Digital BW, The Print

> Does any know if this printer does a cleaning cycle EVERY time the
> machine is turned on? Or 
> are all those startup machinations / gyrations doing something else?

Yes, it does a "smaller" cleaning cycle when the unit is powered up.
This is necessary for cleaning off any dried ink that might be on the
print head. 

See here for more:

http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp/Epson3800/faq.html#on_or_off

Eric