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Author Topic: Epson 7900 from the inside - out  (Read 1092788 times)

jeverton

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #280 on: February 08, 2012, 09:16:14 am »

Adrian - Do you keep the printers on all the time?
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iladi

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #281 on: February 08, 2012, 10:25:22 am »

no, the 2 waterbased, the mutoh and the epson are turn off during night (hit the power button). the roland i'm not allowed to turn off more than e few hours if i want to work with it. but roland in stand by mode turns a short cleaning circle every 12 hours or so, just to prevent ink drying in the heads. a smart move i'd say even for waterbased printers. this way a waste about 1/2 liters of ink every 2 months, including regular clenings.

 oh. one more thing regarding heads i forgot earlier: roland suggests that DX4 heads only last about 6 bilion shots. this is part of solvent ink, part, of wearing (?) of the piezo elements. they say that the piezo elements in the head get tired over time (around 6 bilion shots, but i can work OK even after 12 bilion shots) rezulting missfire. i don't have data for the dx6 heads in the 9700/9900. one ideea is to check an dx6 solvent printer and see what number of shots they guarantee the head.  how do  i know the number of shots? roland tells me that in service menu. i do not know if epson in service menu can tell the number of shots per head's colour. anyway i suspect the number of dropletsthat an epson can safely shot can be substantialy higher since the ink is much softer for the heads. but, still...
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narikin

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #282 on: February 08, 2012, 01:05:31 pm »

On the endless subjest of wiper blades, maintenance and capping, this is in an old thread on 11880 maintenance:

there's 6 blades that self clean and the head's locked in place by the capping unit so i wouldn't try it.

edit: the capping system and blades are good for the life of the printer, so you won't need them replacing under normal running.

it's a very short thread, located here: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=25311.0
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #283 on: February 08, 2012, 01:08:34 pm »

OK who knows how to embed a youtube video on this Luminous Landscape forum?

Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #284 on: February 08, 2012, 01:27:15 pm »

You can post a hyperlink to the video.
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DeanChriss

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #285 on: February 08, 2012, 02:44:44 pm »

Based on what I'm reading here and in other forums, nearly anything I have a technician do to a X900 printer is going to cost between roughly 25% and 60% of the purchase price, or considerably more if it was purchased with one of those big rebates. Given that, having a technician perform preventative maintenance makes no sense economically. A few service calls would cost as much as the printer, so unless you do preventative maintenance yourself it’s a matter of hoping the printer lasts for a while before it eventually fails. For similar reasons, if the printer is several years old it makes no economic sense to have a technician perform a major repair. Of course there’s a gray area if the printer is out of warranty, between 1 and about 3 years old, and doesn’t work. It seems like anything except a head replacement might make sense then, but it’s a judgment call. For the most part, unless you can maintain and/or repair the printer yourself the economics of the situation makes these things throw-away devices. That in turn creates some need for what Eric is doing.

I’ve got an Epson 7900 that’s still going strong after 3 years and 1 month of use. Every device fails at some point, and when that happens I’d have nothing except the parts cost to lose by attempting a fix myself. That’s fine if the problem is caused by the dampers, capping station, wiper, or other similarly priced parts. If the $1800 print head is the cause of the failure there would be no point in attempting any repair. The key is being able to diagnose the source of the problem so you don’t end up spending $500 on parts plus a bunch of time only to determine that the $1800 part is bad. I’ve read here and elsewhere some keys that Epson uses to determine what parts to replace. That may be as good as it gets, but on the other hand a head does not cost Epson $1800, and given burden rates for labor they can better afford to replace parts to see what's broken.

I read the theory here that repeated powerful cleanings used in an attempt to clear "un-clearable" clogs might cause heat buildup that in turn ruins the piezoelectric elements or associated parts in the print head. That makes a lot of sense. These “un-clearable” clogs could indeed be caused by a bad wiper and might not occur if the wiper functions as it should. Piezoelectric transducers (essentially what’s inside the print head) can build up heat, especially along the transducer face. I'd assume they use the ink to keep these cool, and when a head is clogged the ink is not flowing. Enough heat could delaminate the piezoelectric element making it inoperable in terms of pumping ink. If that happens before you pull the head and manually clean it as Eric did, there's no repairing it. All of that seems completely reasonable to me, which of course doesn’t mean it’s what happened. It’s just my two cents.

