Digital BW, The Print

Hi!

Since my Epson 1290 has microbanding-issues with the MIS VM-inks that 
I can't get rid of, I´m seriously thinking about buying the new HP 
7960. And opinions of which model is better (7960 versus 1290 with 
MIS-inks)?

Regards

Peter

Hi Peter.  I am not aware of which steps you have gone through to 
solve your microbanding issues, but I also use UT (and used VM before 
that) in a couple of 1290's which had, and often still do have 
microbanding issues.  BUT it can be removed, and although it takes a 
bit of effort, the results when the printers are printing cleanly are 
fantastic.  To give you an idea, I printed 110 double sided A3+ 
prints, using almost a full set of 110ml bottles and only at the end 
was I starting to see microbanding again.
If it helps, here are the common causes and steps that I have 
found/used :

1. Seems to be paper dependant.  I hardly ever (in fact don't think I 
ever have) see banding on Photorag, this is because the ink seems to 
spread a little more and hide it.  With much smoother papers such as 
Imajet Satin and Red River polar/premium there is minimal spread to 
the dots (this can be seen through a loupe if you're interested) and 
banding is more prevalent.  EAM is somewhere in the middle.

2. Clean the heads!  and I don't mean the Utility option.  I always 
got clean nozzles, but still saw banding, on some occasions quite 
heavy.  The answer is to use a folded up piece of lint free kitchen 
roll sprayed with Windowlean or another glass cleaner (not until it 
is soaked, just damp) - I actually use half a flash kitchen wipe. 
Fold it up until it is around 12mm wide, just enough to fit under the 
head in the small slot.  I often wrap a small piece of Sellotape 
around the ends so that the head doesn't get stuck as it goes over.  
Lift the head to the + position and with the printer off, release the 
park by turning the large toothed wheel on the LHS a small amount.  
Run the head gently over the paper by hand and lower it to 0.  Leave 
for a few second and then gently move it back to the park position.  
This cleans off the gunk that forms on the underside, which deflects 
the nozzles away from their intended path.  You know this is a 
problem when you see banding in your alignment patterns.

3. Move the head back to it's correct height position (I only use + 
for papers over 200gm, for EAM for example it is always in the 0 
position) Align the print heads with the utility software.  Use the 
correct paper to do this and if possible use a loupe and a lighbox to 
check the results.  If necessary do it twice, I know it takes time 
but it does make a difference.

4. On occasions it is only one colour that causes the problems.  
Print a 6 colour purge pattern (ie Cyan, light cyan, etc etc. - you 
can get these from the MIS site) and check whether the banding is 
still there.  If it is and in all colours, repeat steps above.  If it 
is only in one colour - and I see this most of the times I get a 
problem - raise that one bottle about half an inch (unless your using 
carts, in which case you may need to change them and repeat above 
steps again...) to increase the line pressure a little and print a 
few more purge pages.

5. Finally, after all of the above, try printing with and without 
high speed.  On the 1290, with aligned print heads the difference is 
minor, only really discernable through a loupe.  BUT that tiny 
difference sharpness which is caused by bi-directional printing can 
give big advantages for banding as they can mask each other on the 
two strokes.

I hope this helps.  Long winded, and I may be `teaching my 
grandmother to suck eggs' in which case I apologise.  The 1290 is a 
super workhorse.  The VM/UT solution very efficient and cost 
effective – don't give up on it just yet.
Let me know how you get on.

Kind regards

Steve


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23" 
<peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> Since my Epson 1290 has microbanding-issues with the MIS VM-inks 
that 

> I can't get rid of, I´m seriously thinking about buying the new HP 
> 7960. And opinions of which model is better (7960 versus 1290 with 
> MIS-inks)?
> 
> Regards
> 
> Peter

