Big boom in southern california (epson 4000 clogs)

If anybodey hears a large boom or feels the ground shake in Southern California, don't worry. It's just the sound of me throwing my epson 4000 out of my second story office...

Just about ready to go back to the enlarger.

Anybody have any tried and true solutions on this same printer for getting rid of white microbanding that runs parallel to the print heads.

I don't have enough ink in it to allow me to do a power clean.

The cleaning cycles are enough to drive me crazy. During the cleaning cycle, one head will clean and another one will start clogging. I haven't made a usable prints in over a month.

Time to get a 4800.

Grin.

Sorry for your troubles. A power clean probably will do it. Get some ink. Frustrating I know, 'cause I've been there with my 4000 and 9600.

There is some mojo to this. I have had similar problems last summer mainly when the humidity was low. I keep a guitar humidifier next to the printer head, and cover the printer with a plastic sheet, which helps. When you have a serial clog like you describe above try this. Move the print head aside, fold up a Pec 12 pad or something else lint free into a 2x2 inch square and put it on the resting pads. Soak it with Windex. Move the print head back in place and let it set overnight. Do a deep clean cycle the next day and more than often it does the job.

I keep listening for that big boom! Digital is dead, the darkroom is dark and comfy. A cold beer next to the timer. Plenty of paper in storage. No banding, no micro weaving, no cleaning printer heads. There's no ending to the promisses from Epson but unfortunately the frustrations keep coming. No throw it out.:D

This summer I spent quite a bit of time unclogging a couple 1280's that had sat quite a while. It takes patience and ink. Also, don't do more than 3 head cleanings in a row without printing something.

I used the idea of soaking the foam pad with windex, and that helps soften the clogs, but there's also the problem that if a color is _not_ clogged, a wet pad can siphen all the ink out of your cartidge. (Yes, that happened to me...fortunately with cheap ink.)

I found what worked was to do a little work on the printer each day and let it rest. So a head cleaning, print a nozzle check and let it sit. I think the clogs need to has some new solvent pushed that them, but it doesn't do a lot of good to do lots of work in one session since it doesn't really dissolve the clogs. Dissolving the clog(s) takes time. I found that as I got close to getting the printer back to normal, I could get a good nozzle check, and print about 1" of a 5x7 well before it would start banding. Or I might get a good nozzle check and a couple nozzle checks later (or a day later) it would show a problem in one color. Just keep working it day after day and it'll probably come. I'd say it took me about 2-3 weeks to get them printing perfect. I'd steer clear of heavy handed methods like directly injecting sovent into the heads.

Jay

Here's your repair solution! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dodPR7h_ytI :p

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Robert Oliver

If anybodey hears a large boom or feels the ground shake in Southern California, don't worry. It's just the sound of me throwing my epson 4000 out of my second story office...

---

I felt it, but the shock wave didn't reach the San Fernando Valley until about 6:40 PM. It rattled the windows and a few nerves, but caused no damage!

I haven't had an occasion to try it but I've often wondered whether a short immersion in a small ultrasonic bath (available for about $75) would cure the blockages which sometimes occur in ink jet print heads.

Quote:

---

I don't have enough ink in it to allow me to do a power clean.

---

By the way, one of the issues seems to be with some particular ink cartridges. I will get more blockages with one cartridge than a subsequent one. So the ticket might be new ink anyway. If I were you I would do the soak I mentioned above replace the inks you are running low on and do a deep cleaning.
__________________

Quote:

---

but there's also the problem that if a color is _not_ clogged, a wet pad can siphen all the ink out of your cartidge.

---

This has happened to me on a little C86 Epson but never on the big pro models.