Digital BW, The Print

I think it is very important to swap the carts you think have problems
with others such a real Epson carts. That will tell you if the problem
is in the carts or the print head. You have to determine which is the
problem before you know how to solve it. 

Following on Paul's comments:

1) I have not experienced the Eboni / dye conflict causing clogs. In
fact I frequently use my 890 with Eboni printing BO and MIS $5 color
carts. But possibly the difference is Epson dye vs the cheap generic
dye from MIS (which is excellent ink BTW)

2) The problems of well used 1280's & 890's still working well with
dye but having clogging problems with pigment inks seems common. I
finally got frustrated with a 2+ year old 1280 and replaced it. A
friend is still happy using my old 1280 with dye and I've been happy
for more than a year using pigment in the replacement. But it seems
you can clean them up. Wish I'd known. 

3) The priming of the spongeless carts is critical. With priming they
frequently work perfectly the first time. Without priming, they are a
bear to get to work well. 

My opinion is that our demanding perfection using pigment ink in a
1280 or 890 pushes the printer well beyond it's original design spec.
They can be a good low cost workhorse delivering great prints. But
they are not zero maintenance in this application and  sometimes
require a bit of tweaking. This seems to be more art than science.
Everybody has their own techniques. None are wrong, they're just
different. 

Bob Michaels

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Roark"
<paul.roark@v...> wrote:
> I'm not sure what the MIS instructions say, so this may be
redundant, and
> I'm admittedly guessing as to what might cause these problems.
> 
> First, if the OEM dyes have been in the printer, rinse the parking
pad.  The
> dyes will interact with Eboni to make clumps that then stick onto
the bottom
> of the head (or so it seems).
> 
> Second, an old dye printer might work great with dyes but have
problems with
> pigments.  The screens in the head may be partially blocked.  I let
my 7600
> sit with cleaning fluid in it for more than a week.  The fluid
appeared to
> slowly dissolve away the problems, and the printer has not had problems
> since.
> 
> Third, be sure to prime the carts if they were loaded from the top.
> 
> Good luck.
> 
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com 
> 
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > [mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
> > ep21002100
> > Sent: Friday, July 29, 2005 4:22 AM
> > To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [Digital BW] Re: MIS Spongeless Carts Disaster
> > 
> > I was using original epson inks (it works well)and change theses for
> > the MIS GP (eboni K and Universal K) and refill the carts following
> > the MIS instructions but I could not get any print, always my nozzles
> > has gaps. I let the print rest for some days and no luck. I take of
> > all the inks for the carts, clean with windex and plain water to
> > clean a possible foam in the damper and refill again, but no luck.
> > I get all the possible problems, air, dripping inks,  banding
> > issues...etc.
> > I see also a possible desing problems of those carts. Take a look to
> > this image of the clamps
> > http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/8690/890metalonhole2dz.jpg
> > I make a pinhole directly underneath the ventillation hole in the
> > cellafane cover, but the banding issues is still there
> > So...
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Michaels"
> > <bob@b...> wrote:
> > > Most of us are having very good luck with the spongeless carts in
> > 1280
> > > & 890. I have both spongeless K & color carts in my 1280 but only
> > use
> > > the spongeless K cart in my 890.
> > >
> > > Can you state specifically what your problems are? What differences
> > do
> > > you see from the conventional carts? Is the ONLY difference in your
> > > workflow changing the conventional carts with the same ink for the
> > > spongeless ones?
> > >
> > > Bob Michaels
> > >
> > > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "ep21002100"
> > > <ep21002100@y...> wrote:
> > > > Helo.
> > > > I'm using the epson 890 spongeless cart with GP MIS inks. It have
> > been
> > > > a disaster. I spent 2oz bottes of ink and I don't have any print.
> > > > Belive me. I don't get any good nozzle print in a month of work.
> > I
> > > > follow the MIS instructions and list advices, now I don't know
> > what to
> > > > do.....
> > > > I think that those cart are no well designed.
> > > > It is only my opinion...