Hi Steve,


thanks for your detailed post, but unfortunately I did everything you 
suggested. I will give you a more detailed report on what I`ve done 
yet.
Some weeks ago I moved to a new flat. During the drive to the new 
house I tried to leave the ink-bottles and the printer on the same 
heigh. Some days later. I printed fifty thick cards. I therefore 
changed the lever from 0 to + position (it's in the + position since 
then, because I mainly print on Tetenal or Permajet 240g Archival 
Matte). During that time I often got bad nozzlechecks and after one 
photo-print was suddenly missing the grey color, I decided to flush 
the cards using the syringe-method the MIS-guys suggested on their 
site (I did everything exactly as they described except the step 
where a brand new cardrige set is needed in order to check if the 
print head works fine...sorry ;-), but apart from the bad nozzle 
checks I got from time to time the prints were perfect-no banding 
whatsoever! So the printheads were ok until that point). After that 
the trouble began: I got very fine horizontal lines on my prints 
(microbanding, I guess), although I always had a perfect nozzle-
check. It seemed as if less ink came onto the paper than before the 
card-flush. The whole image didn't look as "rich" as it looked 
before. After that I tried some methods I learned from various 
forums: Printing out the purge-file. No improvement. Run various 
cleaning-cycles. Still no improvement. Then I tried realigning the 
printheads several times along with the Windex-trick and the raising 
of the bottles. After that the picture looked better, significantly 
better, but the banding is still there. Since I'm a photographer, 
this situation is very vexing for me. Now I'm going to sacrifice one 
more sheet of my beloved Tetenal Archival Matte and do a proper 
Windex-treatment before that. Then I realign the heads once more, but 
if this doesn't work, then say goodbye to Mr. Epson :-< . So Steve, 
after hearing my whole story - do you have any idea what could cause 
this problem or if there is any other thing I should test? My 
suspicion is that I made something wrong during the card-flush. Maybe 
I should repeat it, now with the cardrige-step included? Apart from 
that, do you think that the hp 7960 can print out b/w as beautiful as 
my Epson with the MIS-inks? 

Thanks for your advice. I'm actually quite desperated. 

Regards,

Peter

OK, so you have at least improved it.  Thats a start.
There is one more thing that could be affecting the printing.  That 
is that the paper is not being 'indexed' forward enough at each step.
There are two causes.  One common, I get it a lot with my printers 
after heavy use, the other pretty rare, I have read about it but 
never seen it.

1. Your paper has a coating, normally a kind of chalky substrate that 
accepts the ink.  This coating is extremely slippy and over a period 
of time can build up on the rollers that feed the paper and cause a 
tiny amount of slip each time the rollers try to 'grab' the paper in 
order to move it forwards.  When I use my satin matt papers such as 
imajet, there is a huge amount of coating deposited on the rollers.  
After 50 or so prints, the grab roller wont even feed the paper 
anymore.

So, what do you do?  Two steps.
i. Take normal plain bond paper, 50 sheets of and feed them through 
the printer.  Just stick a fullstop on a blank page in word and let 
it go.  This clears a lot off.  
ii. Next step is to spray some more of our beloved windex onto some 
more bond paper, especially on the RHS where it is grabbed. NOT too 
much because it will tear up, but enough that it is damp.  Feed wet 
sheet after dry sheet alternately about 10 sheets.
iii.  Finally if you feel around inside the paper feed tray you can 
find two thin plastic flaps that cover the 'grab' rollers.  Gently 
fold these back outwards and that a cotton bud soaked with Windex.  
Rub the grab roller with the cotton bud and see how much gunk comes 
off.  Normally it helps to get the printer into a red light 'no 
paper' situation so that you can press the feed but to cycle it a few 
times, this gives you access to more of the roller and can clean it 
better.
iv. Use a number of sheets in your printer paper tray, it places the 
top printable sheet closer to the rollers and helps it to feed.  If 
you check the posts prior to this someone found that this step alone 
cured their problem.

Now the second possibility....

2.  Your band that drives the paper feed has stretched.  This could 
theoretically mean that you will always get banding - even in your 
alignment patterns.  As I said before, I have never known this 
happed, only read about it during my lengthy research to solve the 
same issues you have.

Also, try changing papers.
Take a cheap EAM and see how that improves this on the 0 setting.

