I resorted to desperation yesterday, after speaking to Eric on the phone. I was (am) on a deadline, and was trying to salvage a solution on the spot, without calling a service tech. I took a shower cloth, like a loofah, similar to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Salux-Nylon-Japanese-Beauty-Cloth/dp/B002BEHQWIand I cut off a strip about 12 inches wide by about 3 inches high, and I sprayed Windex onto it, and with the printer in Service Mode, I was able to slide the printhead to the center, raise the lid, and get to the head. I gently slide the wet loofah underneath the printhead, and grabbed each end of the loofah fabric, and with the head in place, stationary, I pulled the loofah fabric back and forth gently across the printhead, in the pattern similar to shining your shoes. The hope was that the fabric would dislodge whatever dried ink was stuck to the LLK area.
Sadly, after doing this twice, the nozzle pattern was the same -- missing bars only in the LLK area, and in EXACTLY the same places. The missing bars never change; always in the same place, and enough of them so that, even printing UniDirection at 2880, the prints have horizontal banding lines, similar that what you might think of as the picture on a BW tube television.
Today, I'm going to soak the loofah in very hot water, and not use the Windex, and try it again, gently.
I am not competent to remove the actual printhead. The printer is out of warranty. And my deadline is looming.
I appreciate everyone's contribution. I now know my printer better than ever, now that I've been in Service Mode with it.
You almost wish that the design of the printhead would allow it to "flip up" or somehow "unsnap" so that the User could get at it. But I doubt Epson wants that to happen.
Scan attached, of Nozzle Check. Levels are skewed to show the colors better. Missing bars seem so subtle, but are enough to cause very obvious banding.
What I've learned from this: I'll always buy a new Epson from now on; never a used one, and I'll buy the extended warranty. And I'll monitor the performance closely. I'm sure the replacement printhead will cost almost as much as the printer is worth.
Note/Update: Just downloaded new Utility and realized that my Firmware was out of date. I have been told that new firmware gives you more cleaning options. So make sure you have Remote Utility downloaded.
![](http://199.237.236.200/a/Banding.jpg)