Digital BW, The Print

Hello All,
      I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my Epson 
1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of 
town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that 
the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now 
nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the catrridges 
out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there 
are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge 
the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.   
Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   Any 
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Justin Smith

Have you tried the windex soaked paper towel under the head ? 
 
TigerShark

-----Original Message-----
From: smithj72 [mailto:smithj72@...] 
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 5:17 PM
To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Digital BW] Help please, NOTHING out of my CIS
 
Hello All,
      I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my Epson 
1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of 
town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that 
the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now 
nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the catrridges 
out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there 
are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge 
the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.   
Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   Any 
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Justin Smith 

 


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

Have you tried the windex soaked paper towel under the head ? 
  
TigerShark
  
Dear TigerShark, (I just like the way that sounds...)
       I have heard of this, but have not had luck using 409 to soak 
the small pad the heads rest on.   Could you explain how it is you 
fit a windex soaked paper towel under the head?
Thanks,
Justin





 > -----Original Message-----
> From: smithj72 [mailto:smithj72@y...] 
> Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 5:17 PM
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...
> Subject: [Digital BW] Help please, NOTHING out of my CIS
>  
> Hello All,
>       I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my 
Epson 
> 1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out 
of 
> town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that 
> the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now 
> nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the 
catrridges 
> out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there 
> are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge 
> the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.   
> Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   
Any 

> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks in advance,
> Justin Smith 
> 
>  
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" <smithj72@y...> 
wrote:
> Hello All,
>       I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my Epson 
> 1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out 
of 
> town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that 
> the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now 
> nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the 
catrridges 
> out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there 
> are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge 
> the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.   
> Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   Any 
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks in advance,
> Justin Smith

Hey Justin
      It sounds like you have air trapped in the print head. I know 
of four ways to get it out from most gentle to brutal (yet 
satisfying).
First mehod is to let the printer sit for awhile-overnight usually- 
to let the air/bubbles break up and creep up and out of the printhead.
     Second, you can run head cleanings and nozzle checks until you 
get about 50% of each channel firing then letting the printer sit for 
a couple hours.
     If your in a hurry you can also try either pushing ink though 
the printhead with a syringe and tubing attached directly to the 
little nipple that punctures the bottom of the cartridge-be careful 
to use very gentle pressure if you do this cuase it will get messy if 
the tube flies off spewing ink.
    The fourth uses the same set up as the third method only instead 
of pushing ink though you suck air, ink, and anything else out with 
the syringe. To do this attach a syringe or pump dirctly on the 
nipple and suck away until no ink comes out the print head-about 100 
ml of air should do it. When you put the cartridges back in the 
printer will prime the cleared out head and if air was your problem 
that should get you going in about 30min. I prefer the first and 
fourth method.
Hope this helps.

PS. What did you do when you "fiddled around a bit"?

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "iwasnvrhere" 
<iwasnvrhere@y...> wrote:
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" <smithj72@y...> 
> wrote:

> Hey Justin
>       It sounds like you have air trapped in the print head. I know 
> of four ways to get it out from most gentle to brutal (yet 
> satisfying).


I agree with this reply in great part, but would modify it per my 
experience. I do agree it's air, and also think that the towel under 
the head trick as mentioned by Tigershark will probably not work here.


> First mehod is to let the printer sit for awhile-overnight usually- 
> to let the air/bubbles break up and creep up and out of the 
printhead.

Yes, although I would put something on the parking pad too.

>      Second, you can run head cleanings and nozzle checks until you 
> get about 50% of each channel firing then letting the printer sit 
for 
> a couple hours.

I disagree on this step. I would not do it. I would not run more than 
two head cleanings.

Next I would try installing real Epson carts in printer, and running 
7-10 purge prints. If a color is not coming in, you can run a purge 
pattern of just that one color. Files at MIS. This also will tell you 
whether you're CIS or your printhead had air bubbles. Or both. 

After the purge prints, I leave the Epson carts in and wait overnight 
and run purge again with the Epson carts. After two or three days and 
20% of ink carts if it isn't starting to clear, you get drastic with 
printhead. If it printed right away you know the problem is in the 
Cis.

