Digital BW, The Print

I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I began
to test and there is a major problem.
The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It did
close though.
I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There was a
great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as printing
continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition there
was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the paper
- Epson's Enhanced Matte. I suspect that is a paper problem with
curling...
I decided to run a cleaning and test nozzle pattern when the printer
decided it didn't want to recognize the "yellow" cartridge anymore. It
did when first installed. I made several attempts to re-install the
"yellow" but it still can't recognize the cartridge. I can see no
problem with the cartridge and the chip is firmly in place with no
visible damage. I did notice the contacts of the K7 cartridge do not
match the positions of the K4 cartridge.
I replaced the K7 yellow cartridge with that of the K4 yellow - the
Epson recognized the cartridge - then replaced the K4 with the K7 and
the printer refused to recognize the cartridge.
Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'm afraid the K7 and piezography
is of no use to me.

I had the same sort of problem several months ago and had to give up on the
K7 inks.  My cover would not close at all.  The piezography folks sent a
second set of carts but they wouldn't work either.  It appears that the tab
on the carts are a little too high.  There must be some variables in the
2400 as the problem doesn't seem too common.

If you have to force the cover to close I wonder if it forces the cart down
and the chip loses contact.

Wish I had an answer.  I'd like to try the inks too.

Tom Husband



On 10/15/07, Harry B Houchins <harrybh@...> wrote:
>
> I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I began
> to test and there is a major problem.
> The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
> chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It did
> close though.
> I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
> enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There was a
> great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as printing
> continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition there
> was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the paper
> - Epson's Enhanced Matte. I suspect that is a paper problem with
> curling...
> I decided to run a cleaning and test nozzle pattern when the printer
> decided it didn't want to recognize the "yellow" cartridge anymore. It
> did when first installed. I made several attempts to re-install the
> "yellow" but it still can't recognize the cartridge. I can see no
> problem with the cartridge and the chip is firmly in place with no
> visible damage. I did notice the contacts of the K7 cartridge do not
> match the positions of the K4 cartridge.
> I replaced the K7 yellow cartridge with that of the K4 yellow - the
> Epson recognized the cartridge - then replaced the K4 with the K7 and
> the printer refused to recognize the cartridge.
> Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'm afraid the K7 and piezography
> is of no use to me.
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I had a similar problem with a K7 inkset on the R1800. Cover would
barely close and then pop open again.

I simply used cutter to trim a little of the top of the tabs and it
solved my problem. I told Inkjetmall about the tab issue. You should
do the same as I am sure they do care.

I was able to use all the inks in the carts.

For your yellow chip problem, it might just need a reset. But if you
do not have one on hand (chip reseter) I think Inkjetmall should
replace the cartridge for you. (I cannot talk for them but I'd contact
them for sure).

Good luck!

Denis

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "Tom Husband"
<tom.husband@...> wrote:
>
> I had the same sort of problem several months ago and had to give up
on the
> K7 inks.  My cover would not close at all.  The piezography folks sent a
> second set of carts but they wouldn't work either.  It appears that
the tab
> on the carts are a little too high.  There must be some variables in the
> 2400 as the problem doesn't seem too common.
> 
> If you have to force the cover to close I wonder if it forces the
cart down

> and the chip loses contact.
> 
> Wish I had an answer.  I'd like to try the inks too.
> 
> Tom Husband
> 
> 
> 
> On 10/15/07, Harry B Houchins <harrybh@...> wrote:
> >
> > I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I began
> > to test and there is a major problem.
> > The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
> > chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It did
> > close though.
> > I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
> > enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There was a
> > great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as printing
> > continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition there
> > was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the paper
> > - Epson's Enhanced Matte. I suspect that is a paper problem with
> > curling...
> > I decided to run a cleaning and test nozzle pattern when the printer
> > decided it didn't want to recognize the "yellow" cartridge anymore. It
> > did when first installed. I made several attempts to re-install the
> > "yellow" but it still can't recognize the cartridge. I can see no
> > problem with the cartridge and the chip is firmly in place with no
> > visible damage. I did notice the contacts of the K7 cartridge do not
> > match the positions of the K4 cartridge.
> > I replaced the K7 yellow cartridge with that of the K4 yellow - the
> > Epson recognized the cartridge - then replaced the K4 with the K7 and
> > the printer refused to recognize the cartridge.
> > Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'm afraid the K7 and piezography
> > is of no use to me.
> >
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Since I was planning to take exactly the same route with my 2400, I have an
intense interest in your dilemma.  It appears that there is a serious
compatibility problem between the 2400 and K7 cartridges.

