Digital BW, The Print

The ink doesn't "get old" as it were. The pigments settle. All pigment 
inks do this; some faster than others. This will always be true as long 
as we live and print in a gravity well.

I've had the same problem in my 7600, though not as severe. All it takes 
is to pull the carts, give 'em a shake or two, and reinstall. Then print 
a couple of small test prints (about 12x15 inches) to mix up the ink in 
the lines (longer lines like the 9600 may take more printing). At least, 
that's all it took for me, but I only left my printer sitting for a 
couple of months.

Other than maintenance issues like this, I've been very happy with 
Piezotones in my 7600.
--
Hogarth Hughes


A Pettit wrote:

>FYI :
>I had not used my Epson 3000 for about 6 months other than a few 
>nozzle checks to verify it was still okay....
>
>I tried printing with it yesterday: nozzle tests okay, and the print 
>was fine, well except for it being very posterized. Turns out, the 
>pigment settled out of the PiezoTone Cyan and Magenta inks and they 
>were nearly the density of the Yellow positon.
>
>Pulled the carts, did a 'shipping' dump of the ink, sucked and tossed 
>what was left in the carts, refilled and reinstalled. All Is Okay 
>again....
>
>InkJetMall says :
>" Here's what I can tell you about the 3000 printer. Even if you have  
>been running nozzle checks, the ink movement through the lines hasn't  
>been displaced much, and so the ink in the lines and the print head is 
>"old" ink. In a 3000 printer, unlike all newer Epson printers, when 
>ink  sits unused for a long period of time, the ink in the tubes and 
>print head looses density over time. The time that this takes to 
>happen can be  shorter than one month. "
>
>Best,
>Alex P
>
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