Digital BW, The Print

Well, I spoke too soon ...

  >If you give the printer a rest for
  >a few hours and then run a nozzle check, they may be better.

Having done some testing and encouraged by a couple of good prints 
yesterday I was all ready to continue this morning.  The first nozzle check 
of the day was good, so I made a quick test print.  No black ink at all.  A 
nozzle check confirmed no black, but colour positions OK.  Head clean - 
black returned, colour positions faulty.  Another clean - black faulty, 
colour better.  Right, let the printer rest a while.  Nozzle check - no 
black, colour faulty.  Try  the other black cart (PK vs EK) - same 
problem.  After the usual attempts to get things running failed, I 
installed a brand new pair of standard dye ink carts.  A perfect nozzle 
check at the first attempt.

The 1160 doesn't have chipped carts of course, so I don't know if the UT-FS 
carts are running low, except that 2 A4 prints and a few 21-step greyscale 
tests *shouldn't* have emptied them surely? (And indeed a syringe pulls ink 
out of them OK.)  Is this typical of 1160s and pigment inks?  I have 
another 1160 which had a CIS installed with the older MIS Variable Mix and 
which ran OK for a while until it too terminally clogged up, and I can't 
get that running properly now even with dye inks and after trying all the 
"tricks" with cleaning solutions, carts, etc.

So I'm somewhat disillusioned by the whole situation.  My fully profiled 
R800 will make quite good b+w prints but there's the metamerism problem, 
and of course it's only A4.  I can't afford an R1800 yet ;-(

I'd really like to get the 1160 running reliably with the UT inks.  Has 
anyone any suggestions please?

Thanks

Richard

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, RH 
Designs <richard@r...> wrote:

> I'd really like to get the 1160 running reliably with the UT inks.  
Has 
> anyone any suggestions please?

Richard,
The ink is great. Everything points to the cartridges. The only 
thing left at this point is to carefully examine them. Could be the 
rubber seals are allowing air to get sucked in alongside the ink. 
If the seals have become weak or cracked they will not seat tight 
around the spikes, so nothing will help except for finding a good 
one that will maintain vacuum (the Epson OEMs proved that). Try 
some others from a different production run.  Fortunately carts 
are cheaper than printers.
Hope this helps.
John

John C. Lewis wrote:

>--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, RH 
>Designs <richard@r...> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>I'd really like to get the 1160 running reliably with the UT inks.  
>>    
>>
>Has 
>  
>
>>anyone any suggestions please?
>>    
>>
>
>Richard,
>The ink is great. Everything points to the cartridges. The only 
>thing left at this point is to carefully examine them. Could be the 
>rubber seals are allowing air to get sucked in alongside the ink. 
>If the seals have become weak or cracked they will not seat tight 
>around the spikes, so nothing will help except for finding a good 
>one that will maintain vacuum (the Epson OEMs proved that). Try 
>some others from a different production run.  Fortunately carts 
>are cheaper than printers.
>Hope this helps.
>John
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Are the vent holes of the cartidg realy open. I had some very similar 
problems with an epson 760, until I used a pin to clear/open the vent 
hole of one of the chambers of the color cartridge.

Regards
Meino de Graaf


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>Are the vent holes of the cartidg realy open. I had some very similar
 >problems with an epson 760, until I used a pin to clear/open the vent
 >hole of one of the chambers of the color cartridge.
 >
 >Regards
 >Meino de Graaf


That's a good point, I hadn't checked that.  I have removed the tape but 
there may well be a blockage somewhere.  The problem exists on four carts 
though, (eboni and photo blacks, and FSN and FS colours) which leads me to 
doubt they'd all have the problem, but stranger things have happened!

One other thing occurs to me which is that it's been quite cold in the 
office today.  I wouldn't expect inks to thicken significantly but does 
anyone know if that might be the answer?

Regards
Richard

Hi John,

 >The ink is great. Everything points to the cartridges. The only
 >thing left at this point is to carefully examine them. Could be the
 >rubber seals are allowing air to get sucked in alongside the ink.
 >If the seals have become weak or cracked they will not seat tight
 >around the spikes, so nothing will help except for finding a good
 >one that will maintain vacuum (the Epson OEMs proved that). Try
 >some others from a different production run.  Fortunately carts
 >are cheaper than printers.
 >Hope this helps.


Thanks - yes, I guess it does point to an ink starvation problem rather 
than a blockage.  The carts are brand new pre-filled ones from MIS so I 
doubt if it's the seals unless there is some muck on the spikes; the 
printer was working fine yesterday but simply wouldn't do the business 
today and rather than leave it with dead nozzles and the attendant risks I 
opted to fit new dye carts.  And it's fine with those.

I guess what I'm really asking is whether to persevere with this setup or 
try something else.  I do like the results, but the unreliability has been 
driving me nuts!  The printer in question is a few years old but hasn't had 
a great deal of use, and has been 100% reliable with dye inks rarely 
needing a head clean.  Having used a CIS on the other 1160 and having 
trouble with that (I don't print often enough to keep it in good fettle) my 
plan was to refill carts once I decided on which ink combination to use, 
but most of the ink has so far ended up in the waste tank :-(

Regards
Richard

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Richard 
Ross / RH Designs <richard@r...> wrote:

> I guess what I'm really asking is whether to persevere with this 
setup or try something else.  

Richard,

Your situation is a carbon copy of what I've been through with my 
trusty 1160s - right down to a prior CIS setup on a past machine. 
It's hard to move on knowing it works perfectly and your settings 
and entire workflow and evaluation processes were all in place. 
When you take your work very seriously it's hard to let go due to a 
glitch that's been surmountable in the past.  I spent a great deal 
of time and money trying to keep the 1160s going, but finally 
moved on. Now I'm using my 2200 instead and can't say how 
pleased I am. Feel free to contact me off list if you'd like.

John