tsinsf]

I'm not sure it has nothing to do with the low ink, that's what I'm trying to ascertain. I'm aware of Epson maintenance issues, but from what I have read, some printers do fine without being left on, and others need regular maintenance, probably due to variations in local humidity and manufacturing. My previous Epson, the 3880, could be left off for months and when turned on almost never needed unclogging. I've had my P900 for over three years and have experience few clogs after it has been left off for weeks and sometimes months. And when there was a clog, it only required one print head cleaning to fix things. Recently I've had two clogs after turning it off for only a week. The first clog required two print cleanings. The latest clog was serious. The first print nozzle check was completely white: no ink at all on paper. After four print cleanings the nozzle check still showed several clogged colors. At that point, I had four colors reading "low" so I replaced the low cartridges and that fixed the problem. I'm by no means an engineer or up on printer workings, but this seems to me pretty circumstantial evidence that the low ink readings are somehow involved in the clogs.

[dgberg]

How is your humidity level in the winter? In our print studio with 6 printers we had terrible clogging before we added a humidifier. (Southeastern Pa.) Our clogs have dropped by 75% since keeping our humidity 50% or higher. All printers are left on all the time and when not printing regularly we do daily nozzle checks that keeps a little ink flowing. Even low ink carts have a good bit of ink in them. Once they give you that empty notice Epson has made sure they are still not really empty.It is good that fixed the issue but doubt that was the problem. If everything in your printshop is set up properly and you are still getting clogs get Qimage One. You can set a timer in the program to print an unclog schedule.

[eddiehop]

We just got an Epson P900 about 6 months ago and have not had any problems yet, but when we start having them we are going to go

The John Dean Sponge Route!

See this discussion on this subject: https://groups.io/g/EpsonWideFormat/topic/94920152

And...Don't forget the sign on the outside on the printer....

[tsinsf]

Thanks for all of the responses. I do love hearing about other peoples experiences with their printers, but I would really like to hear about peoples experiences with low ink levels leading to clogging. Has this happened to anybody else? I live in San Francisco where the average yearly relative humidity is 75%. The last month when these issues happened, the relative humidity was around 80 so I don’t think low humidity is the issue. Again, as I mentioned in my original post, my printer was basically clog free for almost 3 years before I started getting clogs during a period when I did a lot of printing and developed low ink levels.

[Eric Brody]

I had an Epson 3800 and then 3880 for years with a rare trivial clog. With those printers, when I got a low ink warning, I ignored it until they stopped printing, usually in the middle of a print. I then changed the cartridge and the printer picked up right where it left off and I could not see any transition.

I've had the P900 since November 2022 and have not had a clog, it turns itself off after a time. I recently left it off and unplugged for a month, started it, and it printed a nozzle check that was perfect. I live in Oregon in the Wilamette Valley where the humidity is relatively high. We have a humidifier on our furnace to keep the indoor humidity around 50%.

I've gone through a number of ink cartridges with the P900 and have usually changed them with the low ink warning. I think I read somewhere (but can't recall where) that the P900 is not as tolerant of low ink as the older printers.

I suspect the op and I would both love to hear from other P900 owners whether they wait for the printer to stop or whether they change the cartridge at the low ink warning, and what their experience has been.

I hate to waste the most expensive liquid on the planet but also do not want to clog my printer.

[nirpat89]

My Epson P900 is giving me "low ink"warnings on several inks, but I have continued to print many prints with this warning. I have learned from experience that I can make many prints when the "low" warning comes on before I get an actual empty message (which stops the printing). I have been making a lot of prints lately with no problems, but have noticed that if I turn the printer off even for a few days, when I turn it back on I have to clean the print head, this latest time it took four cleanings to unclog. Could this clogging be related to low ink, or is it just a coincidence?

Interesting....I have a similar experience with my P400.  I start seeing missing nozzles just around the time one or more ink carts show low ink warnings.  I usually would replace all of the ones with the warning regardless of how far from empty they are.  If not, just doing a couple of cleaning cycles would surely empty them (in addition to draining the others as well, as Epson has not figured out cleaning only the cart that is clogged, conveniently) given how small the carts are.

:Niranjan. 

[deanwork]

Absolutely, it’s a common issue with Epsons. It’s usually more obvious in the larger printers that require more pressure . It’s less common with smaller desktop units, but I’ve seen it with my 3880 on occasion. And yes dryer climates are the worst for Epsons. Also keep the capping station clean at all times after use. Also shake the carts gently occasionally .

It’s very disappointing that all of our “empty” Epson carts that we toss have a significant amount ink left in them. They could have easily designed these printers with the ink carts facing down rather than the side, which would drain every drop of ink, but they don’t want that. . The HP and Canon large printers waste no ink. They face down.

I have an EP 9890 that uses refillable ink carts and since I started keeping my carts full at all times lately I’ve had no clogged channels at all, even when I haven’t used the machine for a week or more. When it gets halfway down, cleaning is often required and gets worse the lower it gets.

Others who have the 900 will know more about that particular unit. Not sure how strong the pump is in the current desktops. The way to know is replace the cart and see if that channel comes back quickly.

John

Interesting....I have a similar experience with my P400.  I start seeing missing nozzles just around the time one or more ink carts show low ink warnings.  I usually would replace all of the ones with the warning regardless of how far from empty they are.  If not, just doing a couple of cleaning cycles would surely empty them (in addition to draining the others as well, as Epson has not figured out cleaning only the cart that is clogged, conveniently) given how small the carts are.

:Niranjan.

[tsinsf]

Thanks for the info John. Could the problem with low ink be related to pressure in the ink system? I’ve had one and two simultaneous low ink warnings with no clogging problems. This last episode with serious clogging was when I had four low ink warnings. Does anyone know the 900 anatomy enough to explain how or why or where the low ink creates the nozzle clogs? My clogs where not just in colors with low ink.