Digital BW, The Print

This problem has been a recent topic on the Yahoo Epson list.  It's one to which I paid a 
great deal of attention because I was experiencing the same problem with an 8 month old 
MIS CFS with UT2 inks in a 1280.  What finally worked was:

1. Using new Epson cartridges to test the head for proper operation.
It took a few cleaning cycles to get a good nozzle check, but once I
had that I could print purge patterns to my heart's content.

2. Cleaning the underside of the print head according to Arthur
Entlich's instructions.

3. Making up a set of cleaning cartridges with virgin MIS cartridges
(don't forget the chips) and a 4:1 mix of Windex and Isopropyl alcohol
& running purge patterns with these installed until there was no color
coming out.

4. Cleaning the waste ink pad with Windex.

5. Filling a set of MIS virgin cartridges with new UT2 ink (an
interesting experience completed with only one splatter of eboni on the
window over the kitchen sink and remarkably few bad words). These,
knock on wood, have been working fine.

I don't know whether there's a problem inside the CFS cartridge/tubing
assembly or whether the original ink has somehow gone bad. But refills
right now are the way I'm going to go until my work requirements again
call for the convenience of a CFS.

I also think that should I come to a period when the printer will be
idle for more than a couple of days, I'll pull the UT2 cartridges and
replace them with the Epson originals or MIS knock-offs just to be
safe.

Roy


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "e5bowman" <e5bowman@y...> 
wrote:
> 
> 
> I recently installed an MIS UT7 CIS in my 1280.  It looked great 
> (after some fiddling) for a few days, but now it seems that no matter 
> what I do, I get nasty, inconsistent banding.  Nozzle checks are 
> really ugly, and if I do manage to get them "clean" before I run too 
> many cleaning cycles and have to let it sit, it will only print maybe 
> a few inches into the next print before you can see that it is 
> starting to drop nozzles again.  The next nozzle check will look 
> terrible.
> 
> I tried putting some Windex on the waste sponge and letting it sit 
> parked for a day and a half, and have re-aligned the heads, but this 
> is driving me nuts.  The prints looked fantastic at first, but I've 
> had it installed for less than a week and it is virtually unuseable 
> now.  I'm tired of wasting ink and paper.
> 
> I see on the MIS site that sometimes "foamy ink" may be a culprit, 
> and that they recommend sucking a bunch of ink through the cartridge 
> to purge the foam.  Anyone tried this with any success?  I'm really 
> frustrated...
> 
> Eric