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"grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

"grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by paulmwhiting@...

Haven't had to ask for help in a long time here, this printer/inkset combination has been wonderful. The printer hardly ever clogs, when it does, a simple headcleaning in the software does the job first try. I'm using Eb6 with PremierArt Smooth 205, but actually since I mix my own ink it's the C6b set up to be more exact.

My skies used to be creamy smooth, but now they're, to use a film word, somewhat "grainy". Today I refilled all the carts, some were almost empty, I wonder if that caused the problem because I noticed the graininess before I did the refill. Also, I mixed my ink about a year ago... could the ink have aged or gone bad? This printer is a real ink miser so I've had the same batch of ink all this time. I mixed about 120 ml of each dilution and stored them in plastic bottles.

One more thing... the black cart, 100% Eboni, leaked a little out the port that fits over the nipple, but it stopped once it was in place.

I did a search here but couldn't find anything about graininess with this printer/inkset combination.

Thanks all,

Paul


Re: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by Paul Roark

​Do a nozzle check.

You should agitate the inks in the bottles before loading carts -- ideally a day before, letting any particles settle before loading.

Unfortunately, some ink leakage from the carts seems to occur in some carts. Tape them tightly before loading. MIS used to have little plugs for the outlets; not sure if those still exist.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com ​
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On Sun, Jan 25, 2015 at 5:37 PM, paulmwhiting@yahoo.com [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint] <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

Haven't had to ask for help in a long time here, this printer/inkset combination has been wonderful. The printer hardly ever clogs, when it does, a simple headcleaning in the software does the job first try. I'm using Eb6 with PremierArt Smooth 205, but actually since I mix my own ink it9;s the C6b set up to be more exact.

My skies used to be creamy smooth, but now they're, to use a film word, somewhat "grainy". Today I refilled all the carts, some were almost empty, I wonder if that caused the problem because I noticed the graininess before I did the refill. Also, I mixed my ink about a year ago... could the ink have aged or gone bad? This printer is a real ink miser so I've had the same batch of ink all this time. I mixed about 120 ml of each dilution and stored them in plastic bottles.

One more thing... the black cart, 100% Eboni, leaked a little out the port that fits over the nipple, but it stopped once it was in place.

I did a search here but couldn't find anything about graininess with this printer/inkset combination.

Thanks all,

Paul



Re: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by paulmwhiting@...

Thanks, Paul,

I did do nozzle checks all along, after the refill I had some lines missing in the K cart but after one cleaning it cleared up right away. Like I say, this is what I like so much about the 1400.

At one point, in spite of the perfect nozzle checks, I did three cleanings in a row (we're not supposed to go beyond that at one sitting) but this didn't help.

I did shake the bottles, gently, as well, but not the day before, just moments before I refilled.

Now that I think about it, a few of the carts were not just low on ink, but virtually empty. Does this harm the heads in any way? I sure hope not. My worse fear is that perhaps I damaged the heads.

Problem is, now what? I haven't tried printing this morning, perhaps the ink has settled overnight. I don't want to wake the household with my comings and goings.

I'll tape that K cartridge before next cleaning.

Paul

Re: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by paulmwhiting@...

Just did a print, the issue is still there, but seems a bit less. Perhaps I should just continue making prints in the hopes it will clear up.

I must add a little information: to the best of my recollection, I had this "graininess" (actually it's perhaps better described as mild blotchiness) before I did the refills. In fact that was some sort of clue something was amiss and led me to check my ink levels physically removing the carts - the levels didn't appear that bad in the graphic display in the Epson driver.

Paul

RE: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by Greg Spitzer

Make sure you're printing on the correct side, Premier makes most of the Smooth Hot Press in single and double side. (inkjet receptive layer)

Call Premier to confirm.
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-----Original Message-----
From: "paulmwhiting@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint]" <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: ‎1/‎25/‎2015 5:37 PM
To: "DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com" <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

  
Haven't had to ask for help in a long time here, this printer/inkset combination has been wonderful. The printer hardly ever clogs, when it does, a simple headcleaning in the software does the job first try. I'm using Eb6 with PremierArt Smooth 205, but actually since I mix my own ink it's the C6b set up to be more exact.

My skies used to be creamy smooth, but now they're, to use a film word, somewhat "grainy". Today I refilled all the carts, some were almost empty, I wonder if that caused the problem because I noticed the graininess before I did the refill. Also, I mixed my ink about a year ago... could the ink have aged or gone bad? This printer is a real ink miser so I've had the same batch of ink all this time. I mixed about 120 ml of each dilution and stored them in plastic bottles.

One more thing... the black cart, 100% Eboni, leaked a little out the port that fits over the nipple, but it stopped once it was in place.

I did a search here but couldn't find anything about graininess with this printer/inkset combination.

Thanks all,

Paul

Re: "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by paulmwhiting@...

Good call, Greg, thank you... but this particular paper is packaged as "2s" or doublesided. That's one of the reasons l like this paper because I can use the good side of a rejected print for test prints. I am an unrepentant cheapskate!

I was just about to write Paul, and once again, express apologies. I've done this to him before... I posed a problem and he patiently went down a checklist with me and finally he gently suggested maybe I got two cartridges interchanged. Yup, that was the problem.

This one isn't quite that dumb. The print I'm working on is the fifth version of a color original I was working on to get better shadow detail. But each time rather than go back to the original I went back to the preceding version. As I looked at the sky under each version, the sky got progressively worse. So I printed version 1 and the sky was fine! Even though these were all tiff files, the image did not kindly to my tweaking as I went along. I should've gone back to the original (color) file and done a fresh b/w conversion each time.

Sorry Paul... this one wasn't quite so bad as the previous episode. I did learn some valuable tips however, ie to shake my ink bottles the day before I refill. And to physically check my ink levels and not rely so much on the graphic portrayal of levels. And of course, not to do successive edits rather than fresh edits of an original.

Live and learn,

Paul

Re: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

2015-01-26 by Paul Roark

The "tongue test" can tell which side of a paper is coated. Just touch the end of your tongue to the paper near a corner. It'll stick (slightly) if there is a coating, not if none.

Paul
www.PaulRoark.com
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On Mon, Jan 26, 2015 at 8:26 AM, Greg Spitzer gypyjunior@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint] <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@...m> wrote:

Make sure you're printing on the correct side, Premier makes most of the Smooth Hot Press in single and double side. (inkjet receptive layer)

Call Premier to confirm.
From: paulmwhiting@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint]
Sent: ‎1/‎25/‎2015 5:37 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] "grainy" midtones with Eb-6 in my 1400

Haven't had to ask for help in a long time here, this printer/inkset combination has been wonderful. The printer hardly ever clogs, when it does, a simple headcleaning in the software does the job first try. I'm using Eb6 with PremierArt Smooth 205, but actually since I mix my own ink it's the C6b set up to be more exact.

My skies used to be creamy smooth, but now they're, to use a film word, somewhat "grainy". Today I refilled all the carts, some were almost empty, I wonder if that caused the problem because I noticed the graininess before I did the refill. Also, I mixed my ink about a year ago... could the ink have aged or gone bad? This printer is a real ink miser so I've had the same batch of ink all this time. I mixed about 120 ml of each dilution and stored them in plastic bottles.

One more thing... the black cart, 100% Eboni, leaked a little out the port that fits over the nipple, but it stopped once it was in place.

I did a search here but couldn't find anything about graininess with this printer/inkset combination.

Thanks all,

Paul



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