Have you contacted the folks at inkjet mall for advice?

Harry


On 10/15/07 12:14 PM, "Harry B Houchins" <harrybh@...> wrote:

> I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I began
> to test and there is a major problem.
> The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
> chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It did
> close though.
> I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
> enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There was a
> great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as printing
> continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition there
> was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the paper
> - Epson's Enhanced Matte. I suspect that is a paper problem with
> curling...
> I decided to run a cleaning and test nozzle pattern when the printer
> decided it didn't want to recognize the "yellow" cartridge anymore. It
> did when first installed. I made several attempts to re-install the
> "yellow" but it still can't recognize the cartridge. I can see no
> problem with the cartridge and the chip is firmly in place with no
> visible damage. I did notice the contacts of the K7 cartridge do not
> match the positions of the K4 cartridge.
> I replaced the K7 yellow cartridge with that of the K4 yellow - the
> Epson recognized the cartridge - then replaced the K4 with the K7 and
> the printer refused to recognize the cartridge.
> Unless anyone has any suggestions, I'm afraid the K7 and piezography
> is of no use to me.


-- 

Harry F. Lockwood




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Harry Lockwood 
<hflockwood@...> wrote:
>
> Since I was planning to take exactly the same route with my 2400, I 
have an
> intense interest in your dilemma.  It appears that there is a 
serious
> compatibility problem between the 2400 and K7 cartridges.
> 
> Have you contacted the folks at inkjet mall for advice?
> 
> Harry
> 
> 
> On 10/15/07 12:14 PM, "Harry B Houchins" <harrybh@...> wrote:
> 
> > I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I 
began
> > to test and there is a major problem.
> > The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
> > chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It 
did
> > close though.
> > I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
> > enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There 
was a
> > great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as 
printing
> > continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition 
there
> > was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the 
paper


I had the same problem with my first set of K7 cartridges on my 2400. 
I called customer service and they said the lid should close with a 
bit of pressure. I was pretty cautious, but I got the cover to close. 
Subsequent cartridges have been a tight fit, but always fit.

I have not had a problem with the chips.

My first 1 or 2 prints had large black ink blothces in the margin. I 
beleive this may have been due to a bad seal. I took it out and 
replaced it after cleaning it up and had no problems thereafter. The 
customer service was very helpful. Afterwards, I made some beautiful 
prints until I had some clogging issues due to the dry climate in 
western Canada in winter.

Hope this helps. 

I have since procured a R2200 for Piezography as it seems a shame to 
dedictate a R2400 to K7 inks, as I like to used it for duotones and 
to print on Silver Rag, etc.

Paul

Thanks, Paul, that¹s useful and encouraging information.

Harry


On 10/16/07 9:01 AM, "pglombick" <glombick@...> wrote:

