Leave Epson 9800 OFF or ON to minimize head clogging?

[Grifco]

Hi --

Sorry. New here. What's the consensus? Someone just told me to leave it on between printing! This has not been my practice nor what I think makes sense. Humidity in AZ is LOW and if I do not at least run a nozzle check every 5 days or so I waste a lot of ink (i.e., $$$) getting the nozzles to clear.

Appreciatively,

Bob

[drew.saunders]

Ask Epson, they'll get back to you quickly. I asked Epson about my 2880, and they suggested that if I expected to not be using it for a week or more, to shut it off via the power button (as it does a little shut-down routine). I tend to print a lot every few weeks, so I power it off between printing, and have never had a problem with the first print after powering it back on.

[bdkphoto]

The routine at ICP, where I teach, is to turn them off when not in use.

[Brian Ellis]

I've owned four Epson printers, one is about 8 years old and my wife still uses it. I've had my present 3800 for almost 2 years. I've always turned them off when I'm not printing and I don't recall ever having a clogging or similar problem.

[Preston]

I turn my R2400 off between sessions and I've not had a problem. In the interest of conserving electricity, it is best to power down any equipment that does not require continuos power.

-Preston

[Grifco]

Thanks all --

Consensus seems to be turn it off if not using for extended periods. That's what I thought was the better method. It's just that a particular "expert" advised the opposite.

However, I will also touch base with Epson and report back.

Bob

[IanMazursky]

We have an Epson 9880 and 2 epson engineers and a number of RIP support personnel have told us to leave it on all the time.
Its something about the newer head designs perform better and stay cleaner when they are on.
The printers are energy star compliant and use very little energy in standby mode.
Id rather spend a few extra $'s then have to replace a print head.

Im not sure about the 9800 but i do have a few clients who used to run them.
They always had them on and only turned them off for building maintenance.

[Steve V]

OFF/ON??

From the Epson site:

"On and Off
This may seem like a basic thing, turning a printer on and off...How can that be a problem? It isn’t unless you turn it on and off from a power strip. Never do that. When you turn a printer off, it parks the heads in a very
specific place. Shutting the printer down from a power strip may by pass the normal shut down procedure and the heads may not be parked properly. This can lead to the head drying out and becoming clogged.
If you use your printer on a daily basis, just leave it on. This is not a waste of energy as the printer uses minimal power in stand-by mode. You
should turn the printer off if it is not going to be used for a few days. However, your printer does work best when used regularly so it is recommended that you turn the printer on and make a small number of prints at least every seven to ten day"
*******
That is consistent with what I have read elsewhere, turn off to "park" the head if the printer is not going to be used for a few days/weeks, etc. I don't know about the 9880 but I have left my 3800 and 4880 shut down for weeks/month and not had a clogging problem.

Steve

[argos33]

I turn it off but keep a small humidifier in the room. Here in Colorado it is very dry and we have found it does make quite a difference. Depending on the humidifier you only have to fill them up every few days or so.

Evan

[Grifco]

Okay. It's me, Grifco again. Finally got around to calling Epson for an opinion on this. Their answer is it doesn't matter, the head is capped at the end of a run and remains capped regardless of whether or not the printer is subsequently shut down. Of course, that's just one support persons input, and these kind of inquiries are never totally reliable. Just like asking an "expert" at the IRS for an opinion on some aspect of tax law.

I do note that someone above mentioned the use of a room humidifier for those of us in very dry climates (I'm in Phoenix, AZ). And I have done this in the past at another local location. And it seemed to help a bit. BUT, maintaining the humidifier itself became a big chore -- calcium buildup being the main hassle requiring frequent cleaning with harsh chemicals. Then I tried placing a container of water with about 1.5 sq-ft of surface area next to the printer -- seemed to work about as well. Guess I'll go back to doing that here.

Again, thanks to all!!!