The Epson ink will act as a solvent you see to clear the printhead 
after a time. 

>      If your in a hurry you can also try either pushing ink though 
> the printhead with a syringe and tubing attached directly to the 
> little nipple that punctures the bottom of the cartridge-be careful 
> to use very gentle pressure if you do this cuase it will get messy 
if 
> the tube flies off spewing ink.

This is the last thing I would do IF the problem is found to be the 
head and not the CIS. It is a last ditch attempt before you replace 
printer under warranty or pay for a new head.

I'm not sure I would do the fourth step below. Maybe, it is really 
getting rough.

The big mistake is letting the printer sit for more than a few days. I 
turn my 1280 on twice a day and run a draft print to keep fresh ink in 
head. If I plan on a vacation I install Epson inks and run them a bit 
before hand, maybe get a friend to come in and operate a draft print 
every so often.

Oh, and it might be wise to replace the carts on the CIS and start 
over, although your recharging the K seems to indicate a air block in 
the head. You recharged without replacing cart??
Jim H.

>     The fourth uses the same set up as the third method only instead 
> of pushing ink though you suck air, ink, and anything else out with 
> the syringe. To do this attach a syringe or pump dirctly on the 
> nipple and suck away until no ink comes out the print head-about 100 
> ml of air should do it. When you put the cartridges back in the 
> printer will prime the cleared out head and if air was your problem 
> that should get you going in about 30min. I prefer the first and 
> fourth method.
> Hope this helps.
> 
> PS. What did you do when you "fiddled around a bit"?

Justin wrote:

I have heard of this, but have not had luck using 409 to soak
the small pad the heads rest on.


FYI. The folks at inkjetmall.com last year told me NOT to use 409. They
found that it has ingredients that leaves some sort of film on printer
surfaces. They determined that the use of 409 was detrimental to inkjet
printers and recommended Fantastik instead.

Their comments came after I had tried 409 in my 3000 without success. The
Fantastik ultimately did the trick.

Tom Keesling
Intelligent Design, Inc.

Yes, the last two are last ditch methods before you take the 
printer to the repair shop. It's a question of how much time your 
willing to spend reaching a conlusion for the pr As far as head 
cleanings go I would run as least ten- if no ink is coming out then 
your not losing any. Epson help techs will tell you to run a many as 
five just to prime the head with oem carts and I've never seen any 
warnings about max head cleanings.  
> 
> > Hey Justin
> >       It sounds like you have air trapped in the print head. I 
know 
> > of four ways to get it out from most gentle to brutal (yet 
> > satisfying).
> 
> 
> I agree with this reply in great part, but would modify it per my 
> experience. I do agree it's air, and also think that the towel 
under 
> the head trick as mentioned by Tigershark will probably not work 
here.
> 
> 
> > First mehod is to let the printer sit for awhile-overnight 
usually- 
> > to let the air/bubbles break up and creep up and out of the 
> printhead.
> 
> Yes, although I would put something on the parking pad too.
> 
> >      Second, you can run head cleanings and nozzle checks until 
you 
> > get about 50% of each channel firing then letting the printer sit 
> for 
> > a couple hours.
> 
> I disagree on this step. I would not do it. I would not run more 
than 
> two head cleanings.
> 
> Next I would try installing real Epson carts in printer, and 
running 
> 7-10 purge prints. If a color is not coming in, you can run a purge 
> pattern of just that one color. Files at MIS. This also will tell 
you 
> whether you're CIS or your printhead had air bubbles. Or both. 
> 
> After the purge prints, I leave the Epson carts in and wait 
overnight 
> and run purge again with the Epson carts. After two or three days 
and 
> 20% of ink carts if it isn't starting to clear, you get drastic 
with 
> printhead. If it printed right away you know the problem is in the 
> Cis.
> 
> The Epson ink will act as a solvent you see to clear the printhead 
> after a time. 
> 
> >      If your in a hurry you can also try either pushing ink 
though 
> > the printhead with a syringe and tubing attached directly to the 
> > little nipple that punctures the bottom of the cartridge-be 
careful 
> > to use very gentle pressure if you do this cuase it will get 
messy 
> if 
> > the tube flies off spewing ink.
> 
> This is the last thing I would do IF the problem is found to be the 
> head and not the CIS. It is a last ditch attempt before you replace 
> printer under warranty or pay for a new head.
> 
> I'm not sure I would do the fourth step below. Maybe, it is really 
> getting rough.
> 
> The big mistake is letting the printer sit for more than a few 
days. I 
> turn my 1280 on twice a day and run a draft print to keep fresh ink 
in 
> head. If I plan on a vacation I install Epson inks and run them a 
bit 
> before hand, maybe get a friend to come in and operate a draft 
print 
> every so often.
> 
> Oh, and it might be wise to replace the carts on the CIS and start 
> over, although your recharging the K seems to indicate a air block 
in 
> the head. You recharged without replacing cart??
> Jim H.
>  
> >     The fourth uses the same set up as the third method only 
instead 
> > of pushing ink though you suck air, ink, and anything else out 
with 
> > the syringe. To do this attach a syringe or pump dirctly on the 
> > nipple and suck away until no ink comes out the print head-about 
100 
> > ml of air should do it. When you put the cartridges back in the 
> > printer will prime the cleared out head and if air was your 
problem 