I have no experience with the HPs, but you can just look around this 
board and see that most people swear by their Epsons and have found 
ways to solve most of the issues.  At the end of the day, we are 
tinkering with things that weren't really meant to be....There is no 
telling what problems you may have with an HP.  Some of the issues 
above could be just the same.
Good luck

Steve


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23" 
<peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> Hi Steve,
> 
> 
> thanks for your detailed post, but unfortunately I did everything 
you 
> suggested. I will give you a more detailed report on what I`ve done 
> yet.
> Some weeks ago I moved to a new flat. During the drive to the new 
> house I tried to leave the ink-bottles and the printer on the same 
> heigh. Some days later. I printed fifty thick cards. I therefore 
> changed the lever from 0 to + position (it's in the + position 
since 
> then, because I mainly print on Tetenal or Permajet 240g Archival 
> Matte). During that time I often got bad nozzlechecks and after one 
> photo-print was suddenly missing the grey color, I decided to flush 
> the cards using the syringe-method the MIS-guys suggested on their 
> site (I did everything exactly as they described except the step 
> where a brand new cardrige set is needed in order to check if the 
> print head works fine...sorry ;-), but apart from the bad nozzle 
> checks I got from time to time the prints were perfect-no banding 
> whatsoever! So the printheads were ok until that point). After that 
> the trouble began: I got very fine horizontal lines on my prints 
> (microbanding, I guess), although I always had a perfect nozzle-
> check. It seemed as if less ink came onto the paper than before the 
> card-flush. The whole image didn't look as "rich" as it looked 
> before. After that I tried some methods I learned from various 
> forums: Printing out the purge-file. No improvement. Run various 
> cleaning-cycles. Still no improvement. Then I tried realigning the 
> printheads several times along with the Windex-trick and the 
raising 
> of the bottles. After that the picture looked better, significantly 
> better, but the banding is still there. Since I'm a photographer, 
> this situation is very vexing for me. Now I'm going to sacrifice 
one 
> more sheet of my beloved Tetenal Archival Matte and do a proper 
> Windex-treatment before that. Then I realign the heads once more, 
but 
> if this doesn't work, then say goodbye to Mr. Epson :-< . So Steve, 
> after hearing my whole story - do you have any idea what could 
cause 
> this problem or if there is any other thing I should test? My 
> suspicion is that I made something wrong during the card-flush. 
Maybe 
> I should repeat it, now with the cardrige-step included? Apart from 
> that, do you think that the hp 7960 can print out b/w as beautiful 
as 

> my Epson with the MIS-inks? 
> 
> Thanks for your advice. I'm actually quite desperated. 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Peter

Hi Steve!

Thanks again for your detailled post. I'd love to say that there had 
been an improvement but nothing changed after performing all of your 
steps. Now- before I dump my 1290 (which I'd hate to, because before 
the banding issue it produced beatiful prints) and get the 7960, 
there are two more questions I have: 
1) when trying to align the prints, I never get a grain-free box in 
the second column. The row that is printed first shows an ok box at 
around "5" (but the banding is also visible there), but even after re-
adjustement there isn't a grain-free box in the second row (I can see 
no improvement in both rows when clicking re-adjust (sorry, don't 
know how this button is called in the english epson-software)). Could 
this have something to do with my issue?
2) What about a software problem? I have a usb-hub. Could the signal 
from the PC to the printer be "bad", so that it produces microbanding?

Thanks again!