> 
> --- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint%40yahoogroups.com> , Harry Lockwood
> <hflockwood@...> wrote:
>> >
>> > Since I was planning to take exactly the same route with my 2400, I
> have an
>> > intense interest in your dilemma.  It appears that there is a
> serious
>> > compatibility problem between the 2400 and K7 cartridges.
>> > 
>> > Have you contacted the folks at inkjet mall for advice?
>> > 
>> > Harry
>> > 
>> > 
>> > On 10/15/07 12:14 PM, "Harry B Houchins" <harrybh@...> wrote:
>> > 
>>> > > I received a set of K7 Neutral inks for my Epson R2400. Today I
> began
>>> > > to test and there is a major problem.
>>> > > The cartridges installed with no problem but the cover of the ink
>>> > > chest did not close easily as it will with the K4 cartridges. It
> did
>>> > > close though.
>>> > > I selected a test image to print and followed the instructions
>>> > > enclosed with the K7 inks. The image printed VERY poorly. There
> was a
>>> > > great deal of banding as printing began which disappeared as
> printing
>>> > > continued then re-appeared as printing completed. In addition
> there
>>> > > was a great deal of splotchy puddles at and near the edge of the
> paper
> 
> I had the same problem with my first set of K7 cartridges on my 2400.
> I called customer service and they said the lid should close with a
> bit of pressure. I was pretty cautious, but I got the cover to close.
> Subsequent cartridges have been a tight fit, but always fit.
> 
> I have not had a problem with the chips.
> 
> My first 1 or 2 prints had large black ink blothces in the margin. I
> beleive this may have been due to a bad seal. I took it out and
> replaced it after cleaning it up and had no problems thereafter. The
> customer service was very helpful. Afterwards, I made some beautiful
> prints until I had some clogging issues due to the dry climate in
> western Canada in winter.
> 
> Hope this helps. 
> 
> I have since procured a R2200 for Piezography as it seems a shame to
> dedictate a R2400 to K7 inks, as I like to used it for duotones and
> to print on Silver Rag, etc.
> 
> Paul

-- 

Harry F. Lockwood




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Here's an update on the problem I reported...

Jeff Hirsch at Inkjetmall has responded that removing all the  
cartridges and re-installing them may correct the problem of the  
printer not seeing the cartridges. Well, I tried this AM and the  
results? Now the printer doesn't recognize the Yellow and the Light  
Black and the Light Magenta cartridge.
I'm going backwards in a hurry...
I immediately  removed and replaced theY, LK & LM cartridges and two  
were recognized - but not the yellow.
I then removed all cartridges, shut off and restarted the printer and  
re-installed all cartridges. The Yellow cartridge, once again, is not  
recognized.

Regards,
Harry
www.lightspeed-images.com
www.scari.org


After writing the above, on a whim, I tried removing and replacing  
the Y cartridge, yet again, and it was accepted!!! I ran five nozzle  
checks and cleaning cycles till I got an acceptable pattern. So I  
opened PSCS3 and printed a test image on Epson Enhanced Matte...  
and... (drum roll, please...) I got a perfect print! I shut down the  
printer and restarted and it still recognized the yellow cartridge...

HBH

I would certainly like to see this problem cleared before I order the K7 ink
carts.

Harry


On 10/16/07 11:10 AM, "Harry B Houchins" <harrybh@...> wrote:
> 
> 
> Here's an update on the problem I reported...
> 
> Jeff Hirsch at Inkjetmall has responded that removing all the
> cartridges and re-installing them may correct the problem of the
> printer not seeing the cartridges. Well, I tried this AM and the
> results? Now the printer doesn't recognize the Yellow and the Light
> Black and the Light Magenta cartridge.
> I'm going backwards in a hurry...
> I immediately  removed and replaced theY, LK & LM cartridges and two
> were recognized - but not the yellow.
> I then removed all cartridges, shut off and restarted the printer and
> re-installed all cartridges. The Yellow cartridge, once again, is not
> recognized.
> 
> Regards,
> Harry
> www.lightspeed-images.com


-- 

Harry F. Lockwood




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I had the same problem with one of my carts. It turned out to be a dead 
chip -- I levered it out and replaced it with one from a spare Epson 
cart and everything worked. Tricky to do (and a bit irritating to have 
to), but it works.

