Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Roark" <paul.roark@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 10:47 PM
Subject: RE: [Digital BW] Re: Eboni black spray, was QTR2 for
Linux


> Ernst,

> > I guess the pigmentation of the Eboni black is at
> >the edge of what is still printable with the 9000.
>
> Perhaps.  I know of at least one person running a 9500 with
Ultra Tone inks.
> I have test strips from this machine, and they are nearly
perfect.  We found
> that the 9500 can use the 9000 driver and then use the 7500 UT
curves I made
> for my machine -- using the 7000 driver.

> You once mentioned that the 7500 used a higher head voltage
than the 7000,
> or something like that. I think you said it was a firmware
difference.  Is
> it possible this difference between the 7500 and 7000 could
have something
> to do with the different results we are seeing?  Is it possible
that the
> 9000 could be altered with this firmware change and have it
work better with
> the pigmented inks?
>

We had a firmware upgrade on one 9000 to make it into a 9500. The
same printer had a head change. That's the one running MIS 7600.
It didn't change anything with the black. I did exchange some
emails with people that have an even better knowledge of Epson
9X00 hardware and there seems to be less difference between the
9000 and the 9500 than I thought. Not much more than a better
cleaning mode and the dye/pigment cart sensor activated. So it is
dubious that a higher voltage is used on x500 models. At least it
didn't change the black spray problem on this printer.

> >The alignment and nozzle check patterns show shaky
> >lines for the black with a lot of droplets thrown around them
at
> >random.
>
> I don't see that with my printers.  When I so see things like
that, I think
> of surface garbage on the heads and do a Windex-wet paper towel
cleaning of
> the heads.

> I hope you find a fix for this problem, because it sounds like
it might
> affect a number of people.  Do you know of any 7000 UT or Eboni
users?

There still is one thing that may be different to most
7000/7500/9500 models around as the printers we have are very
early 9000 models. August and September 1999. They got new
motherboards then as there was a conflict with network cards on
the early machines but they still are very early 9000 models and
I guess that could have something to do with it. Even with
Generations ink it was sometimes hard to print a black without
white hairlines.

Somewhere in the service manual is a reference to the D/A voltage
setting for the heads. Meant for the manufacturing stage of the
printer though. If I get desperate I may do something like that.

Ernst