Digital BW, The Print

> ... The poppet is really, really touchy in the black and that
> is the worst (really had to wiggle the adapter around to get it to open
> up for the priming step)...

I have modified the bottom fill adapter for priming these carts and dealing
with 7600 carts.  See http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/Mod_Bot_Fill.jpg  All it
takes is a few minutes and a file.  Be sure to clean off all the shavings.

(I've never used the 1160 clear carts.)

 
> The printer was giving perfect patterns with epson dye ...

Dye is lower viscosity and can get through screens in the head that may be
sufficiently clogged that pigments can't get through them.  My 7600
(dampers) reached that point, and letting it sit with MIS cleaning fluid in
it for 2 weeks did the trick.  I did a cleaning cycle about once a day or
printed a purge pattern.  It has worked well ever since.  Note that the
cleaning fluid is the clear UC base diluted 1:1 with water to lower the
viscosity so that the fluid can get through the tight spots.


> I wonder if significant prior use with the color dye somehow makes 
> the printer unsuitable for pigments; ...

Aside from the above, Eboni is not compatible with dye.  I found on a used
1280 that I had to clean the parking pads thoroughly to get the dye off
them.  Otherwise the machine would pick up enough residual dye from the pad
to cause problems.  Clumps of pigs appeared to get stuck on the surface of
the head.  I also had to clean that with a Windex-soaked paper towel strip
or cloth bias tape.

In general, I think printers made for pigments are more reliable with pigs
than are printers made for dyes.  I have been told that it was just the
rather constant preventative cleaning cycles that differentiated the 7500
(pigment printer) from the 7000 (dye printer).  However, I have no idea what
Epson may have done in printers that are built from the ground up for
pigments.  Also, used printers that work with dyes may have screens in the
heads that are just too clogged to work well with pigments.  There is a
difference in viscosity that can, obviously, be significant.

Good luck.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com