Peter

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "scrber" 
<stephen.bate@m...> wrote:
> OK, so you have at least improved it.  Thats a start.
> There is one more thing that could be affecting the printing.  That 
> is that the paper is not being 'indexed' forward enough at each 
step.
> There are two causes.  One common, I get it a lot with my printers 
> after heavy use, the other pretty rare, I have read about it but 
> never seen it.
> 
> 1. Your paper has a coating, normally a kind of chalky substrate 
that 
> accepts the ink.  This coating is extremely slippy and over a 
period 
> of time can build up on the rollers that feed the paper and cause a 
> tiny amount of slip each time the rollers try to 'grab' the paper 
in 
> order to move it forwards.  When I use my satin matt papers such as 
> imajet, there is a huge amount of coating deposited on the 
rollers.  
> After 50 or so prints, the grab roller wont even feed the paper 
> anymore.
> 
> So, what do you do?  Two steps.
> i. Take normal plain bond paper, 50 sheets of and feed them through 
> the printer.  Just stick a fullstop on a blank page in word and let 
> it go.  This clears a lot off.  
> ii. Next step is to spray some more of our beloved windex onto some 
> more bond paper, especially on the RHS where it is grabbed. NOT too 
> much because it will tear up, but enough that it is damp.  Feed wet 
> sheet after dry sheet alternately about 10 sheets.
> iii.  Finally if you feel around inside the paper feed tray you can 
> find two thin plastic flaps that cover the 'grab' rollers.  Gently 
> fold these back outwards and that a cotton bud soaked with Windex.  
> Rub the grab roller with the cotton bud and see how much gunk comes 
> off.  Normally it helps to get the printer into a red light 'no 
> paper' situation so that you can press the feed but to cycle it a 
few 
> times, this gives you access to more of the roller and can clean it 
> better.
> iv. Use a number of sheets in your printer paper tray, it places 
the 
> top printable sheet closer to the rollers and helps it to feed.  If 
> you check the posts prior to this someone found that this step 
alone 
> cured their problem.
> 
> Now the second possibility....
> 
> 2.  Your band that drives the paper feed has stretched.  This could 
> theoretically mean that you will always get banding - even in your 
> alignment patterns.  As I said before, I have never known this 
> happed, only read about it during my lengthy research to solve the 
> same issues you have.
> 
> Also, try changing papers.
> Take a cheap EAM and see how that improves this on the 0 setting.
> 
> I have no experience with the HPs, but you can just look around 
this 
> board and see that most people swear by their Epsons and have found 
> ways to solve most of the issues.  At the end of the day, we are 
> tinkering with things that weren't really meant to be....There is 
no 
> telling what problems you may have with an HP.  Some of the issues 
> above could be just the same.
> Good luck
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23" 
> <peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> > Hi Steve,
> > 
> > 
> > thanks for your detailed post, but unfortunately I did everything 
> you 
> > suggested. I will give you a more detailed report on what I`ve 
done 
> > yet.
> > Some weeks ago I moved to a new flat. During the drive to the new 
> > house I tried to leave the ink-bottles and the printer on the 
same 
> > heigh. Some days later. I printed fifty thick cards. I therefore 
> > changed the lever from 0 to + position (it's in the + position 
> since 
> > then, because I mainly print on Tetenal or Permajet 240g Archival 
> > Matte). During that time I often got bad nozzlechecks and after 
one 
> > photo-print was suddenly missing the grey color, I decided to 
flush 
> > the cards using the syringe-method the MIS-guys suggested on 
their 
> > site (I did everything exactly as they described except the step 
> > where a brand new cardrige set is needed in order to check if the 
> > print head works fine...sorry ;-), but apart from the bad nozzle 
> > checks I got from time to time the prints were perfect-no banding 
> > whatsoever! So the printheads were ok until that point). After 
that 
> > the trouble began: I got very fine horizontal lines on my prints 
> > (microbanding, I guess), although I always had a perfect nozzle-
> > check. It seemed as if less ink came onto the paper than before 
the 
> > card-flush. The whole image didn't look as "rich" as it looked 
> > before. After that I tried some methods I learned from various 
> > forums: Printing out the purge-file. No improvement. Run various 
> > cleaning-cycles. Still no improvement. Then I tried realigning 
the 
> > printheads several times along with the Windex-trick and the 
> raising 
> > of the bottles. After that the picture looked better, 
significantly 
> > better, but the banding is still there. Since I'm a photographer, 
> > this situation is very vexing for me. Now I'm going to sacrifice 
> one 
> > more sheet of my beloved Tetenal Archival Matte and do a proper 
> > Windex-treatment before that. Then I realign the heads once more, 
> but 
> > if this doesn't work, then say goodbye to Mr. Epson :-< . So 
Steve, 
> > after hearing my whole story - do you have any idea what could 
> cause 
> > this problem or if there is any other thing I should test? My 
> > suspicion is that I made something wrong during the card-flush. 
> Maybe 
> > I should repeat it, now with the cardrige-step included? Apart 
from 
> > that, do you think that the hp 7960 can print out b/w as 
beautiful 

> as 
> > my Epson with the MIS-inks? 
> > 
> > Thanks for your advice. I'm actually quite desperated. 
> > 
> > Regards,
> > 
> > Peter

Peter: banding can be caused by either clogged nozzles or ink feed
problems. Ink feed problems are frequenty the cause with a CIS or CFS.
That's why MIS suggests you put new Epson carts in to see if that
solves the problem. If so, it's a feed problem and nothing dealing
with clogged heads will help. Follow the MIS advice and try Epson
carts. That may just diagnose the problem as ink feed.

