Digital BW, The Print

Hello folks,

I'm using an Epson 1400 with MIS UT14, and I've been having some quality
problems. I'm starting to wonder if something is wrong with the printer,
because the head alignment and nozzle check sheets have some artifacts,
and so I thought I'd ask other 1400 owners if they also get them. I've
seen these artifacts in sheets from two 1400s, so I assumed they were
normal; but both were refubished units, so... Yeah.

I've taken some pictures of the nozzle check and print head alignment
prints and put them up here:

http://waspfactory.org/~mike/1400/

If you take a look at printheadalignment.jpg you'll see a couple of
things: The first is all of the squares have a horizontal white line a
few lines up from the bottom, a problem I've had with every alignment
sheet I've ever printed. The second is new: squares in the second and
especially third line are smeared, which should be clearly visible in
alignmentdetail.jpg. That showed up after using dry bias tape (probably
a mistake).

The other problem is visible in the nozzlecheck.jpg; if you look at the
bottom-right segment of the leftmost check pattern (what would be black
with color ink), you'll see that it has a slight gap - it doesn't touch
the segment to its left, but is insted a bit too far down. Again, this
has always happened.

Do other Epson 1400 owners get these in their nozzle checks and
alignment sheets?

In my prints, I'm seeing faint lines parallel to the motion of the head,
more noticable in darker midtones, but present in all the channels if I
print a purging pattern. It looks very much like what I'd expect from a
clogged nozzle, but the nozzle checks show no actual holes, and multiple
cleanings and many, many alignments sheets haven't helped. Nor has bias
tape soaked with Windex (in addition to the dry stuff).

The moral of the story is probably going to be "buying a refurb was a
false economy, nitwit" because boy howdy have I wasted a lot of time on
this thing. It's frustrating because I can tell that if I can get it
working reliably I can get some really great prints out of it (or at
least the limiting factors will be my skill and talent rather than the
device).

Thanks for reading my novella of a post :)

-- 
  | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |

Wow. Your printer is werd. I've got a 1400 too, with Eboni and UT14 inks (Eb1400 kit from Paul Roark) and everything is perfect. I only had to make the alignment while installing the printer (brand new).

Hope this helps...

S.

 Le mar 06/07/10 09:42, mike-theprint@... a écrit:
> Hello folks,
> 
> I'm using an Epson 1400 with MIS UT14, and I've been having some
> quality
problems. I'm starting to wonder if something is wrong with the
> printer,
because the head alignment and nozzle check sheets have some
> artifacts,
and so I thought I'd ask other 1400 owners if they also get them. I've
> seen these artifacts in sheets from two 1400s, so I assumed they were
> normal; but both were refubished units, so... Yeah.
> 
> I've taken some pictures of the nozzle check and print head alignment
> prints and put them up here:
> 
> 
> http://waspfactory.org/~mike/1400/
> If you take a look at printheadalignment.jpg you'll see a couple of
> things: The first is all of the squares have a horizontal white line a
> few lines up from the bottom, a problem I've had with every alignment
> sheet I've ever printed. The second is new: squares in the second and
> especially third line are smeared, which should be clearly visible in
> alignmentdetail.jpg. That showed up after using dry bias tape
> (probably
a mistake).
> 
> The other problem is visible in the nozzlecheck.jpg; if you look at
> the
bottom-right segment of the leftmost check pattern (what would be
> black
with color ink), you'll see that it has a slight gap - it doesn't
> touch
the segment to its left, but is insted a bit too far down. Again, this
> has always happened.
> 
> Do other Epson 1400 owners get these in their nozzle checks and
> alignment sheets?
> 
> In my prints, I'm seeing faint lines parallel to the motion of the
> head,
more noticable in darker midtones, but present in all the channels if
> I
print a purging pattern. It looks very much like what I'd expect from
> a
clogged nozzle, but the nozzle checks show no actual holes, and
> multiple
cleanings and many, many alignments sheets haven't helped. Nor has
> bias
tape soaked with Windex (in addition to the dry stuff).
> 
> The moral of the story is probably going to be "buying a refurb was a
> false economy, nitwit" because boy howdy have I wasted a lot of time
> on
this thing. It's frustrating because I can tell that if I can get it
> working reliably I can get some really great prints out of it (or at
> least the limiting factors will be my skill and talent rather than the
> device).
> 
> Thanks for reading my novella of a post :)
> 
> -- 
> | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org
> |
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
> they are often being updated.
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
> Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
> membership without notice.
- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
> printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
> the membership.
- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
> guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner
> and Moderators. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/file
> s/
> BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
> YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> Individual Email | Traditional
> 
(Yahoo! ID required)
> 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