My thanks go to Eric and his "genius friend". This has been to most fascinating printer discussion I've ever read. If you didn't want to "live and die broke" you could do well as a writer, or better yet a writer/photographer. When the inevitable happens to my 7900 I’ll have you to thank for providing a road-map of sorts should I decide to dive into it. Best of luck and thanks again for all the information!
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gwhitf

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #286 on: February 08, 2012, 04:40:47 pm »

I spoke with a very experienced photographer friend today, about my clogged or damaged LLK 7900 channel. He responded, and gave me his permission to post this. He's a photographer, but he's actively engaged in a business that prints in high volume; mostly on canvas. I'm not trying to stir anything up, with brand wars, but earlier in this thread, when I read the post about the design differences between Epson, Canon, and HP, it tweaked my interest. If I chuck this 7900, and start fresh with a 44" unit, I don't want to make a mistake. I've always been an Epson loyalist, up to this point. Below are his comments:

I use the HP Z3200ps.  It has a built-in i1 spectro and all the software needed to profile anything you can put into the printer.  Great advantage.  One thing I'm hoping to do is trying the emulsion you shared a link about. You can put that on a piece of sheet aluminum (or any other substrate) and this printer will do a great job profiling it.

Also, the Z3200 doesn't need a "wasted ink" tank.  Nothing like it on this printer.  To me that seems to be a much better design.  In the 14 months since I bought it, I have not had to perform maintenance on the printer once. Instead, I leave it on all the time (per their instructions) and it goes through a routine every once and a while to keep itself in tip-top shape.  My Canon is different.  Has a maintenance tank, but still keeps itself in good shape, sometimes pausing before printing to check and make sure.

The HP printer comes with a maintenance contract for the first year.  I extended it for another year in January, and will continue doing this as long as I have it.  I just don't have the time or interest in tearing my printer apart. Use to be gang-ho for anything, but I'm focused on being productive, not saving money to keep the printer running.  When I first got it, something didn't work right and they systematically replaced every single component in the printer until the problem was solved.  Turns out the cause was my using illegal characters in naming profiles.  So they replaced 100% of the components first, and then started looking elsewhere. Impressive.

All that was done under warranty, and it taught me a very valuable lesson - let the pros do it.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2012, 04:43:35 pm by gwhitf »
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #287 on: February 08, 2012, 05:15:15 pm »

...So they replaced 100% of the components first, and then started looking elsewhere...[/i]

Quotes like this are the exact reason I rolled up my own sleeves and got into our 7900, rather than calling the pros.  Did I make a mistake?  The question isn't if I made a mistake, but how many did I make in a row - starting with buying this printer used.  If I had to do this all again would I instead have an Epson service tech come work on this thing right off the bat?  Not a chance.  Of the many mistakes I made, I'm glad I did not make that one - BEING THAT THE SERVICE CALL WOULD NOT BE UNDER WARRANTY.  

chaddro

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #288 on: February 08, 2012, 05:26:51 pm »

I'll say this for HP, you can even buy a warranty for a used printer... even one years old! You just have a 30 day or so period before you have problems.

Eric - where's that youtube vid? did you ever call that print head doctor place to see what they said about your 7900 head?
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #289 on: February 08, 2012, 08:50:00 pm »

Epson Stylus Pro 7900
video tutorial # 1
WIPER CLEANER ASSEMBLY EXCHANGE


na goodman

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #290 on: February 08, 2012, 09:38:44 pm »

Ok, so I haven't watched the video yet but I do have to say I do love the construction worker! Got my video working to the end. Great job!
« Last Edit: February 08, 2012, 11:46:33 pm by na goodman »
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jeverton

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #291 on: February 08, 2012, 10:52:18 pm »

+1 Epson Stylus Pro 7900 - video tutorial # 1: WIPER CLEANER ASSEMBLY EXCHANGE

Thanks Eric!  This is simple enough to make anyone confident with the procedure.  What’s the game plan for other DIY videos?

Jeff
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Ken Doo

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #292 on: February 08, 2012, 11:08:47 pm »

Nice video, Eric.  Simple step-by-step and easy to follow.  I can handle that.  Now if only I could locate an Epson 9900 wiper assembly to keep on the shelf....
Thank you for providing a Paypal address at the end of the video.

Any good sources for Epson printer parts?