> > that should get you going in about 30min. I prefer the first and 
> > fourth method.
> > Hope this helps.
> > 
> > PS. What did you do when you "fiddled around a bit"?

First I want to thank all who have given advice to remedy this 
problem I am having.

I have installed OEM cartridges and run 10 purge cycles, with a 
couple of cleaning cycles mixed in there.  Still nothing at all.   I 
own a set of clening cartridges, and I am thinking of installing 
them, running a few cleaning cycles and purge prints and letting 
it sit overnight.   My assumption is that the solvent in the cleaning 
cartridges (Jet Jrano Flushing Fluid, which I bought from 
mediastreet.com), is going to work better than the Epson 
cartridges at disolving any clogged ink.  Any thoughts on this?

I am also going to put some Fantastik on the parking pad and let 
it sit overnight as well.

I mentioned that I re-cahrged the vacuum on the black cartridge, 
and somebody asked if I did this without replacing the cartridge. 
Yes, that is what I did.   I took the filter off the end on the syringe, 
took the cartridge out of the printer and installed a plug, and then 
went about priming the cartridge as if it were new.  You do end 
up pulling some ink out of the line and probably some ink out of 
the cartridge, but without the filter in place, the ink flows into the 
syringe chamber, and out the exhale valve back into the 4oz. 
bottle it originally came from.  The fact that it takes a couple of 
pumps before you can sense a vacuum, and the fact that you can 
see the ink rush throught the lines after you release the clamp 
suggests to me that this is working and possibly necessary to 
re-establish the flow of ink after taking the CIS cartridges in and 
out a couple of times.

The disturbing thing about the whole situation was that the day 
before I left on my trip, I was printing portfolio images, and it was 
working great.  If 10 days of inactivity can do this much damage, I 
might need to find another way of printing B&W.  Do black only 
prints out of the better Epson printers, the 5500, 7000, 9000 or 
10000 look any better then the black only prints out of the 1280?

Thanks again for any advice.
Justin Smith

I haven't used the jet jrano carts-are they made for pigmented 
inks? If so they are probably a better choice than the oem carts. 
The purge prints with the dry print head is the worst thing you can 
do. It can damage the print head crystals -think dry heaves. The head 
works by pushing not pumping so if the ink isn't right in the nozzles 
it wont flow. Your better off with head cleanings and rest periods.
The 10 days to dryness is a bit alarming. The head is capped when you 
shut the printer down so it shouldn't be drying out. How's the 
humdity in your area? That said there may be some sort of pull back 
by the CIS system caused by cycles of heating and cooling. Or the 
head isn't getting sealed correctly. The next time you don't plan on 
using the printer for awhile you might want to try disconnecting the 
CIS tubes and leave the cartridges in the printer to sit in a more 
static environment. Some tubing is notorously bad at letting water 
evaporate right though it-usually takes a few months though not days. 