I had banding and bad nozzle checks after changing carts and inks in
my 1280 with a MIS CFS. But I knew it was a feed problem since it went
away with Epson carts. Sucking ink from the CFS bottle via bottom fill
didn't help as it usually did. But disconnecting from the CFS tube,
then emptying and then refilling the Eboni cart via bottom fill solved
the problem.

My MIS CFS has been 99% reliable but there's still some "black magic"
involved in the way they work. 

Bob Michaels

  --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23"
<peter.bongard@t...> wrote:

> Hi Steve!
> 
> Thanks again for your detailled post. I'd love to say that there had 
> been an improvement but nothing changed after performing all of your 
> steps. Now- before I dump my 1290 (which I'd hate to, because before 
> the banding issue it produced beatiful prints) and get the 7960, 
> there are two more questions I have: 
> 1) when trying to align the prints, I never get a grain-free box in 
> the second column. The row that is printed first shows an ok box at 
> around "5" (but the banding is also visible there), but even after re-
> adjustement there isn't a grain-free box in the second row (I can see 
> no improvement in both rows when clicking re-adjust (sorry, don't 
> know how this button is called in the english epson-software)). Could 
> this have something to do with my issue?
> 2) What about a software problem? I have a usb-hub. Could the signal 
> from the PC to the printer be "bad", so that it produces microbanding?
> 
> Thanks again!
> 
> Peter
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "scrber" 
> <stephen.bate@m...> wrote:
> > OK, so you have at least improved it.  Thats a start.
> > There is one more thing that could be affecting the printing.  That 
> > is that the paper is not being 'indexed' forward enough at each 
> step.
> > There are two causes.  One common, I get it a lot with my printers 
> > after heavy use, the other pretty rare, I have read about it but 
> > never seen it.
> > 
> > 1. Your paper has a coating, normally a kind of chalky substrate 
> that 
> > accepts the ink.  This coating is extremely slippy and over a 
> period 
> > of time can build up on the rollers that feed the paper and cause a 
> > tiny amount of slip each time the rollers try to 'grab' the paper 
> in 
> > order to move it forwards.  When I use my satin matt papers such as 
> > imajet, there is a huge amount of coating deposited on the 
> rollers.  
> > After 50 or so prints, the grab roller wont even feed the paper 
> > anymore.
> > 
> > So, what do you do?  Two steps.
> > i. Take normal plain bond paper, 50 sheets of and feed them through 
> > the printer.  Just stick a fullstop on a blank page in word and let 
> > it go.  This clears a lot off.  
> > ii. Next step is to spray some more of our beloved windex onto some 
> > more bond paper, especially on the RHS where it is grabbed. NOT too 
> > much because it will tear up, but enough that it is damp.  Feed wet 
> > sheet after dry sheet alternately about 10 sheets.
> > iii.  Finally if you feel around inside the paper feed tray you can 
> > find two thin plastic flaps that cover the 'grab' rollers.  Gently 
> > fold these back outwards and that a cotton bud soaked with Windex.  
> > Rub the grab roller with the cotton bud and see how much gunk comes 
> > off.  Normally it helps to get the printer into a red light 'no 
> > paper' situation so that you can press the feed but to cycle it a 
> few 
> > times, this gives you access to more of the roller and can clean it 
> > better.
> > iv. Use a number of sheets in your printer paper tray, it places 
> the 
> > top printable sheet closer to the rollers and helps it to feed.  If 
> > you check the posts prior to this someone found that this step 
> alone 
> > cured their problem.
> > 
> > Now the second possibility....
> > 
> > 2.  Your band that drives the paper feed has stretched.  This could 
> > theoretically mean that you will always get banding - even in your 
> > alignment patterns.  As I said before, I have never known this 
> > happed, only read about it during my lengthy research to solve the 
> > same issues you have.
> > 
> > Also, try changing papers.
> > Take a cheap EAM and see how that improves this on the 0 setting.
> > 
> > I have no experience with the HPs, but you can just look around 
> this 
> > board and see that most people swear by their Epsons and have found 
> > ways to solve most of the issues.  At the end of the day, we are 
> > tinkering with things that weren't really meant to be....There is 
> no 
> > telling what problems you may have with an HP.  Some of the issues 
> > above could be just the same.
> > Good luck
> > 
> > Steve
> > 
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23" 
> > <peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> > > Hi Steve,
> > > 
> > > 
> > > thanks for your detailed post, but unfortunately I did everything 
> > you 
> > > suggested. I will give you a more detailed report on what I`ve 
> done 
> > > yet.
> > > Some weeks ago I moved to a new flat. During the drive to the new 
> > > house I tried to leave the ink-bottles and the printer on the 
> same 
> > > heigh. Some days later. I printed fifty thick cards. I therefore 
> > > changed the lever from 0 to + position (it's in the + position 
> > since 
> > > then, because I mainly print on Tetenal or Permajet 240g Archival 
> > > Matte). During that time I often got bad nozzlechecks and after 
> one 
> > > photo-print was suddenly missing the grey color, I decided to 
> flush 
> > > the cards using the syringe-method the MIS-guys suggested on 
> their 
> > > site (I did everything exactly as they described except the step 
> > > where a brand new cardrige set is needed in order to check if the 
> > > print head works fine...sorry ;-), but apart from the bad nozzle 
> > > checks I got from time to time the prints were perfect-no banding 
> > > whatsoever! So the printheads were ok until that point). After 
> that 
> > > the trouble began: I got very fine horizontal lines on my prints 
> > > (microbanding, I guess), although I always had a perfect nozzle-
> > > check. It seemed as if less ink came onto the paper than before 
> the 
> > > card-flush. The whole image didn't look as "rich" as it looked 
> > > before. After that I tried some methods I learned from various 
> > > forums: Printing out the purge-file. No improvement. Run various 
> > > cleaning-cycles. Still no improvement. Then I tried realigning 
> the 
> > > printheads several times along with the Windex-trick and the 
> > raising 
> > > of the bottles. After that the picture looked better, 
> significantly 
> > > better, but the banding is still there. Since I'm a photographer, 
> > > this situation is very vexing for me. Now I'm going to sacrifice 
> > one 
> > > more sheet of my beloved Tetenal Archival Matte and do a proper 
> > > Windex-treatment before that. Then I realign the heads once more, 
> > but 
> > > if this doesn't work, then say goodbye to Mr. Epson :-< . So 
> Steve, 
> > > after hearing my whole story - do you have any idea what could 
> > cause 
> > > this problem or if there is any other thing I should test? My 
> > > suspicion is that I made something wrong during the card-flush. 
> > Maybe 
> > > I should repeat it, now with the cardrige-step included? Apart 
> from 
> > > that, do you think that the hp 7960 can print out b/w as 
> beautiful 
> > as 
> > > my Epson with the MIS-inks? 
> > > 
> > > Thanks for your advice. I'm actually quite desperated. 
> > > 
> > > Regards,
> > > 
> > > Peter

