Digital BW, The Print

About five days ago I put a new black MIS FS cartridge in my Epson 980 and have been unable to get a clean nozzle check for the black cartridge ever since.  My 980 has performed flawlessly for the past 10 months, but it seems my luck has run out.  I ran two cleaning cycles after initially inserting the new cartridge (with nozzle checks before and after each cycle).  I've printed several photos (with varying degrees of banding, which I've NEVER had before this) and MIS 4 color purge prints.  I've run cleaning cycles again (never more than 3 at a time, with nozzle checks between cleaning cycles) and still I'm getting banding and imperfect nozzle check prints (only in the black grids).  All total, I think I've run 9-10 cleaning cycles (again, never more than 3 at a time), let the print sit for 24 hours or more, but the problem only seems to have gotten worse.  So now I'm wondering if I've somehow got more air bubbles in the print head nozzles (as a result of the cleaning cycles) and what I should do next.  Some sort of windex treatment?  Replace with a new black cartridge and hope for the best?  This is the first time I've had any problems with this printer and I'm at a loss for what to try next.  It's been such a reliable and terrific printer for me.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  :-(

Gary Benson
Eagle River, AK


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