Jeff

> working great.  If 10 days of inactivity can do this much damage, I 
> might need to find another way of printing B&W.  Do black only 
> prints out of the better Epson printers, the 5500, 7000, 9000 or 
> 10000 look any better then the black only prints out of the 1280?
> 
> Thanks again for any advice.
> Justin Smith

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "iwasnvrhere" 
<iwasnvrhere@y...> wrote:
>     Yes, the last two are last ditch methods before you take the 
> printer to the repair shop. It's a question of how much time your 
> willing to spend reaching a conlusion for the pr As far as head 
> cleanings go I would run as least ten- if no ink is coming out then 
> your not losing any. Epson help techs will tell you to run a many as 
> five just to prime the head with oem carts and I've never seen any 
> warnings about max head cleanings.


Well, just that in my experience, two things happen after two, maybe 
three head cleanings without a perfect nozzle check: 1) More nozzles 
dissapear than after the first cleanings IF the problem is really air 
bubbles, not a clog. So it doesn't buy you anything, the air is still 
trapped and won't dissapate with further cleanings. 2) If you look 
around the parking pad and to the right of it, the felt wiper pad, ink 
will build up VERy fast after second head clean. You therefore may 
have ink being flung all over the right corner (the felt wiper is a 
miniture catipult), or worse, ink buildup on parking pad (it doesn't 
all get sucked down) or ink globbing on bottom of printhead which then 
gets tracked into bed of printer worst case, i.e on rollers, etc.

I have seen warnings against doing more than, variously 3 or 4 
cleanings on MIS and Cone sites. The original instructions that came 
with my CIS/ink kit from Cone I remember way back in October 2000 
warned against this, if I recall. Epson tech has also told me not to 
do more than 3 cleanings or so. And you will find posts by others on 
clog issues in this forum that unless I miss my guess advise the same 
max number. 

However, I will respect your viewpoint and just say that I am puzzled 
by the advice, hesitating to negate it, but suggesting that you give 
me a URL for example to a website that supports your view.
Jim H.

I digress,
        Your right, Epson suggests three head cleanings and then try 
switching carts. I guess the tech I talked to was out to get me. Of 
course they assume oem carts with no CIS and their inks. I was 
suggesting running HCs just until about half of the nozzles were 
firing only because there was no ink coming out at all. There 
wouldn't be any to build up - a special case for this circumstance. 
But not more than 3 as a standard operating procedure. I wonder if 
the others gleemed the 3 head cleaning from Epson or if they have 
some test results showing 3 to be the ideal. 

Thanks for the correction.

Jeff. 

 
> Well, just that in my experience, two things happen after two, 
maybe 
> three head cleanings without a perfect nozzle check: 1) More 
nozzles 
> dissapear than after the first cleanings IF the problem is really 
air 
> bubbles, not a clog. So it doesn't buy you anything, the air is 
still 
> trapped and won't dissapate with further cleanings. 2) If you look 
> around the parking pad and to the right of it, the felt wiper pad, 
ink 
>

I left an 1160 printer unused for over 5 months, and it still works
fine, only took a couple cleanings. MIS inks.

Jerry

smithj72 wrote:

> 
> Hello All,
>       I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my Epson
> 1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of
> town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that
> the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now
> nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the catrridges
> out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there
> are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge
> the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.
> Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   Any
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks in advance,
> Justin Smith
> 
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
> 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> 
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - Include your full name with your message.
> - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep them short.
> - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or "flames."
> - Complete your Yahoo profile.
> - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various resources on the homepage.
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

In a message dated 4/15/2002 10:44:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
jerryolson@... writes:


> Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of
> > town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that
> > the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now
> > nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the catrridges
> > out,

You said you took the carts out. Did you replace with OEM carts while you 
were away? 
George J Kunze