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> 
> 
>

If your getting "lines" on your prints , check what definition you have the print quality set at try " ultra photo" first before you try "best" I have trouble sometimes with best, and "lines" suggest you are a "bit", or should that be "Byte"  short in the info the printer gets

regards
bob

I have had 3 refurbs and they all looked and preformed like new.  I am now running a 1400 with an Eboni ink set
and getting very satisfactory results.  Your problem sounds a little like misallignment but I will leave that to others
who are way more knowledgable about that.  I just wanted to assure you that most refurbs are as good as new but
that's from my experience.  Good luck. 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi,

First, thanks to Sylvain, Robert Fallis, and Tom Garrett for their
answers. I am printing with Photo RPM quality, High Speed unchecked, and
paper set to Ultra Premium Presentation Matte (as recommended in Paul
Roark's UT14 PDF). I'm pretty confident that my workflow is correct, so
what I'd really like the answer to is this:

When printing nozzle checks or alignment sheets, do other Epson 1400
owners also see the artifacts I described?

-- 
  | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |

________________________________

From: Sylvain <sylvain@grainsdefolie.net>
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tue, July 6, 2010 2:52:27 AM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 1400 - yet more problems

  
Wow. Your printer is werd. I've got a 1400 too, with Eboni and UT14 inks (Eb1400 kit from Paul Roark) and everything is perfect. I only had to make the alignment while installing the printer (brand new).

Hope this helps...

S.

Le mar 06/07/10 09:42, mike-theprint@... a écrit:
> Hello folks,
> 
> I'm using an Epson 1400 with MIS UT14, and I've been having some
> quality
problems. I'm starting to wonder if something is wrong with the
> printer,
because the head alignment and nozzle check sheets have some
> artifacts,
and so I thought I'd ask other 1400 owners if they also get them. I've
> seen these artifacts in sheets from two 1400s, so I assumed they were
> normal; but both were refubished units, so... Yeah.
> 
> I've taken some pictures of the nozzle check and print head alignment
> prints and put them up here:
> 
> 
> http://waspfactory.org/~mike/1400/
> If you take a look at printheadalignment.jpg you'll see a couple of
> things: The first is all of the squares have a horizontal white line a
> few lines up from the bottom, a problem I've had with every alignment
> sheet I've ever printed. The second is new: squares in the second and
> especially third line are smeared, which should be clearly visible in
> alignmentdetail.jpg. That showed up after using dry bias tape
> (probably
a mistake).
> 
> The other problem is visible in the nozzlecheck.jpg; if you look at
> the
bottom-right segment of the leftmost check pattern (what would be
> black
with color ink), you'll see that it has a slight gap - it doesn't
> touch
the segment to its left, but is insted a bit too far down. Again, this
> has always happened.
> 
> Do other Epson 1400 owners get these in their nozzle checks and
> alignment sheets?
> 
> In my prints, I'm seeing faint lines parallel to the motion of the
> head,
more noticable in darker midtones, but present in all the channels if
> I
print a purging pattern. It looks very much like what I'd expect from
> a
clogged nozzle, but the nozzle checks show no actual holes, and
> multiple
cleanings and many, many alignments sheets haven't helped. Nor has
> bias
tape soaked with Windex (in addition to the dry stuff).
> 
> The moral of the story is probably going to be "buying a refurb was a
> false economy, nitwit" because boy howdy have I wasted a lot of time
> on
this thing. It's frustrating because I can tell that if I can get it
> working reliably I can get some really great prints out of it (or at
> least the limiting factors will be my skill and talent rather than the
> device).
> 
> Thanks for reading my novella of a post :)
> 
> -- 
> | Mike Acar | | mike at waspfactory dot org
> |
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
> they are often being updated.
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
> Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
> membership without notice.
- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
> printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
> the membership.
- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
> guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner
> and Moderators. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/file
> s/
> BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
> YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> Individual Email | Traditional
> 
(Yahoo! ID required)
> 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> 
> 
> 




