Nozzle Check Print vs Head Clean Fail - Epson 7890

[dave_lawson1]

<p>I purchased the 7890 a few months ago when Epson had their Golden Ticket promo and the price was just too good to pass up.<br>

Since I've been running it, I find that sometimes when I run a nozzle check print it will show certain inks completely missing. (Generally after not printing for a week or more - summer break, etc)<br>

After running the standard head cleaning command, it will come back with a "Failed Cleaning - Retry?" message. The first time it did this I said yes and it still came back with "Failed Cleaning - Retry?", to which I said yes again, only to get the same failure message. At that point I decided to NOT retry the cleaning cycles (while watching my ink levels drop) and just did a nozzle check print and found that all nozzles printed fine. I'd proceed to make a few prints and it worked a charm, no issues.<br>

This situation has repeated itself (except I only do one cleaning, regardless of failure message), run the nozzle check and all is well each time.<br>

1. Has anyone else seen this issue with either the 7890 or any of the large format Epsons?<br>

2. Is there a 'best practice' regarding these printers to keep the head's clean? One obvious one is to print more, or even just a nozzle check periodically even if I'm not printing images for a short while.<br>

3. Can anyone say if it is better to keep the unit powered up, or power it down if not to be used for, say, 2 weeks?<br>

I've had the Epson 1270. 2400 and 3800 and never saw this issue except on the very old 1270 if I didn't use it for a while. The others just motored on through and were clog free the vast majority of the time.<br>

TIA,<br>

Dave</p>

[digitaldog]

<p>Don’t have that specific model but a few things you can try. On the control panel, you should be able to invoke a Power Clean which is probably what you want to try. Some have reported that keeping the printer on all the time can help with clogs. Obviously if you are going months without printing, might not be the best (greenest) idea. In such a case, you know you’ll start the process with a power clean and then head check before doing anything else. I think humidity plays a role only because I rarely have this head clogging issue and live in a very dry environment. The exact cause of why the heads clog a lot for some, not for others is up to debate. And newer Epson’s appear to be better than older units which is why what you report is somewhat odd. I have a 4800, 3880 and had a 7880, they rarely clogged even when not used for months at a time. But I always checked before printing. </p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>I describe some potentially useful approaches here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.graphic-fusion.com/sp4000.htm">http://www.graphic-fusion.com/sp4000.htm</a></p>

<p>The outcome to my long saga with my SP4000 might not be encouraging. It continues to be a clog monster, and it continues to swill ink like a Russian sailor swills vodka.</p>

<p>An approach I've seen described is to schedule a printout everyday using Task Scheduler (Windows). The printout should have a patch for each ink and should include the light colors (light cyan, light magenta, etc.).</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

[timlayton]

<p>Dave, I am considering the Epson 7890 very seriously because I need to do 24" prints. I am wondering how you like the printer overall? Did you have an Epson before? I currently use my 3880 like a workhorse to crank out 16x20 and 17x22 on a daily basis. I specialize in b/w photography so the 3880 with the advanced b/w features has been a great fit for me and produces beautiful b/w prints. I was wondering if you do any b/w and how you would compare the prints on the 7890? Any comments are appreciated. You mentioned the Epson Golden Ticket promo. What is this?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Tim</p>

[dave_lawson1]

Tim,

As I noted in my post, I have had several Epsons before.

 

I moved from the 3800 to the 7890 for a purpose similar to yours.

 

I did need to buy the Spyder Print spectrometer to make accurate profiles for b&w since the Epson profiles were

muddy in the shadows.

 

The golden ticket promo is not currently in place, but I'm from Canada, so have no clue beyond my border.

 

I do quite like the machine. It does every bit as well as the 3800, just a whole lot bigger. It IS HUGE, and HEAVY, so

explain that part to your spouse in advance!

[timlayton]

<p>Dave, thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. I have indeed been very happy with the 3880 and I will continue to use if for 16x20 and smaller because it just makes sense to do that and the quality is excellent. For me personally I would only use the 7890 for anything at 20x24 or above. I still print the majority of my prints in the darkroom and have slowly been printing more on the inkjets over the last couple of years. I have finally settled in on the Canson Baryta paper to most closely resemble my silver gelatin prints with Hahnemuhle coming in a close second with their Baryta FB paper. I am curious if you do much b/w and what your favorite paper is? <br>

Once I get my 7890 next week I will definitely look closely at the shadow details and see if I need to adjust my ICC profiles. I am prepared for the size of the printer... I print on the 9890 at my pro lab and that printer is absolutely huge but those 44" prints are awesome. No wife at home and the 7890 is going to the studio so no worries there!</p>

<p>Tim</p>