Digital BW, The Print

I've decided to try BO printing with Eboni ink in an old 825 before committing my workhorse 
1280 to the cause.  My understanding was that the print heads in the 825 and 1280 are the 
same (they use the same black dye ink cart).   

In all fairness, the 825 has had a tough life and even with OEM dye inks is a little prone to 
clogging.  The printer is totally unreliable with the eboni ink, though.  I can run four 
consecutive nozzle checks and get four different results; rarely is one of them perfect.  
Running a cleaning cycle usually gets a good nozzle check immediately afterward, but the 
second nozzle check is flawed (missing at least one line segment).  All the prints I've made so 
far show banding.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

thanks!
-brad

Hi Brad,

Are you using the refillable cartridges, or pre-filled?  If you are
using the refillable one, make sure you "purge" it (pull some ink from
the port with a syringe to get rid of potential air bubbles).

My 1280, which I bought used, wasn't reliable with the UT2 inks at all
when I first switched over from dye - even with the photo black ink,
which seems much less prone to clogs/air gaps/whatever is causing the
problems.  After repeated cleaning cycles, Windex on the parking pad,
cleaning the buildup from the bottom of the head, etc., I eventually
used my second set of clear carts to run Windex through the heads on
and off for days before I could get consistent nozzle checks.  Still,
it would eventually start banding and ruin a print just when I thought
all was good.

I subsequently switched to eboni, which seems to be much more prone to
clogging.  Subsequent cleanings will eventually produce good nozzle
checks, but there is no telling how long it will print before I get
banding again.

I originally intended to use the 1280 as a "glossy" printer, since
I've been pretty happy with my QTR tests on matte for the 2200 (I
can't seem to get neutral prints from QTR on RC papers, and I really
like the tonal range of the UT2 inks).  But after wrestling with the
1280 for what seems like forever, I've about decided to bag it and
change it back to a general-purpose dye printer.  (Dye works perfectly
- never drops a nozzle or bands.)  Besides, my wife is getting tired
of hearing me swear at it until the wee hours of the morning.

Sorry for the ramble.  You might try soaking the parking pad in Windex
(with ammonia) and letting the head park overnight and see if it gets
any better.  If it does, maybe try for a longer period, or if you are
desperate, try one of the clear MIS carts with Windex and run black
patches until they are clean.  It definitely helped mine, just not
enough to be perfectly reliable.  (And you said this is a "test"
printer, right?)

Good luck!

Eric

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "bradley_w01"
<bradleywakoff@h...> wrote:

> In all fairness, the 825 has had a tough life and even with OEM dye
inks is a little prone to 
> clogging.  The printer is totally unreliable with the eboni ink,
though.  I can run four 
> consecutive nozzle checks and get four different results; rarely is
one of them perfect.  
> Running a cleaning cycle usually gets a good nozzle check
immediately afterward, but the 
> second nozzle check is flawed (missing at least one line segment). 
All the prints I've made so 

> far show banding.
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> thanks!
> -brad

Brad:

I feel your pain. Will retire my 1280 in June when I get a 2400. Tried 
multiple times (Sponge, spongeless) and while when it did print I 
loved it, just too much hassel.

Think there must be difference in the 1280s, but it sure drivers a 
fantastic dye print. Great printer in its time.

Regards,

Jeff Lee

Thanks, guys, not the answers I was hoping for, but it's reassuring to know that I'm not 
the only one having these problems. I had only bought a single eboni pre-filled and some 
EEM to try this out, and now I'm glad I did it this way.  

Sound like a new printer is in order, so I'll wait a few weeks and see how the new Epsons 
look...

-b




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "bradley_w01" 
<bradleywakoff@h...> wrote:
> I've decided to try BO printing with Eboni ink in an old 825 before committing my 
workhorse 
> 1280 to the cause.  My understanding was that the print heads in the 825 and 1280 are 
the 
> same (they use the same black dye ink cart).   
> 
> In all fairness, the 825 has had a tough life and even with OEM dye inks is a little prone 
to 
> clogging.  The printer is totally unreliable with the eboni ink, though.  I can run four 
> consecutive nozzle checks and get four different results; rarely is one of them perfect.  
> Running a cleaning cycle usually gets a good nozzle check immediately afterward, but 
the 
> second nozzle check is flawed (missing at least one line segment).  All the prints I've 
made so 

> far show banding.
> 
> Does anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> thanks!
> -brad