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I will print both tests and post them. I should be able to do that on friday.

 Le mar 06/07/10 18:25, mike-theprint@... a écrit:
> Hi,
> 
> First, thanks to Sylvain, Robert Fallis, and Tom Garrett for their
> answers. I am printing with Photo RPM quality, High Speed unchecked,
> and
paper set to Ultra Premium Presentation Matte (as recommended in Paul
> Roark's UT14 PDF). I'm pretty confident that my workflow is correct,
> so
what I'd really like the answer to is this:
> 
> When printing nozzle checks or alignment sheets, do other Epson 1400
> owners also see the artifacts I described?
> 
> -- 
> | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org
> |
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
> they are often being updated.
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
> Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
> membership without notice.
- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
> printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
> the membership.
- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
> guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner
> and Moderators. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/file
> s/
> BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
> YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> Individual Email | Traditional
> 
(Yahoo! ID required)
> 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> 
> 
>

Hello Mike,

I just printed both tests. I'll scan and post them tomorrow.
Just one thing: I had another look to your tests and noticed that one head is missing on your nozzle check (the first one on the left). I don't think it's normal....

 Le mar 06/07/10 09:42, mike-theprint@... a écrit:
> Hello folks,
> 
> I'm using an Epson 1400 with MIS UT14, and I've been having some
> quality
problems. I'm starting to wonder if something is wrong with the
> printer,
because the head alignment and nozzle check sheets have some
> artifacts,
and so I thought I'd ask other 1400 owners if they also get them. I've
> seen these artifacts in sheets from two 1400s, so I assumed they were
> normal; but both were refubished units, so... Yeah.
> 
> I've taken some pictures of the nozzle check and print head alignment
> prints and put them up here:
> 
> 
> http://waspfactory.org/~mike/1400/
> If you take a look at printheadalignment.jpg you'll see a couple of
> things: The first is all of the squares have a horizontal white line a
> few lines up from the bottom, a problem I've had with every alignment
> sheet I've ever printed. The second is new: squares in the second and
> especially third line are smeared, which should be clearly visible in
> alignmentdetail.jpg. That showed up after using dry bias tape
> (probably
a mistake).
> 
> The other problem is visible in the nozzlecheck.jpg; if you look at
> the
bottom-right segment of the leftmost check pattern (what would be
> black
with color ink), you'll see that it has a slight gap - it doesn't
> touch
the segment to its left, but is insted a bit too far down. Again, this
> has always happened.
> 
> Do other Epson 1400 owners get these in their nozzle checks and
> alignment sheets?
> 
> In my prints, I'm seeing faint lines parallel to the motion of the
> head,
more noticable in darker midtones, but present in all the channels if
> I
print a purging pattern. It looks very much like what I'd expect from
> a
clogged nozzle, but the nozzle checks show no actual holes, and
> multiple
cleanings and many, many alignments sheets haven't helped. Nor has
> bias
tape soaked with Windex (in addition to the dry stuff).
> 
> The moral of the story is probably going to be "buying a refurb was a
> false economy, nitwit" because boy howdy have I wasted a lot of time
> on
this thing. It's frustrating because I can tell that if I can get it
> working reliably I can get some really great prints out of it (or at
> least the limiting factors will be my skill and talent rather than the
> device).
> 
> Thanks for reading my novella of a post :)
> 
> -- 
> | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org
> |
> 
> ------------------------------------
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, and other resources as
> they are often being updated.
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> If you wish to receive no emails or just a daily digest, or you wish to
> unsubscribe, please edit your Membership preferences by visiting this same
> page.
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
> them short.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or flames.
> Hostile, aggressive or argumentative users may be removed from the
> membership without notice.
- Keep your posts and threads related to the group topic of digital B&W
> printing. Users who persistently make off-topic posts may be removed from
> the membership.
- By posting on this forum you agree to abide by the group rules and
> guidelines, and to abide by the actions and decisions of the group Owner
> and Moderators. See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint/file
> s/
> BY PARTICIPATING IN AND/OR POSTING MESSAGES TO THE DIGITAL BW, THE PRINT
> YAHOO! GROUP YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE Yahoo! Groups Links
> 
> Individual Email | Traditional
> 
(Yahoo! ID required)
> 
DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> 
> 
>

