4900 - A good story

[Shane Webster]

With many incidents of clogs and such being discussed, I thought it might be nice (or good karma) to post a note when I'm happy with my 4900.  I've been working on a project this past week and on several days had non-stop printing for about 4-6 hours along with shorter printing sessions on the intervening days.  I've been very pleased that for the last 4 or 5 days my 4900 has not had to clean itself upon turning on in the morning or immediately thereafter when the first print of the day is sent to it.  I can't recall when it's behaved like that but I kinda like it.

[Mark D Segal]

Mine is being well-behaved too. Does yours not stop from time to time to do an auto nozzle check and clean itself before starting a print (not necessarily the first one of the day)? You'd notice by a longer than usual pause between the time you send the image to print and the time the head actually begins to pass over the paper. I have all this auto stuff enabled as an insurance policy and it seems to be working well, but does periodically pause the printing for these processes.

[Shane Webster]

I have mine set where it performs a nozzle check before each print job as well as performing random checks (which is what I believe produces your behavior). It might be overkill, but I have a book printing project of an artist's sketchings for a client that is 72 pages each time one is ordered and clogs have been an issue so I only send 5 pages at a time. I've had this current printer have to clean itself for several print jobs (after 5 pages) in a row so I've kept the cleaning before each print job active. For whatever reason, the last week has seen very, very few cleaning cycles. I hope it's a trend that continues.

[Mike Guilbault]

in the past 8 or 9 months that I've had my 4900, I've only had to do a power cleaning once.  Mine is set for the auto/random checks and even if I don't print for a few days or more, I don't seem to have any problems.  I think part of it is because I'm at a relatively constant temperature/humidity level in my studio. 

[abiggs]

Congrats on being happy with your unit! I am still flubbing along with mine, as every single sheet of paper that is loaded in the cassette tray down below gets jammed in the paper feed. Oh joy.

[Mark D Segal]

Hi Andy,

I don't whether this would suit your work requirements, but I don't use the cassette feed - ever. I load sheets in the top feeder one by one and so far it has been 100% reliable.

[abiggs]

Mark, I have to do that as well, but I routinely print really really large print jobs that require more than 1,000 prints. It would be nice to be able to use the cassette for luster, gloss and lighter weight matte papers. :-(

[Shane Webster]

Andy,

I only chuckled at your post because my current printer is my 6th (5th replacement).  I'm hoping this one is "the" one--that's why I'm trying to say nice things about it. . . they're sensitive, you know.  Regarding the cassette, while I don't use it much, I have used it for Ilford Gold Fibre and not had any issues, probably running 100 sheets or so through it in one day and also using it other days.  I ran 150 card stock sheets through the cassette last week without issues, either, so I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions.  I've not used the cassette on all the printers I've gone through, but probably 3 of them and never had a jam or other issue with the cassette.  Perhaps you could send it to Eric for a teardown and he can find an errant piece of tape gumming up the works

[Mark D Segal]

Andy, have you raised this issue with Epson and gotten any feedback from them?

[dpirazzi]

I've also had the 4900 for ~5 months and have had no issues. Left all the nozzel check settings at default, and I try to print at least twice a week. I've run almost two 100' rolls of luster through it, but have not used the casette.

Dave

[JRSmit]

I use the cassette for my testprinting paper, which is hp advanced glossy by the way. I have no problems whatsoever with the cassette feeds, same for the epson lustre. By the way my main print paper is harman gloss baryta, for which i use the top load for sheets, or from roll.

[Mark D Segal]

Epson premium luster is quite thin paper. It could be that beyond a certain thickness/stiffness one is best advised not to use the cassette. The manual (page 39) recommends an upper limit of 0.27mm thickness.

[Sven W]

I ran 50 prints on Canson Rag Photo 210gms(A4=8x12") last week. It started really well, but after 10 prints every prints had a broken corner.
I twisted the papers in the tray, but same shit. Loaded sheets from a new box, but still broken corners....
Tried 5 sheets of the same paper in A2(17x24") and voilá !
Every day a new experience 
/Sven

[Mark D Segal]

I ran 50 prints on Canson Rag Photo 210gms(A4=8x12") last week. It started really well, but after 10 prints every prints had a broken corner.
I twisted the papers in the tray, but same shit. Loaded sheets from a new box, but still broken corners....
Tried 5 sheets of the same paper in A2(17x24") and voilá !
Every day a new experience 
/Sven

Before calling anything "shit", maybe it would be a good idea to follow the manufacturer's advice. Your paper is greater than 200 gms. They recommend feeding such papers into the printer one sheet at a time (http://www.canson-infinity.com/en/faq_print_tips_3.asp, which in the 4900 means the top feeder)

[Sven W]

How much is the difference in thickness between 200 and 210 gms? An atom?
And why does it work in larger sizes?

/Sven

[Mark D Segal]

There can be variances of thickness relative to weight, so their guidance should be intended to read as a range rather than a point estimate and they are probably being cautious, so take it for what it's worth - I wouldn't obsess over the distinction between 200 and 210 - just interpret for papers in that range probably better to use the top feed. Maybe the paper is more flexible in the larger sizes, or the paper feed components work better with larger sizes, I don't know, but all I can suggest is that if you are experiencing bent corners with the cassette, use the top feeder instead for your A4s, or contact Epson technical support and ask them whether they think something may be mechanically out of adjustment on the printer.

[Tom Montgomery]

I bought a 4900 several months ago, partly due to Mark Segal's review elsewhere on LL. I print a couple of times a week, and have had no head clog problems whatsoever, so far. I have the auto nozzle check/clean turned on. I feed Premium Luster from both the cassette and the roll, again with no problems. I always feed any other sheets from the top. I've got to say, I love the output quality of this printer!