Bob, can you give me a detailled description of the bottom-fill 
procedure?

Thanks, 

Peter


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Michaels" 
<bob@b...> wrote:
> Peter: banding can be caused by either clogged nozzles or ink feed
> problems. Ink feed problems are frequenty the cause with a CIS or 
CFS.
> That's why MIS suggests you put new Epson carts in to see if that
> solves the problem. If so, it's a feed problem and nothing dealing
> with clogged heads will help. Follow the MIS advice and try Epson
> carts. That may just diagnose the problem as ink feed.
> 
> I had banding and bad nozzle checks after changing carts and inks in
> my 1280 with a MIS CFS. But I knew it was a feed problem since it 
went
> away with Epson carts. Sucking ink from the CFS bottle via bottom 
fill
> didn't help as it usually did. But disconnecting from the CFS tube,
> then emptying and then refilling the Eboni cart via bottom fill 
solved
> the problem.
> 
> My MIS CFS has been 99% reliable but there's still some "black 
magic"
> involved in the way they work. 
> 
> Bob Michaels
> 
>   --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23"
> <peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> > Hi Steve!
> > 
> > Thanks again for your detailled post. I'd love to say that there 
had 
> > been an improvement but nothing changed after performing all of 
your 
> > steps. Now- before I dump my 1290 (which I'd hate to, because 
before 
> > the banding issue it produced beatiful prints) and get the 7960, 
> > there are two more questions I have: 
> > 1) when trying to align the prints, I never get a grain-free box 
in 
> > the second column. The row that is printed first shows an ok box 
at 
> > around "5" (but the banding is also visible there), but even 
after re-
> > adjustement there isn't a grain-free box in the second row (I can 
see 
> > no improvement in both rows when clicking re-adjust (sorry, don't 
> > know how this button is called in the english epson-software)). 
Could 
> > this have something to do with my issue?
> > 2) What about a software problem? I have a usb-hub. Could the 
signal 
> > from the PC to the printer be "bad", so that it produces 
microbanding?
> > 
> > Thanks again!
> > 
> > Peter
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "scrber" 
> > <stephen.bate@m...> wrote:
> > > OK, so you have at least improved it.  Thats a start.
> > > There is one more thing that could be affecting the printing.  
That 
> > > is that the paper is not being 'indexed' forward enough at each 
> > step.
> > > There are two causes.  One common, I get it a lot with my 
printers 
> > > after heavy use, the other pretty rare, I have read about it 
but 
> > > never seen it.
> > > 
> > > 1. Your paper has a coating, normally a kind of chalky 
substrate 
> > that 
> > > accepts the ink.  This coating is extremely slippy and over a 
> > period 
> > > of time can build up on the rollers that feed the paper and 
cause a 
> > > tiny amount of slip each time the rollers try to 'grab' the 
paper 
> > in 
> > > order to move it forwards.  When I use my satin matt papers 
such as 
> > > imajet, there is a huge amount of coating deposited on the 
> > rollers.  
> > > After 50 or so prints, the grab roller wont even feed the paper 
> > > anymore.
> > > 
> > > So, what do you do?  Two steps.
> > > i. Take normal plain bond paper, 50 sheets of and feed them 
through 
> > > the printer.  Just stick a fullstop on a blank page in word and 
let 
> > > it go.  This clears a lot off.  
> > > ii. Next step is to spray some more of our beloved windex onto 
some 
> > > more bond paper, especially on the RHS where it is grabbed. NOT 
too 
> > > much because it will tear up, but enough that it is damp.  Feed 
wet 
> > > sheet after dry sheet alternately about 10 sheets.
> > > iii.  Finally if you feel around inside the paper feed tray you 
can 
> > > find two thin plastic flaps that cover the 'grab' rollers.  
Gently 
> > > fold these back outwards and that a cotton bud soaked with 
Windex.  
> > > Rub the grab roller with the cotton bud and see how much gunk 
comes 
> > > off.  Normally it helps to get the printer into a red light 'no 
