Please help diagnose my Epson 7900 nozzle issue (with pictures!)

[totowolff]

So, after 11 months of printing using my (used) Epson 7900 I've hit a nozzle clog I can't clear.  See the picture, it affects the black channel only.



When the issue began, a nozzle check would appear clear, but as soon as I started printing an image, the same nozzles in the black channel would clog.  I would clean those nozzles, restore a clear nozzle check, and start printing again, only for the issue to immediately return.

After repeating this cycle about 5 times, the I stopped getting a clear nozzle check after the cleaning cycles and the patch of PK nozzles stayed clogged permanently.

Since then I've tired the following steps to resolve the issue.

• Paired Cleaning Cycles (Normal and Powerful)
• Normal Cleaning cycles
• Powerful cleaning cycles in service mode
• Power Cleaning
• Switching from Photo to Matte Black, and back
• Cleaning the capping station, flushing box and wiper blade
• Windex style paper towel print head cleaning (overnight)
• Moving the print-head back and forth over Windex paper towels in an attempt to brush any debris off the print-head

Based on this field repair guide: http://www.scribd.com/doc/91839121/EPSON-Pro-7900-and-9900-Field-Repair-Guide#scribd, I wonder if the problem could be damper related but am not sure.

Intuitively I think something could be stuck to the print head, but I've no way to check.

I'm really not sure what to do next so any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,
Tom

[brinked]

try using the windex trick.  Soak a paper towel with windex to make it damp, park the print head over it for the night.  Next day do a normal cleaning cycle and see if that helps.

There are some other things you can try.  But that would be the first thing I would try before starting to take things apart.

[totowolff]

thanks for the tip, but that is one of the things that I have already tried but to no avail...

what would you recommend doing next?

Thanks,

[bill t.]

You should consider that your heads are being contaminated by dirt on the docking station, or some other head-contacting assembly.  When I got morphing patterns like that  on my old 9880 checks, that's often what it was, wiper blade too.

[brinked]

cleaning your wiper is the easiest thing to do.  Replacing it is pretty cheap as well, less than $20 and it takes 1 minute to replace.

Eric does a great job on these forums explaining how to clean your printer here: http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=61585.0

And he also has a great website with videos showing how to replace your wiper blade and how to actually get in to remove the head to clean it here:  http://myx900.com/

I would start by cleaning your capping station, flush box, and you can even clean the head with a microfiber cloth and cleaning solution by removing the right side panel, and going through that hole to get to the print head so you dont have to further disassemble it.

[datro]

Based on this field repair guide: http://www.scribd.com/doc/91839121/EPSON-Pro-7900-and-9900-Field-Repair-Guide#scribd, I wonder if the problem could be damper related but am not sure.

It's not the damper.  A damper problem would typically cause a whole color to drop out.  You have some serious deflections in your nozzle pattern which in my opinion can only be caused by something amiss with the head.  It could be debris on the head, or more likely, a failed head.  I don't think it is debris since you said initially you were able to clear the problem and get a clean nozzle check (several times) but then the same nozzles failed later (now permanently).  Unfortunately it's not likely a clog but rather an electro-mechanical failure in the head itself.

Dave

[jferrari]

As Bill said clean or replace the wiper blade. Also, physically clean the head with a lint free cloth and distilled water.

[totowolff]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going to remove the right side panel this afternoon and have a look at the surface of the head and will report back what I find.  This will rule out debris on the head being the problem.

If it is that this doesn't resolve the issue, all that is left is some type of failure in the head.

Are there any steps at all to take other than simply replacing the head?

This printer has done over 25000 pages and so if the head has failed it makes more sense to replace the whole unit than just the head.

[Wayne Fox]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm going to remove the right side panel this afternoon and have a look at the surface of the head and will report back what I find.  This will rule out debris on the head being the problem.

If it is that this doesn't resolve the issue, all that is left is some type of failure in the head.

Are there any steps at all to take other than simply replacing the head?

This printer has done over 25000 pages and so if the head has failed it makes more sense to replace the whole unit than just the head.

This may be partially from a  failed head, but the nozzle pattern shows deflections and other defects which indicate some very serious build up.

I would caution using windex on the head itself, while that seem to work with the older printers, the new head technology seems to be more sensitive and I’ve now seen many head failures that might be directly attributable to the use of windex.  I would stick with distilled water or a solution designed for this purpose such as something from AIS.