Digital BW, The Print

I've had the same CFS on a succession of Epson printers in my converted "darkroom" since 2004.  It was bought from MIS with EZ matte inks for a C84 and went on a succession of those, until Epson replaced that model with the C88, and the same CFS happily worked on a series of the new models as well.   (I print between 1000 and 1500 8x10 prints each year during the month before Christmas, for books that go to family members, and these little printers don't seem to last too long at that pace.)

But now, when I put the old CFS on a new C88 (the old one would only flash its 2 red lights) I can't get a black nozzle check.  I checked the new printer first with OEM color carts, and the test page and nozzle check printed just fine, so the printer itself seems OK.  But a nozzle check with the CFS installed gives proper CM&Y bars but absolutely no black bars at all.

I've tried cleaning cycles and purge prints for the last 2 days, with no improvement.  When I put a bottom fill adapter on the K cart of the CFS system I can't pull any quantity of ink through it.  I do get a bit of black ink, but can't pull the (60cc) syringe more than about a half inch before the vacuum is too much for me to move the plunger any more.  Holding the vacuum for a few minutes does not bring any more ink through.

Do the lines eventually block up on these systems?  Or do the cartridges themselves block up?  I can't figure out what else would make such a solid vacuum when I try to draw ink through the cart.  Anyway, if anybody knows of a likely-to-work fix I'd appreciate it.  I do have a spare CFS in the box, but as I recall they're a pain to set up from empty and would rather keep the old one working if possible.  OTOH, 7 years may well be beyond the call of duty for these things, so if I'm just lucky to have made it this far with the old equipment I'll move on.

That CFS is so old I'd start over.  I suspect it has old sponges in the carts that have broken down.  I've heard some recommend replacement every year.  On the other hand, the only one I have running (in my daughter's college apartment) is over 3 years old and seems to be fine.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com 


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "cbabing3@..." <cbabing3@...> wrote:

>
> I've had the same CFS on a succession of Epson printers in my converted "darkroom" since 2004.  It was bought from MIS with EZ matte inks for a C84 and went on a succession of those, until Epson replaced that model with the C88, and the same CFS happily worked on a series of the new models as well.   (I print between 1000 and 1500 8x10 prints each year during the month before Christmas, for books that go to family members, and these little printers don't seem to last too long at that pace.)
> 
> But now, when I put the old CFS on a new C88 (the old one would only flash its 2 red lights) I can't get a black nozzle check.  I checked the new printer first with OEM color carts, and the test page and nozzle check printed just fine, so the printer itself seems OK.  But a nozzle check with the CFS installed gives proper CM&Y bars but absolutely no black bars at all.
> 
> I've tried cleaning cycles and purge prints for the last 2 days, with no improvement.  When I put a bottom fill adapter on the K cart of the CFS system I can't pull any quantity of ink through it.  I do get a bit of black ink, but can't pull the (60cc) syringe more than about a half inch before the vacuum is too much for me to move the plunger any more.  Holding the vacuum for a few minutes does not bring any more ink through.
> 
> Do the lines eventually block up on these systems?  Or do the cartridges themselves block up?  I can't figure out what else would make such a solid vacuum when I try to draw ink through the cart.  Anyway, if anybody knows of a likely-to-work fix I'd appreciate it.  I do have a spare CFS in the box, but as I recall they're a pain to set up from empty and would rather keep the old one working if possible.  OTOH, 7 years may well be beyond the call of duty for these things, so if I'm just lucky to have made it this far with the old equipment I'll move on.
>

Wow, replace annually.  Hadn't heard that.  But 7 years IS a long time 
for most anything in the digital world, so I just put the fresh backup 
system in.  Got a perfect nozzle check on the first try and am now back 
in business.

The C88s seem to be getting less common.  I see that MIS has a CFS for 
the Workforce line, but I don't see an EZ inkset for 'em   Is there one 
that I'm just not seeing, or should I just stock up on a couple of more 
C88s and another CFS for backup while they're still out there?

Thanks for any advice.

Cheers,
Kip

Paul wrote:
>  
>
> That CFS is so old I'd start over. I suspect it has old sponges in the 
> carts that have broken down. I've heard some recommend replacement 
> every year. On the other hand, the only one I have running (in my 
> daughter's college apartment) is over 3 years old and seems to be fine.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
>
> 


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

Kip Babington <cbabing3@...> wrote:
>
> Wow, replace annually.  Hadn't heard that. ...


Probably the recommendation of a seller.


> The C88s seem to be getting less common. 

I switched to the WorkForce line.  For text they are so fast they make a great home office + photo printer.  I just printed my Xmas cards on the WF 1100, using the dyes.


> I see that MIS has a CFS for the Workforce line,

I have not used a CFS on one.  I actually prefer carts.

> but I don't see an EZ inkset for 'em   Is there one ...