> > > paper' situation so that you can press the feed but to cycle it 
a 
> > few 
> > > times, this gives you access to more of the roller and can 
clean it 
> > > better.
> > > iv. Use a number of sheets in your printer paper tray, it 
places 
> > the 
> > > top printable sheet closer to the rollers and helps it to 
feed.  If 
> > > you check the posts prior to this someone found that this step 
> > alone 
> > > cured their problem.
> > > 
> > > Now the second possibility....
> > > 
> > > 2.  Your band that drives the paper feed has stretched.  This 
could 
> > > theoretically mean that you will always get banding - even in 
your 
> > > alignment patterns.  As I said before, I have never known this 
> > > happed, only read about it during my lengthy research to solve 
the 
> > > same issues you have.
> > > 
> > > Also, try changing papers.
> > > Take a cheap EAM and see how that improves this on the 0 
setting.
> > > 
> > > I have no experience with the HPs, but you can just look around 
> > this 
> > > board and see that most people swear by their Epsons and have 
found 
> > > ways to solve most of the issues.  At the end of the day, we 
are 
> > > tinkering with things that weren't really meant to be....There 
is 
> > no 
> > > telling what problems you may have with an HP.  Some of the 
issues 
> > > above could be just the same.
> > > Good luck
> > > 
> > > Steve
> > > 
> > > 
> > > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23" 
> > > <peter.bongard@t...> wrote:
> > > > Hi Steve,
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > thanks for your detailed post, but unfortunately I did 
everything 
> > > you 
> > > > suggested. I will give you a more detailed report on what 
I`ve 
> > done 
> > > > yet.
> > > > Some weeks ago I moved to a new flat. During the drive to the 
new 
> > > > house I tried to leave the ink-bottles and the printer on the 
> > same 
> > > > heigh. Some days later. I printed fifty thick cards. I 
therefore 
> > > > changed the lever from 0 to + position (it's in the + 
position 
> > > since 
> > > > then, because I mainly print on Tetenal or Permajet 240g 
Archival 
> > > > Matte). During that time I often got bad nozzlechecks and 
after 
> > one 
> > > > photo-print was suddenly missing the grey color, I decided to 
> > flush 
> > > > the cards using the syringe-method the MIS-guys suggested on 
> > their 
> > > > site (I did everything exactly as they described except the 
step 
> > > > where a brand new cardrige set is needed in order to check if 
the 
> > > > print head works fine...sorry ;-), but apart from the bad 
nozzle 
> > > > checks I got from time to time the prints were perfect-no 
banding 
> > > > whatsoever! So the printheads were ok until that point). 
After 
> > that 
> > > > the trouble began: I got very fine horizontal lines on my 
prints 
> > > > (microbanding, I guess), although I always had a perfect 
nozzle-
> > > > check. It seemed as if less ink came onto the paper than 
before 
> > the 
> > > > card-flush. The whole image didn't look as "rich" as it 
looked 
> > > > before. After that I tried some methods I learned from 
various 
> > > > forums: Printing out the purge-file. No improvement. Run 
various 
> > > > cleaning-cycles. Still no improvement. Then I tried 
realigning 
> > the 
> > > > printheads several times along with the Windex-trick and the 
> > > raising 
> > > > of the bottles. After that the picture looked better, 
> > significantly 
> > > > better, but the banding is still there. Since I'm a 
photographer, 
> > > > this situation is very vexing for me. Now I'm going to 
sacrifice 
> > > one 
> > > > more sheet of my beloved Tetenal Archival Matte and do a 
proper 
> > > > Windex-treatment before that. Then I realign the heads once 
more, 
> > > but 
> > > > if this doesn't work, then say goodbye to Mr. Epson :-< . So 
> > Steve, 
> > > > after hearing my whole story - do you have any idea what 
could 
> > > cause 
> > > > this problem or if there is any other thing I should test? My 
> > > > suspicion is that I made something wrong during the card-
flush. 
> > > Maybe 
> > > > I should repeat it, now with the cardrige-step included? 
Apart 