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

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., toomagenta@a... wrote:
> In a message dated 4/15/2002 10:44:16 PM Eastern Daylight 
Time, 
> jerryolson@r... writes:
> 
> 
> > Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of
> > > town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found 
that
> > > the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and 
now
> > > nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the 
catrridges
> > > out,
> 
> You said you took the carts out. Did you replace with OEM carts 
while you 
> were away? 
> George J Kunze
> 
Jerry Olsen did not write the above passage on 4-15-02, I  wrote 
that passage about a week ago.  I took the cartridges out while I 
was trying to clean the heads with Jet Jrano fluid I bought from 
MIS, not while I was away.  
For what its worth, it has been a week and a half since I first had 
this problem, and still nothing fires at all.  I did try to flush with 
OEM cartridges and flushing fluid and still nothing.  It looks like 
warrenty replacement again for me.  The new printer will be my 
third in less than one year.  I am thinking of switching my B&W 
ovet to the 1270.  Maybe the fact that it only prints at 1440 means 
it has slightly larger nozzles and will clog less frequently?  I do 
live in Florida, but my home is always climate controlled and I 
can't believe I am having so many clogging problems.  The wet 
darkroom doesn't look to bad after all this...
Justin Smith

In a message dated 4/16/2002 1:02:26 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
smithj72@... writes:


> I am thinking of switching my B&W 
> ovet to the 1270.  Maybe the fact that it only prints at 1440 means 
> it has slightly larger nozzles and will clog less frequently?  I do 
> live in Florida, but my home is always climate controlled and I 
> can't believe I am having so many clogging problems

Justin,
I think the 2880 is a stepping motor function and has nothing to do with the 
size of the nozzles.(Someone jump in here if I'm wrong!)
Maybe the humidity in the climate contolled environment is too low?  
George J Kunze


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

Both printers have a 4 picoliter drop size so I don't think you'll 
have any better luck switching.
 When you say "climate control" is this an air conditioner or 
something that can control humidity? If it's the former it may be 
turning your room into a dessicator thereby drying out your inks. If 
it's the latter and you can control the humidity I would check to see 
where it's set. 
As far as fixing the clogged nozzles goes, have you tried the more 
extreme measure I gave you last week? From what I've read in your 
replies it sounds like you initially had a drying clog in the black 
that got compounded when you you reprimed the CIS system-then all the 
channels shut down -am I close? So what your dealing with is an air-
locked and clogged printhead. 
Most remedies you've been given will only handle the clog or a minor 
air entrapment but not both. You'll either need to do something a 
little more extreme or have the head fixed at a shop. Since your at 
the point of replacing it anyway you can't make it worse right? So 
this is what I would do: Take the carts out of printer and attach 
tubing filled with flushing fluid or a 50/50 simple green/distilled 
water mix right on the printhead port. Make sure there's no air in 
the tubing. This is really easy if you have a syringe. Then use 
GENTLE pressure THEN suction in a back and forth manner just like you 
would do to a clogged toilet. Keep at it until it feel like you can 
push fluid though the head-try and get 2-3ml though. Do that to all 
the offending heads. Then put OEM carts in and check your nozzles. IT 
may take a few head cleanings to get everything going. If that 
doesn't fix the problem the printer is beyond help and you can 
confidently take to the shop and say its dead. I've done this with my 
3000 and it works 2/3 of the time. It depends on how bad the clog is. 
But when works it works great.

"Try it and you may like it" -Dr Soos





--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" <smithj72@y...> 
wrote:
 
> Jerry Olsen did not write the above passage on 4-15-02, I  wrote 
> that passage about a week ago.  I took the cartridges out while I 
> was trying to clean the heads with Jet Jrano fluid I bought from 
> MIS, not while I was away.  
> For what its worth, it has been a week and a half since I first had 
> this problem, and still nothing fires at all.  I did try to flush 
with 

> OEM cartridges and flushing fluid and still nothing.  It looks like 
> warrenty replacement again for me.  The new printer will be my 
> third in less than one year.  I am thinking of switching my B&W 
> ovet to the 1270.  Maybe the fact that it only prints at 1440 means 
> it has slightly larger nozzles and will clog less frequently?  I do 
> live in Florida, but my home is always climate controlled and I 
> can't believe I am having so many clogging problems.  The wet 
> darkroom doesn't look to bad after all this...
> Justin Smith

I guess switching over to the 1270 is not going to fix my problem.  
When I say my house is climate controlled, I mean that it is 
always air conditioned, but we do run a humidifier quite a bit 
because my wife and I are pretty sensative to dry air.  I live in 
Tampa,FL, so dry air is rarely an issue.
I am expecting to receive some tubing and more Jet Jrano fluid 
in the mail today, and I am certainly going to try the suction and 
pressure methods described last week.  I'll let you know how it 
turns out.  In the meantime I have OEM carts sitting in the printer, 
and every couple of days I run a nozzle check, and I still haven's 
seen anything yet.

DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "iwasnvrhere" 
<iwasnvrhere@y...> wrote:
>   Both printers have a 4 picoliter drop size so I don't think you'll 
> have any better luck switching.
>  When you say "climate control" is this an air conditioner or 
> something that can control humidity? If it's the former it may be 
> turning your room into a dessicator thereby drying out your 
inks. If 
> it's the latter and you can control the humidity I would check to 
see 
> where it's set. 
> As far as fixing the clogged nozzles goes, have you tried the 
more 
> extreme measure I gave you last week? From what I've read in 
your 
> replies it sounds like you initially had a drying clog in the black 
> that got compounded when you you reprimed the CIS 
system-then all the 
> channels shut down -am I close? So what your dealing with is 
an air-
> locked and clogged printhead. 
> Most remedies you've been given will only handle the clog or a 
minor 
> air entrapment but not both. You'll either need to do something 
a 
> little more extreme or have the head fixed at a shop. Since your 
at 
> the point of replacing it anyway you can't make it worse right? 
So 
> this is what I would do: Take the carts out of printer and attach 
> tubing filled with flushing fluid or a 50/50 simple green/distilled 
> water mix right on the printhead port. Make sure there's no air 
in 
> the tubing. This is really easy if you have a syringe. Then use 
> GENTLE pressure THEN suction in a back and forth manner 
just like you 
> would do to a clogged toilet. Keep at it until it feel like you can 
> push fluid though the head-try and get 2-3ml though. Do that to 
all 
> the offending heads. Then put OEM carts in and check your 
nozzles. IT 
> may take a few head cleanings to get everything going. If that 
> doesn't fix the problem the printer is beyond help and you can 
> confidently take to the shop and say its dead. I've done this with 
my 
> 3000 and it works 2/3 of the time. It depends on how bad the 
clog is. 
> But when works it works great.
> 
> "Try it and you may like it" -Dr Soos
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" 
<smithj72@y...> 
> wrote:
>  
> > Jerry Olsen did not write the above passage on 4-15-02, I  
wrote 
> > that passage about a week ago.  I took the cartridges out 
while I 
> > was trying to clean the heads with Jet Jrano fluid I bought 
from 
> > MIS, not while I was away.  
> > For what its worth, it has been a week and a half since I first 
had 
> > this problem, and still nothing fires at all.  I did try to flush 
> with 
> > OEM cartridges and flushing fluid and still nothing.  It looks 
like 
> > warrenty replacement again for me.  The new printer will be 
my 
> > third in less than one year.  I am thinking of switching my 
B&W 
> > ovet to the 1270.  Maybe the fact that it only prints at 1440 
means 
> > it has slightly larger nozzles and will clog less frequently?  I 
do 
> > live in Florida, but my home is always climate controlled and I 
> > can't believe I am having so many clogging problems.  The 
wet 
> > darkroom doesn't look to bad after all this...
> > Justin Smith

I have found that the tubes themselves can actually become blocked
especially the black. I found this with MIS VM and FS ink.  If the tube is
clear in places and the ink
has dried to the tube then you may have  a partial block.

I deattached tube from the cartridge "elbow joint" , by pulling it off, then
attached the small nozzle from a vacuum refill kit to the end of tube and
blew the in ink out. I did also take the other end of the tube out the
bottle and put in a plastic bag.
CAREFULL if the end is not covered the ink will go EVERYWHERE.

