Print head failure on my Epson 9900

[John Brady]

I think my vivid light magenta print head on myEpson 9900 has died. I have had to clean the vlm channel quite frequently for the last few months but now I am unable to get it unclogged. I have tried regular cleaning, cleaning color pairs, powerful cleaning and have even started the printer in maintenance mode and performed the super strong cleaning. Nothing changes, every nozzle test print has the same gap in the middle. I have been careful to print something between each cleaning.

I have tried putting a damp sponge near the heads but that hasn't worked either.

From everything I have read it sounds like a bad print head. So I am looking for some advice, is ther anything else you would recommend that I try?

My printer is about three years old and well out of warranty, from what I have read it sound like it could cost almost $2000 to have a tech come out and repair it.

With the $1000 rebate I can buy a new one for around $4500. I would hate to spend two g's and then have something else go wrong.

Would you repair or replace? I have worked my 9900 pretty hard and love the prints I can achieve. Money is tight and I want to make a smart decision, so I am using my collective large format forum brain power.

Thanks for any help and advice!

www.timeandlight.com

[EOTS]

Hello John!

You have my complete sympathy!

When I was experiencing problems with the 4900 ( http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?96675-Epson-4900-Printer-Extreme-Clogging-Problem ), I tried the "windex method" which was recommended to me by forum members.
Basically you turn off the printer exactly when it moves the print head to a reachable position
and then place a paper towel completely soaked with window cleaner
(must be/stay wet but not dripping) under the print heads ...
Lots of ink will spill on the towel, hopefully releasing the nasty clogs ...

Not sure if it's as simply applicable for your printer model as it was for mine,
but it actually did help with most channels (all except two).
Therefore I had to give the printer up but it was worth trying.

That's what I started with:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=83314&d=1352478535

That's what I had at the end:
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=85201&d=1355161365

Perhaps somebody with a 9900 can comment on how to do it with this model.

Best regards,
Martin

[John Brady]

Thanks Martin, sorry for your loss! I will try to do some research on the windex method for the 9900, I had forgotten about that trick.