Digital BW, The Print

I can certainly sympathize with your frustration. Refilling cartridges is half science and half magic. Sometimes the magic part is elusive. As Paul noted, these inks rarely clog, so look for air leaks and cartridge purging issues. 

After not seeing a band in months, recently I got banding issues after running two cartridges dry. Numerous head cleanings, bottom port purges and purge-page prints failed to stop the problem even though very head check is perfect. But, I've discovered that the problem does not show on prints not printed using high speed. Magical. 

Epson has upped the frustration factor with the 1430. Apparently they have added more intelligence to the unit's ability to read the cartridges and the practice of 'just top up and throw it back in', that worked very well with the 1400, is not sufficient with the 1430. Right now my 1430 is down because it thinks my black cartridge is low, which it is not. I've asked MIS for some support on that one. The 1430 has yet to make me happy. But it could be worse - it was when I had a Canon S9000!