Digital BW, The Print

This problem started after I had just done a refill of all my carts... 100% Eboni in the K position and blue toner in the Y position. Sometimes I get a blue nozzle check in the Y position but more often than note I get black. I've heard this is a weakness of the 1400... is this true? Is there anything I can do about it?

PS: I was going to cross post this question over in the Epson Printers group but I'm not sure that's allowed. Plus - don't most people frequent both posts? They're so related that cross-posting may not even be necessary. Myself I check both at the same time and as a matter of fact I also check the QTR group as well.

I've been a member of these groups for years, but this is a question I've often wondered about.

Thanks,

Paul W.

This sounds to me like cross-channel contamination. If it occurs after filling then it could that the carts are draining or dribbling into the capping station after filling, which spreads from one channel to the other. If it clears readily after filling, e.g. by printing purge patterns as we discussed on IJM in relation to your 1430, then I suspect the carts. Head cleans can also help, but you know my views on those. Cross-channel contamination can also be caused by a dirty or faulty capping station, so I'm told by IJM.

In relation to your other question, I no longer look at the Epson printers group often because I found the signal to noise ratio a bit low. I wouldn't assume that the B&W and QTR crowd read it. We're more interested in the science and art of printing monochrome than in printer maintenance per se.

Thanks, Paul.

Just to clarify, does "when the nozzles are all cleaned" does that mean just the nipple, or does that mean deeper cleaning, the kind you get when using the syringe push-pull technique?

Regards,

Paul W.

Just to follow up on my OP... problem solved. As Paul said, when nozzle check is perfect, the wrong color disappears. I did all the steps in a video I found here:

http://shop.inkjetmall.com/About/Videos/

The particular video I used was titled "Epson small format printer maintenance". Those techniques have been mentioned here of course, but I found it helpful to actually see the procedure.

Paul W.

The question is for how long it disappears? If for a long time, well and good. If for a short time, then you need to find the cause. In which case previous comments still apply.