Hi Sylvain,

On Thu, Jul 08, 2010 at 11:14:53AM +0200, Sylvain wrote:
> I just printed both tests. I'll scan and post them tomorrow.

Ah, thank you very much!

> Just one thing: I had another look to your tests and noticed that one
> head is missing on your nozzle check (the first one on the left). I
> don't think it's normal....

In this case it is: UT14 puts glop in that position, which is a clear
solution that's basically invisible at the quantity used in a nozzle
check. If I print a purge pattern, however, the nozzle is clearly
firing.

And when I had the OEM color ink loaded, that position also looked fine.

-- 
  | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |

OK. I forgot it was the UT14 kit.
I tried to scan my tests this morning at work and unfortunately the scanner is limited to 600dpi, which is not really enough to show what we need.
I'll try to get a better scanner (I've got one at home but I'm away for a while).

S 

 Le jeu 08/07/10 17:19, mike-theprint@... a écrit:

> In this case it is: UT14 puts glop in that position, which is a clear
> solution that's basically invisible at the quantity used in a nozzle
> check. If I print a purge pattern, however, the nozzle is clearly
> firing.
>

Hi Mike,

Here is finally a scan of my alignment test.
Hope this helps!

Regards

Sylvain


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Mike,

Here is finally a scan of my alignment test.
Hope this helps!

Regards

Sylvain


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Sylvain,

On Fri, Jul 09, 2010 at 01:30:33PM +0200, Sylvain wrote:
> Hi Mike,
> 
> Here is finally a scan of my alignment test.
> Hope this helps!

Yes, that definitely helps. Thanks! Your and Tom Garrett's alignment
tests make clear that there's something wrong with my printhead: One of
the nozzles is printing one line too low. So a replacement is in order.

First, though, I'd like to figure out how to get rid of pizzawheel
marks. Has anybody succeeded in doing so? Even when using a relatively
thin medium like Epson's Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy I get
pizzawheels in the denser areas...

-- 
  | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |

Try this:

http://www.inksupply.com/pizza.cfm

John

From: mike-theprint@... 
Sent: Friday, July 09, 2010 10:41 AM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com 
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] Epson 1400 - yet more problems


  
Hi Sylvain,

On Fri, Jul 09, 2010 at 01:30:33PM +0200, Sylvain wrote:
> Hi Mike,
> 
> Here is finally a scan of my alignment test.
> Hope this helps!

Yes, that definitely helps. Thanks! Your and Tom Garrett's alignment
tests make clear that there's something wrong with my printhead: One of
the nozzles is printing one line too low. So a replacement is in order.

First, though, I'd like to figure out how to get rid of pizzawheel
marks. Has anybody succeeded in doing so? Even when using a relatively
thin medium like Epson's Ultra Premium Photo Paper Glossy I get
pizzawheels in the denser areas...

-- 
| Mike Acar | | mike at waspfactory dot org |




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Fri, Jul 09, 2010 at 10:53:59AM -0500, John K Stacy wrote:
> Try this:
> 
> http://www.inksupply.com/pizza.cfm

Ah hah. I shall. Thanks :)

-- 
  | Mike Acar |                                | mike at waspfactory dot org |