The standard MIS EZ inks would work, but I think they're a get light.  I made profiles for an "EZ" type of setup that uses standard LK density inks.  I thought it printed better and would be a more flexible setup.  To avoid confusion, since last I looked MIS had not followed that recommendation, I stopped using the "EZ" name for the LK-density approach.  The LK density single midtone approach I'm calling the "K2-Quad" approach.  It has 4 inks, 3 of which are the K2 Lk, so it is a quad with 2 levels of K.  (That will probably just cause more confusion, but that is what I've moved to.)  Hopefully the profiles will be more portable.

See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1100.pdf

You can see at http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/ and http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Inkset-list.html links to various permutations of this approach.  The "sequential" curves seem very portable.  Linearization is usually needed for a different inkset, printer, or paper, but these curves and this approach are rather generic.


> ... or should I just stock up on a couple of more C88s ...

No, I would move on when the C88 crashes.  Printers keep getting better.  The WF line is a worthy successor. 

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com

Thanks, Paul.  I'll consider moving to the Workforce 30, as I don't 
print any larger than letter size.  I'll be somewhat inhibited, though, 
by the fact that I have 3 of the C88s in my "darkroom," two with EZ 
inksets (one w/CFS, one w/carts) and a third with Epson OEM color carts 
as an occasional color printer and a standby in case either of the B&W 
printers fails.  If past practice is a guide, I will make close to 500 
prints in the next 2 weeks, and I run both of the B&W C88s to do this.  
If one dies, I'll press the color printer into B&W service immediately.  
(Next year I've got to get organized, but I've been making these 
Christmas books for family members for close to 30 years now, and it 
always ends up as a mad push in the last 2 weeks - there were years when 
I spent early Christmas afternoon downtown at my law office binding the 
books that would be given out that evening.)

So a transition to another printer model would be something of a 
project, managing different inksets and presumably different settings 
depending on the printer to which a particular image will be sent, all 
over several years (unless I just pitched whatever C88s were still 
working when I made the switch.)  Still, the Workforce printers seem to 
be cheap enough that the printer costs would be pretty small, even if I 
started with 3 of 'em.  It looks like the cartridges and inks would run 
more than the printers.

One item that might make a difference - are the Workforce printers 
substantially faster than the C88s when doing images?  (I don't use 
these printers for documents, so their apparently stunning text speed is 
of no particular interest.)

I've printed off your article on the ink sets, and am trying to absorb 
the concept of profiles, something I've never dealt with before.  How 
critical would it be to get a spectro if I switched to the Workforce 
printers?  I use mostly Red River matte papers for my picture book 
printing - their Better quality, not Premium stuff.

Thanks for your continuing efforts with B&W inks, and for your advice on 
this particular situation I found myself in.

Cheers,
Kip

Paul wrote:
>  
>
>  < snip >
>
> The standard MIS EZ inks would work, but I think they're a get light. 
> I made profiles for an "EZ" type of setup that uses standard LK 
> density inks. I thought it printed better and would be a more flexible 
> setup. To avoid confusion, since last I looked MIS had not followed 
> that recommendation, I stopped using the "EZ" name for the LK-density 
> approach. The LK density single midtone approach I'm calling the 
> "K2-Quad" approach. It has 4 inks, 3 of which are the K2 Lk, so it is 
> a quad with 2 levels of K. (That will probably just cause more 
> confusion, but that is what I've moved to.) Hopefully the profiles 
> will be more portable.
>
> See http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/1100.pdf
>
> You can see at http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/ and 
> http://www.paulroark.com/BW-Info/Inkset-list.html links to various 
> permutations of this approach. The "sequential" curves seem very 
> portable. Linearization is usually needed for a different inkset, 
> printer, or paper, but these curves and this approach are rather generic.
>
> > ... or should I just stock up on a couple of more C88s ...
>
> No, I would move on when the C88 crashes. Printers keep getting 
> better. The WF line is a worthy successor.
>
> Paul
> www.PaulRoark.com
>
>
> 


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

Kip Babington <cbabing3@...> wrote:
>
>  I'll consider moving to the Workforce 30, as I don't 
> print any larger than letter size.  ...
> I have 3 of the C88s in my "darkroom," ...
> I will make close to 500 prints in the next 2 weeks, ...

While the WF 30 is fast with text, it's slow with photos.  I also think of the C88 as slow.  I'm not sure which is slower, but after setting up the WF30 and then doing the same thing for the C88, I thought the WF 30 was faster, but that was a subjective opinion.  With that type of volume it might be worth looking at the stats of the Epson printers to see how fast the alternatives are.


> 
> ... trying to absorb the concept of profiles,...  How 
> critical would it be to get a spectro if I switched to the Workforce 
> printers? 

It's the easiest to use, but a flatbed scanner can be used to linearize also.  See the QTR StepWedge tool and the Readme that comes with it.  Go to http://www.quadtonerip.com/html/QTRdownload.html


Paul
www.PaulRoark.com