> > from 
> > > > that, do you think that the hp 7960 can print out b/w as 
> > beautiful 
> > > as 
> > > > my Epson with the MIS-inks? 
> > > > 
> > > > Thanks for your advice. I'm actually quite desperated. 
> > > > 
> > > > Regards,
> > > > 
> > > > Peter

http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/virgin110.html
from the support section of the MIS site explains the bottom fill
method much better than I ever could. 

Not on the site, Bob Zeiss told me to suck out the Eboni then refill
with 10cc of ink, thus leaving a bit of air in the CFS cart. That
solved my problem. 

Between info in the support section and the CFS section on the MIS
site, there is a wealth of information there. 

Remember to diagnose you banding problem as clogged nozzles or a CFS
feed problem by trying Epson carts first.  

Bob Michaels

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "flabes23"
<peter.bongard@t...> wrote:

> Bob, can you give me a detailled description of the bottom-fill 
> procedure?
> 
> Thanks, 
> 
> Peter
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Bob Michaels" 
> <bob@b...> wrote:
> > Peter: banding can be caused by either clogged nozzles or ink feed
> > problems. Ink feed problems are frequenty the cause with a CIS or 
> CFS.
> > That's why MIS suggests you put new Epson carts in to see if that
> > solves the problem. If so, it's a feed problem and nothing dealing
> > with clogged heads will help. Follow the MIS advice and try Epson
> > carts. That may just diagnose the problem as ink feed.
> > 
> > I had banding and bad nozzle checks after changing carts and inks in
> > my 1280 with a MIS CFS. But I knew it was a feed problem since it 
> went
> > away with Epson carts. Sucking ink from the CFS bottle via bottom 
> fill
> > didn't help as it usually did. But disconnecting from the CFS tube,
> > then emptying and then refilling the Eboni cart via bottom fill 
> solved
> > the problem.
> > 
> > My MIS CFS has been 99% reliable but there's still some "black 
> magic"
> > involved in the way they work. 
> > 
> > Bob Michaels