Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "michaelrosensf" 
<yahoo@s...> wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "jim hayes" 
<jimhayes@f...> wrote:
> 
> <snip>
>  I usually install Epson carts first and run them for awhile. 
> <snip>
> 
> What's your strategy for keeping track of how full the carts are, or 
do you buy 
> new carts each time? I understand that the non-chipped Epsons, like 
the 
> 1160, count the number of prints rather than measure the amount of 
ink used 
> and that it's very bad to try to print with no ink.
> 
> Michael

1160 Epson carts have no poppet valves and are not self sealing. 
Therefore there are more chances that air will be introduced if 
removed and put back in after intial seal is broken. I have risked it 
once or twice in an emergency but I don't recommend it to others when 
serious clogs need to be cleared. You have enough things to worry 
about without the Epson cart itself causing air pockets. I almost 
always just forked up the $$ for new carts on my 1160's.

The 1270/1280/1290 Epson carts ONLY (not the 3rd party carts made in 
China, etc that you can buy empty or prefilled or in CFS/CIS systems) 
have poppet valves which are little seals that almost instantly seal 
each exit port when removed from printhead nipples. These carts CAN be 
re-installed with a few caveats....Bob Zeiss at MIS told me once he 
thought they were truely good for only about three removals before 
they started to get air in them. This I don't know about- they always 
worked well for me. The second caveat is from Epson- that once outer 
package foil is opened, cart should be discarded within six months. I 
sometimes put electrical tape over the vent holes for storage.

You will know it when you run out of ink- it happens rather fast, at 
least the two times it happened to me. YMMV since my experience is 
modest with this. ANd it is bad to let the nozzle remain dry- I always 
tried to have a fresh good cart ready to pop in within a few minutes 
at most. Leaving it dry overnight is asking for big trouble.

BTW, I and others find that Epson carts will clear clogs. But when I 
had bad ink, such as the old Piezo ink, and just last week, evaporated 
 MIS VM ink which caused an increase in mottling, that Epson cart 
running clears some (50-90%) of the problem but even if fresh ink is 
later introduced it doesn't fix the problem 100% although your nozzles 
may be clear. I seem to have a residual VM mottling problem even after 
the Epson treatment. Others have had sucess with direct injection into 
head with Fantastik to clear the old Piezo ink problem "DSS" or the 
"Greenies".
Jim H.