Digital BW, The Print

F_P and Richard,

I have always heard that it's not good to simply leave any Epson printer on because the cartridges are not "parked"--that is, the pad lifted up against them--when the printer is on. I suppose it's possible that the ink would dry and clog the heads even faster is they're exposed to the air. Though I'm sure the parking pads don't create an airtight seal. I think it's really one of those "damned if you do...damned it ya don't" type things. I run my Epson 2200 almost every week and I still get minor clogs. YMMV, of course.

Alan Huntley

> 
> From: "ferdinand_paris" <ferdinand_paris@...>
> Date: 2004/11/09 Tue PM 04:02:50 EST
> To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Digital BW] Re: 2100 questions
> 
> 
> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
> Smallfield <r.smallfield@p...> wrote:
> > yesterday I installed a new Epson 2100.
> > I know that Epsons use ink for cleaning every time that you turn
> > them on.
> > Is it ok to leave it turned on for long periods of time?
> 
> I too have wondered about how best to minimise the number of cleaning
> cycles my Epson 2100 does.  I decided to leave it on to try and
> minimise them.  But I don't think that this has worked.  If you
> haven't printed for a while, but left it on, it will do a cleaning
> cycle before it starts printing.  
> 
> I wondered about unplugging it, but that would probably just guarantee
> a cleaning cycle at each start-up, whereas is you turn it on and off,
> it only does a cleaning cycle at some power-ups.
> 
> F_P

That's where I started too - always turning it off.  I've tried both.
 There are sometimes gaps between print sessions.  I don't think there
is all that much of a difference in how often it cleans & clogs.  If
anything, I'd suggest that leaving it on results in less clogs, but
this would have to be a small difference, and I really couldn't be
sure.  Someone suggested that leaving it on, and therefore warmed up,
gave more consistent print output.

I know the engineers understand the pinter better than I, but it seems
to clean the heads rather often.  I assume that Epson would err on the
side of caution, especially if that promoted ink usage.

F_P


--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com,
<Alan.Huntley@c...> wrote:
> F_P and Richard,
> 
> I have always heard that it's not good to simply leave any Epson
printer on because the cartridges are not "parked"--that is, the pad
lifted up against them--when the printer is on. I suppose it's
possible that the ink would dry and clog the heads even faster is
they're exposed to the air. Though I'm sure the parking pads don't
create an airtight seal. I think it's really one of those "damned if
you do...damned it ya don't" type things. I run my Epson 2200 almost
every week and I still get minor clogs. YMMV, of course.

> 
> Alan Huntley
> 
> > 
> > From: "ferdinand_paris" <ferdinand_paris@y...>
> > Date: 2004/11/09 Tue PM 04:02:50 EST
> > To: DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> > Subject: [Digital BW] Re: 2100 questions
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard
> > Smallfield <r.smallfield@p...> wrote:
> > > yesterday I installed a new Epson 2100.
> > > I know that Epsons use ink for cleaning every time that you turn
> > > them on.
> > > Is it ok to leave it turned on for long periods of time?
> > 
> > I too have wondered about how best to minimise the number of cleaning
> > cycles my Epson 2100 does.  I decided to leave it on to try and
> > minimise them.  But I don't think that this has worked.  If you
> > haven't printed for a while, but left it on, it will do a cleaning
> > cycle before it starts printing.  
> > 
> > I wondered about unplugging it, but that would probably just guarantee
> > a cleaning cycle at each start-up, whereas is you turn it on and off,
> > it only does a cleaning cycle at some power-ups.
> > 
> > F_P

Ferdinand,

The printers are more intelligent than you think! They have several 
different levels of cleaning cycle and which they use and when is determined 
by how long it is since the last cleaning cycle and how many prints you have 
made since the last cycle. Epson usually recommend turning the printer off 
if you are not using it, since the printhead is parked more firmly and is 
less likely to dry out. They also recommend that if you are not using the 
printer for a long while, that you turn it on and let it go through its 
cleaning cycle at least once every three weeks.

Don't unplug the printer or switch it off at the socket. If you do that the 
internal clocks won't count time and it won't know how long it is since the 
last cleaning. Just switch it off using the off/on button on the printer.


Bob Frost.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ferdinand_paris" <ferdinand_paris@...>

I too have wondered about how best to minimise the number of cleaning
cycles my Epson 2100 does.  I decided to leave it on to try and
minimise them.  But I don't think that this has worked.  If you
haven't printed for a while, but left it on, it will do a cleaning
cycle before it starts printing.

I wondered about unplugging it, but that would probably just guarantee
a cleaning cycle at each start-up, whereas is you turn it on and off,
it only does a cleaning cycle at some power-ups.