Digital BW, The Print

I purchased my 1280 almost exactly a year ago as a refurb from Epson.
The first one had to be sent back because the case was cracked. This
was my first foray into DT printing so it was all new to me. I was a
virgin to the world of clogs, sponges, foam and cleaning cycles. I
started by printing BO with the Epson dye cart just to get a feel for
things, thinking I would try QTR too. The BO looked so good I just
stuck with it. As Einstein said, things should be made as simple as
possible, but not any simpler. BO printing seems to fit that principle

After using a cart of the MIS Eboni I switch to a CFS in my black
position and used the cheap $5 MIS color carts in the color slot.
Things went pretty much fine for a few months unit I started to get
clogs that would not clear. I tried to use the foam removal method
from MIS 's web site, called them a few times and even rubbed some
chicken bones on the printer. I finally gave up on the cart after
making a mess of things and just bought a new one from MIS. That one
would not work either. I got them to send me another one that finally
worked.

Things hummed along nicely for a few more months. I participated in a
few B&W print exchanges, seeing how my BO prints stacked up to FS ink
prints. I adopted Nick Nugent's method of keeping my ink level at the
same level as the print head. I didn't print every day, but in those
salad days with my 1280 I could go a week or two at a time and get a
good nozzle check with nary a problem. Life was good...

Finally, however, clogging issues resurfaced. It became harder to get
good nozzle checks. I installed a second port on my cart and filled it
from the top, another Nick Nugent inspired hack. That seemed to work
for a short spell. Clogs returned. What the H#LL was going inside that
cart and infernal sponge? I would put the Epson cart back in and
IMMEDIATELY get perfect nozzle checks.

At this point what else could it be but foam? I was about to start
another dreaded round of sucking out the cart, refilling it, cleaning,
waiting, wasting more time, ink and paper. Then I noticed a post here
about the new spongeless carts from MIS. I had experimented with the
spongeless carts from Ink Republic, being really excited to get away
from sponges. But I could not make their cartridges work with Eboni
Ink. I could almost get them to work with their pigment inks but clogs
would show up shortly after installation. One theory was that the MIS
Eboni ink was too thick to flow through their filter. After a week of
exasperation I gave up on the IR spongeless dream.

Last week I ordered two of the T007 spongeless carts for my 1280 (one
as backup), a chip re-setter and the needle. Like a nerdy little kid
on Christmas morning I ripped into the package when it arrived,
followed the directions on the MIS site, installed the new cart, ran a
cleaning cycle and made a nozzle check. Yep, you guessed it, missing
nozzles. More cleaning cycles and purge prints. Still no clean nozzle
checks. I went to cart #2. I re-read the instructions, filled and
primed the cart, and STILL MISSING NOZZLES. More cleanings, purge
pages, and a few cheapie color carts later I was still without a good
nozzle check. I put back in an original Epson Dye cart and got PERFECT
nozzle checks right off the bat. I made a few test prints with the
Epson carts. All perfect. Put back in the new spongeless carts and
right back to missing nozzles.

I called MIS and by chance got Bob Zeiss.  I ranted my tales of woe to
him. He said he would send out a care package that day and that if I
could get good nozzle checks with an Epson cart then we could make it
work with MIS inks. I'm one day away via Fedex/USP ground from MIS.
The following day the promised package did not arrive. I was a very
unhappy, frustrated camper. Screw it. I decide to take a chance and
clean this bastard with some of the Klean-Strip paint cleaner. I'm
ready to throw this printer out the window anyhow. I let it soak with
Klean-Strip over night. Still no luck. 

Over the next day I load up some Windex in a IR spongeless damper and
print black purge pages with windex. I get page after page with with
blobs of ink on it. I run some Klean-Strip through an IR damper too.

My original Epson cart is now empty and the care package finally
arrives from MIS. I install a generic black dye cart. Now I can't get
a good nozzle check with a dye cart. The # 6,8 and 9 positions of the
top bar in the nozzle check are missing. Nothing will bring those
three, stinking little hashes back. Putting back in a pigment cart
just results in 50 percent of the nozzles, or more, missing. Finally I
lose most of the black nozzles even with a dye cart.

Maybe I killed the printer messing around with Klean-Strip? At this
point I don't really care anymore. I'm tired of spending hours dinking
around. I just want to print.

I'm now in the process of letting Klean-Strip soak over the weekend,
then I will try a hot wash of distilled water to flush out the
Klean-Strip. If the nozzles don't come back then I'll be ordering a
new 1280 from Buy.com or Amazon. They have free shipping on them and a
$100 rebate. For $269 I will have a new 1280 which I will put on Amex.
That will give me two years of warranty service, one from Epson, one
from Amex. I can't see spending $600 for a 2200 when I only BO print
and you cannot see any improvement over prints made in the 2200 over
the 1280.

I'm hoping that these new spongeless carts are the answer to our
clogging prayers. I also think I will avoid running any of the black
dye inks through the printer as suggested here. Can't hurt. Just in
case I'll have some chicken bones on hand...