While I haven't had any notable issues with my 9900 (knock on wood), I appreciate being able to learn more about how to handle potential maintenance issues with my printer, particularly the easier ones that might help avoid more serious issues later or a service call.  Thank you!

ken
« Last Edit: February 08, 2012, 11:10:43 pm by kdphotography »
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Ken Doo

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #293 on: February 08, 2012, 11:49:46 pm »

Thank you, David.    I agree with you---I wouldn't attempt to do anything more than the wiper assembly and replacing the cutter on my 9900.  That I can handle! 

I found it interesting to stumble on an article by Epson on inspecting and cleaning the wiper blade and pump cap assembly for the 9800 (I still have my 9800).  see, http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=FAQ&oid=60322&prodoid=55197367&foid=76588
Too bad there isn't much on user (read basic) level printer maintenance tips for the 79/9900. 

ken

VeloDramatic

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #294 on: February 09, 2012, 12:46:19 am »

Fantastic video Eric. Clear simple instructions and you're great in front of the camera. This is easier than adding a hard drive or RAM to a PC.

Paypal donation made thanks.

::Michael
« Last Edit: February 09, 2012, 12:56:52 am by VeloDramatic »
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Sven W

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #295 on: February 09, 2012, 03:25:47 am »

Users in EU can purchase their 79/9900 wiper assy from here. €7 !

Eric, a small contribution from Scandinavia will drop in from Paypal.
Thanks

/Sven
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dgberg

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #296 on: February 09, 2012, 05:22:10 am »

The San Fran man with the New Yak accent. ;)
Sent a check by mail through Gary and enclosed enough to cover the wiper assembly if your still holding it for me.
Good job!
« Last Edit: February 09, 2012, 05:31:26 am by Dan Berg »
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Mark D Segal

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #297 on: February 09, 2012, 08:59:49 am »

Eric, your video is very well done and the instruction well presented. For 7900 owners it could be useful (I use a 4900). But first they should be sure that if they are having ink delivery issues, the wiper blade exchange is the whole cause and the whole solution. That is where recourse to a trained technician would come in handy. Having said that - there are basically two approaches for resolving operational problems - (1) the analytic approach, (2) the trial and error approach -  just trying out various things that one has reason to think could be the culprits and seeing what happens. When that approach is as cheap as sixteen bucks and as apparently low-risk as your video would suggest, and just takes a minute with your guidance, it would appear to be worth a try before going the other route. I suspect that beyond what you have shown here, it starts getting more complicated pretty quickly, but I'll be watching for your next installments with interest.
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Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)
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eudemian

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #298 on: February 09, 2012, 10:54:26 am »

Humour and information, a stellar combination.
 I laughed out loud at your video and I learnt something at the same time that was extremely useful, you have a remarkable gift and I give you hearty thanks.
Cheers
Tom
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Eric Gulbransen

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Re: Epson 7900 from the inside - out
« Reply #299 on: February 09, 2012, 12:26:18 pm »

Awesome.  I am so glad you guys like the video.  I knew Mark especially would appreciate the stop watch near the end.  Thank you very sincerely for the generous donations.  It's a fine proposition I think - spend a little and save a lottle (another word I just made up).

jeverton ;  my intention with the video(s) is to create a channel on youtube - specific to 7900 maintenance.  It's been suggested to me that a video on cleanings would be useful - from the serviceman mode.  I have small video cameras from another element of my life (no not FBI) that I can use to get some never-before seen angles on exactly what goes on during cleanings.  Not sure yet if we'll be able to see anything but I intend to try.  I think it will be useful for people to see their wiper blade in action.

I am open to other suggestions as well.

Special thank you for any and all support offered in thanks.  Every dollar here goes toward the purchase of a new head for this Epson 7900.  It's a handsome machine no doubt, but it'd be better looking with a 24" print coming out of it's chin.  Still have yet to experience that.


PS - true story.  Obviously I am from NY.  My whole family still lives there.  I sent this video to my younger brother Justin - a NYC Fireman.  Bed Stuy is his territory.  If that name doesn't ring a bell, just imagine it's a rough place.  His response, written from the firehouse, said so much in so few words, "You're gonna wake up with the fishes."  So if I suddenly go silent, check the Harbor

« Last Edit: February 09, 2012, 12:40:22 pm by Go394 »
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