Digital BW, The Print

Nij,

I agree with you that the "clogs" that we all talk about are very 
likely air bubbles for the most part. (probably not the severe Hayes 
issue though it could be related.) This is why the "wait and let it 
settle" process works so well. Which does lead me to feel that it is 
a formulation issue. If there was more surfactant in the formula 
perhaps this would not be such a common problem. 

I was very happy to hear Jon has gotten an ink chemist on board. 
Hopefully the issues are easy ones and can be resolved quickly.

Martin


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Nij" <nigel@m...> wrote:
> Tyler,
> 
> I agree... but for different reasons. I just think people seriously
> underestimate the time it _may_ take for ink to move to the print-
head in
> third-party carts or CIS systems or...
> 
> And I really think they underestimate the dramatically _bad_ effect 
a
> cleaning cycle could have on the distribution of air / ink through a
> cartridge / CIS that hadn't properly settled! I mean even Epson 
don't
> recommend more than 'a small number' (not a quote, bad memory!) of 
cleaning
> cycles in a row. My suspicion is _not_ because a cleaning cycle 
with it's
> rubber squidgee action and high ink throughput is _damaging_ - it 
just
> doesn't achieve anything without there being a 'body of liquid ink' 
to suck
> on. Picture drinking a latte or cappuchino with a straw held only 
in the
> froth ;) ...whilst someone else is blowing bubbes into the bottom 
of the
> drink <ewwww>. But if you wait long enough, even that foam 
will 'soak down'
> into liquid that you can drink no problems (apart from it's cold, 
obviously)
> 
> I really, really honestly believe that most users who experience 
problems
> with _most_ inks will actually be experiencing problems with air, 
rather
> than ink... and if you have air in your nozzles, the ink that is 
there is
> much more likely to dry. Hence the success some people find with 
Windex /
> Fantastic / Windolene - it's not in my view that they are claning 
anything,
> but that they are creating an environment in which the inks are 
less likely
> to dry (if there is air) and easier to flow into the nasty air-lock 
if there
> is one. I believe that even dye inks can suffer these problems, but 
it is
> 'true' that you are more likely to experience problems with these 
systems if
> using pigment / pigmented inks.
> 
> I really really recommend leaving systems for quite some time to 
allow ink
> to settle, suggest storing carts (of any brand) upright so the 
settling is
> done for you in storage. etc etc etc.
> 
> Best as ever,
> nij
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Tyler Boley [mailto:tyler@t...]
> >
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Martin Wesley" <
> > mwesley250@e...> wrote:
> > >snip...
> > Hopefully ConeTech will have
> > > resolved the clogging issues with the new ink.
> > >snip...
> > On the other hand Piezo has all
> > > these clogging problems that get to be a major source of
> > frustration
> > > plus the "Hayes syndrome" and the yellow or olive-green cast
> > > metamerism that some people see under artificial light.
> >
> > Actually, I doubt Conetech has any clogging issue to resolve at 
all.