Digital BW, The Print

As posted on other forums:

I finally spoke with Epson�s internal technical guru for wide format
printers (and she is also knowledgeable about desktops � but not as much).
Her first name is Sheryl and she is an engineer and part of the product
management team, but she asked me not to publish her last name because,
understandably, she didn�t want to field a lot of calls or emails. Her job
is technical, NOT customer service or PR. She said that she follows the
forums occasionally but doesn�t participate because responding to the forums
can �eat you alive.� Understandable.
Now for the �facts� as presented by Epson:

Assuming a properly functioning printer, there is NO difference in the
parked position whether the printer is on and the head is parked (going
�home� in Epson parlance), or if the printer is shut off. When the head is
�home� it is home � printer turned on or printer turned off makes no
difference. This is assuming that the printer is functioning properly.
HOWEVER, THAT DOESN�T MEAN THAT PRINTERS SHOULD BE LEFT ON. She recommends
(and this is straight from the guru�s mouth) that if printers are used very
frequently (hourly to daily at the longest) then is fine to let the printer
stay on because there�s not really enough time between prints to let the
heads dry out. Drying ink on (in?) heads is the enemy. It can cause clogs,
and because it doesn�t �seal� the nozzle as well as liquid does, dry ink can
contribute to air bubbles. If the printer is not used AT LEAST daily, then
it should be shut off between print runs. Why? Because when it is turned
back on it does a special type of head cleaning, using a �minimal amount� of
ink, to clear off the dried particles, get rid of air bubbles and get the
liquid ink �going� again. (This is my translation of her rather technical
explanation.) The frequency of this cleaning is controlled by software
(firmware?) and it will be done occasionally even if the printer is left on�
but NOT frequently enough if the printer is left �at idle� and not used. Her
last comment was that the best cleaning fluid for Epsons was Epson ink. I
know this sounds self-serving but she says that it�s a fact that the liquid
ink is the best solvent for the dried ink. This was after I pointed out that
people were skeptical about Epson�s recommendations being designed to create
maximum ink consumption and not optimum efficiency. I left our conversation
believing genuinely that she was being truthful with me.

Last, she mentioned that if you�re not sure if the head is parked properly,
you can move it manually to the �home� position but that it positions much
more precisely, to form a better seal, via firmware. Thus, if you�ve done a
Windex/paper towel cleaning (my words, NOT hers � NOT recommended by Epson)
you should turn the printer on and off to properly �park� the heads, not
just slide it right until it clicks into place.
If anyone has further questions, please contact me offline. Hope this helps

Rick Colson

Thanks Rick, that is exactly what I needed to know.
Scott

FWIW, my 2400 has been on, almost constantly, since August, 2005. 
Sometimes I go a week or longer between printing sessions.  I only
turn it off if I'm going out of town for a few days.  In all that time
it has had only one minor clog, and that was after a 3-week idle
period.  Using Epson inks.

Regards,
Clayton


Info on black and white digital printing at    
http://www.cjcom.net/digiprnarts.htm