Epson 9890 print heads problem

[FRA_]

Hello, I just joined the forum (but I've been reading your posts for years  )
I'm having a problem with my 9890, the black head seams to make horizontal banding despite the printhead test is perfect. I've also ran the printhead alignment many times. You can see what I mean looking at the attachments
Do you have an Idea of what to do?

Thank you 

[tastar]

Could you submit a nozzle check that we can look at?

Thank you.

Tony

[FRA_]

Yes, sure!

[FRA_]

There is a missing line in the yellow column but I'm pretty sure it's not the cause of banding in deep black

[rasworth]

Does the banding occur if you run single direction?

Richard Southworth

[FRA_]

Does the banding occur if you run single direction?

Richard Southworth

Yes it does, it's the first thing I tried...

[mearussi]

Yes, sure!

At least your head doesn't show any signs of delamination. Can you see any banding when you make a regular print?

[FRA_]

At least your head doesn't show any signs of delamination. Can you see any banding when you make a regular print?

I see banding on black areas of photographs, both on glossy and matte papers. I get the same banding with photo black and matte black.
Now I'm printing at 2880dpi to make it less noticeable, lines are closer to each other and lighter, you hardly see them but it takes a lot of time.

[FRA_]

I made this new test, gives you a better idea of the black printhead status

[mearussi]

I assume you've run a cleaning cycle or two?

[FRA_]

I assume you've run a cleaning cycle or two?

I switch black ink type quite often during the week and the cleaning is done every time. You make me thinking I haven't tried the "deep cleaning" yet... can it help?

[mearussi]

I switch black ink type quite often during the week and the cleaning is done every time. You make me thinking I haven't tried the "deep cleaning" yet... can it help?

Sometimes, but use it only once as it can heat up the head causing damage if used several times in quick succession. Then let the head cool down for a while before running a nozzle check.

[deanwork]

I have this printer and I’ve noticed missing nozzles sometimes when that ink channel is low, something to do with ink cart pressure.

The black inks contain mostly carbon which is generally the first to show issues when the dampers get clogged. I replaced my ink selector unit that contains this damper filters. I rarely ever see that now as long as the inks aren’t really low. It’s also important to shake the ink carts every now and then, especially if it’s been sitting unused.

John



quote author=mearussi link=topic=142511.msg1253072#msg1253072 date=1685206832]
Sometimes, but use it only once as it can heat up the head causing damage if used several times in quick succession. Then let the head cool down for a while before running a nozzle check.
[/quote]

[Lessbones]

have you done a paper feed adjustment?  This banding can happen if the paper is feeding slightly too far on each pass.

[FRA_]

Sometimes, but use it only once as it can heat up the head causing damage if used several times in quick succession. Then let the head cool down for a while before running a nozzle check.

I did the deep cleaning but nothing changed

[FRA_]

I have this printer and I’ve noticed missing nozzles sometimes when that ink channel is low, something to do with ink cart pressure.

The black inks contain mostly carbon which is generally the first to show issues when the dampers get clogged. I replaced my ink selector unit that contains this damper filters. I rarely ever see that now as long as the inks aren’t really low. It’s also important to shake the ink carts every now and then, especially if it’s been sitting unused.

John

Black cartages are about 70% full and I shake them every 2-3 weeks. If it was a clog problem It was visible in the printhead check I think

[FRA_]

have you done a paper feed adjustment?  This banding can happen if the paper is feeding slightly too far on each pass.

The problem seems to affect the black only, If it was a paper feed problem i suppose It was visible in every color.
Anyway, Is there a way to automatically calibrate the paper feeding for the 9890? I can't find it 

[deanwork]

Not that I know of on this unit.

What I would do is make a large rectangle of pure black and print out a couple of those. Sometimes
there are impurities that happen in the k channel that need to be flushed out. Carbon gets separated from the base and you might not see it in nozzle checks though you usually do. What’s strange though is you are seeing this in both MK and Pk.

It’s possible there is something in the lines.

Have you cleaned the capping station and the wiper blade recently?

Just don’t keep doing cleaning cycles because that’s not working and you can blow your head.

If none of these things are working I would buy some of the piezo flush from inkjet mall and put that  in the k channel and print some rectangles and then leave it in the lines for 24 hours.


quote author=FRA_ link=topic=142511.msg1253087#msg1253087 date=1685347897]
The problem seems to affect the black only, If it was a paper feed problem i suppose It was visible in every color.
Anyway, Is there a way to automatically calibrate the paper feeding for the 9890? I can't find it 
[/quote]

[Lessbones]

The problem seems to affect the black only, If it was a paper feed problem i suppose It was visible in every color.
Anyway, Is there a way to automatically calibrate the paper feeding for the 9890? I can't find it 

you're right, if it were a feed issue you'd see it in all channels.  Does it happen with PK as well? You can see on your nozzle check that the MK is not printing super cleanly, but there's unfortunately nothing you can do about that without replacing the head (besides hoping that increasing your dpi/pass mode will hide the problem). This is the kind of thing that happens when heads get "tired" and need their voltage boosted a bit... but that's not something you can control with Epson unless someone can decode a head rank ID.  Matte black is a bit harder to jet because of bigger pigment particles, but unfortunately besides replacing the head, all you can really do at this stage is print with a higher quality mode.  At least in my experience I've never seen a way of solving this-- every head starts doing this eventually and once you've gone to the limit of your quality modes, if you still see it it'd be time for a replacement.

[FRA_]

you're right, if it were a feed issue you'd see it in all channels.  Does it happen with PK as well? You can see on your nozzle check that the MK is not printing super cleanly, but there's unfortunately nothing you can do about that without replacing the head (besides hoping that increasing your dpi/pass mode will hide the problem). This is the kind of thing that happens when heads get "tired" and need their voltage boosted a bit... but that's not something you can control with Epson unless someone can decode a head rank ID.  Matte black is a bit harder to jet because of bigger pigment particles, but unfortunately besides replacing the head, all you can really do at this stage is print with a higher quality mode.  At least in my experience I've never seen a way of solving this-- every head starts doing this eventually and once you've gone to the limit of your quality modes, if you still see it it'd be time for a replacement.

Yes, the pattern is the same for both MK and BK, printing at 2880dpi hide the banding quite well for now but it's painfully slow... I think I should consider a head replacement at this point