Hope it might help

Josh Smith

smithj72 wrote:
> 
> Hello All,
>       I run MIS VM through a Media Street Niagra CIS on my Epson
> 1280.   Today I planned to return to printing after I had been out of
> town for a week and a half.   I ran a nozzle check and found that
> the black was not firing at all.   I fiddled around a bit, and now
> nothing comes out of any of the nozzles.   I did take the catrridges
> out, but I do have plugs and it doesn't appear as though there
> are any bubbles in the lines.  I even went as far as to recharge
> the vacuum in the black cartridge, but still nothing comes out.
> Cleaning cycles... purge patterns... nothing seems to help.   Any
> suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
> Thanks in advance,
> Justin Smith
> 
> 
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and other
resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
> 
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
> 
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - Include your full name with your message.
> - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
> - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or "flames."
> - Complete your Yahoo profile.
> - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.
> 
> 
> 
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/

Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ADVERTISEMENT

Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint

Please follow these basic guidelines:
- Include your full name with your message.
- Include the address of your website, if you have one.
- As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
- As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
- Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or "flames."
- Complete your Yahoo profile.
- Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.




Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> .


-- 
josh_smith@...



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

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" <smithj72@y...> 
wrote:

> Jerry Olsen did not write the above passage on 4-15-02, I  wrote 
> that passage about a week ago.  I took the cartridges out while I 
> was trying to clean the heads with Jet Jrano fluid I bought from 
> MIS, not while I was away.

I wouldn't expect any results from Jrano, but from OEM carts there was 
hope of getting something- that seems to not have worked.
 
> For what its worth, it has been a week and a half since I first had 
> this problem, and still nothing fires at all.  I did try to flush 
with 
> OEM cartridges and flushing fluid and still nothing.  It looks like 
> warrenty replacement again for me.

As the one other poster suggested, it is time to go drastic with 
direct injection of some fluid or other. You have nothing to lose now. 
 I hate to suggest it, but what else is there?

  The new printer will be my 
> third in less than one year.  I am thinking of switching my B&W 
> ovet to the 1270.  Maybe the fact that it only prints at 1440 means 
> it has slightly larger nozzles and will clog less frequently?

No, that's to do with the transport mechanism not nozzle size. All 4 
picoliter, that is 1280 and 1160, etc, unless you have an 3000.

  I do 
> live in Florida, but my home is always climate controlled and I 
> can't believe I am having so many clogging problems.

In winter it is about 25%RH here, in Summer, maybe 30-50%RH. I get 
many clog problems in winter, even with a Slant/Fin humidifier running 
(the brand with the UV sterilization light) to kick it up to 38-44%RH. 
 I am starting to have far less clogs as Spring unfolds. It seems to 
like natural humidity better than machine induced humidity better. And 
the lower limit seems to be about 40%RH. At 35%RH I get lots of clog 
problems. I also run a draft purge print twice daily on my 1280. It 
uses less ink than having to do cleaning cycles. **I strongly 
recommend printing something small every day.** Makes quite a big 
difference.


  The wet 
> darkroom doesn't look to bad after all this...

there were PLENTY of problems, you just don't remember them<g>
Jim H.
> Justin Smith

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "smithj72" <smithj72@y...> 
wrote:

> I am expecting to receive some tubing and more Jet Jrano fluid 
> in the mail today, and I am certainly going to try the suction and 
> pressure methods described last week.

Yeah, I'm thinking you need to go drastic now too. I think you may 
have a chance with Epson carts, but I don't think Jrano's gonna do it 
personally. I could be wrong.

Diana York once e-mailed me her solution for her larger Epson 
printers: if I understood her right she takes a virgin cart and loads 
it up with 10% amonina to H2O and runs that through awhile. It seems a 
bit aggresive to me, but what the hey, it's another option for you. 
Please correct me if I'm wrong Diana, don't want to 2nd guess you.

I had another thought wrt tubing: instead of thinking that the tubing 
is permeable and therefore drys out the ink, consider an obvious 
alternative: namely the breather tubes (or holes if you're using a CFS 
from MIS) allow evaporation of water/ solvent and this sludges up the 
tubing going to the head. You could still get the sludge forming near 
the bottle or near the cart, as it's continually getting sucked 
towards the carts anyway. Interesting to try clipping off breather 
tubes when not in use. But I don't know, this may create air pockets 
in the nozzle...
Jim H.