[s]



Harry Lockwood wrote:

> I would certainly like to see this problem cleared before I order the K7 ink
> carts.
>
> Harry
>
>
> On 10/16/07 11:10 AM, "Harry B Houchins" <harrybh@...> wrote:
>   
>> Here's an update on the problem I reported...
>>
>> Jeff Hirsch at Inkjetmall has responded that removing all the
>> cartridges and re-installing them may correct the problem of the
>> printer not seeing the cartridges. Well, I tried this AM and the
>> results? Now the printer doesn't recognize the Yellow and the Light
>> Black and the Light Magenta cartridge.
>> I'm going backwards in a hurry...
>> I immediately  removed and replaced theY, LK & LM cartridges and two
>> were recognized - but not the yellow.
>> I then removed all cartridges, shut off and restarted the printer and
>> re-installed all cartridges. The Yellow cartridge, once again, is not
>> recognized.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Harry
>> www.lightspeed-images.com
>>     
>
>
>

What's the logic behind K7 Vs OEM? 

At the end of the day are wonderful results expected
in exchange for the reported grief and wasted time?

john kelly wrote:
> What's the logic behind K7 Vs OEM? 
>
> At the end of the day are wonderful results expected
> in exchange for the reported grief and wasted time? 
>
>   
In my case, yes, I've made the best B&W prints with K7 that I've ever 
made. I got close with the OEM inks, but there was always *something* 
not quite as good as I wanted it to be. With K7 and its associated 
colour management flow, reprinting my old images was easy and gave me 
the best prints I'd ever made from them.

So sorry, yes, I think the carts are a bit out of spec physically so the 
chips sometimes don't quite line up properly, which is a pain, but once 
it works, it *really* works. I always had difficulty with colour 
balance, illuminant metamerism basically, when I was using ABW, so I'd 
do a print that looked great, but once it was framed with white mat 
board it looked a bit blue, or green, or something. Just not quite 
right, and however much fiddling about I did I couldn't quite fix it. 
But K7 (I use the split tone version) gave me exactly what I liked 
without any effort at all, no metamerism at all. I've also been 
extremely impressed with the resolution I get with the K7/QTR flow, 
definitely noticeable better than the ABW route. My images are mostly 
either from a Better Light scan back (8000x6000) or a Megavision 
monochrome medium format back (4000x4000), so being able to see that 
resolution in smaller prints (which never quite worked with ABW) is 
pretty awesome in my opinion.

[s]

Sarah,

I¹m also planning on going the K7 route for my R2400  What machine are you
using?  And are you using a CIS setup or refillable carts?

Harry


On 10/17/07 1:16 PM, "Sarah Thompson" <sarah@...> wrote:

>  
> john kelly wrote:
>> > What's the logic behind K7 Vs OEM?
>> >
>> > At the end of the day are wonderful results expected
>> > in exchange for the reported grief and wasted time?
>> >
>> >   
> In my case, yes, I've made the best B&W prints with K7 that I've ever
> made. I got close with the OEM inks, but there was always *something*
> not quite as good as I wanted it to be. With K7 and its associated
> colour management flow, reprinting my old images was easy and gave me
> the best prints I'd ever made from them.
> 
> So sorry, yes, I think the carts are a bit out of spec physically so the
> chips sometimes don't quite line up properly, which is a pain, but once
> it works, it *really* works. I always had difficulty with colour
> balance, illuminant metamerism basically, when I was using ABW, so I'd
> do a print that looked great, but once it was framed with white mat
> board it looked a bit blue, or green, or something. Just not quite
> right, and however much fiddling about I did I couldn't quite fix it.
> But K7 (I use the split tone version) gave me exactly what I liked
> without any effort at all, no metamerism at all. I've also been
> extremely impressed with the resolution I get with the K7/QTR flow,
> definitely noticeable better than the ABW route. My images are mostly
> either from a Better Light scan back (8000x6000) or a Megavision
> monochrome medium format back (4000x4000), so being able to see that
> resolution in smaller prints (which never quite worked with ABW) is
> pretty awesome in my opinion.


-- 

Harry F. Lockwood




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Harry Lockwood wrote:
> Sarah,
>
> I\ufffdm also planning on going the K7 route for my R2400  What machine are you
> using?  And are you using a CIS setup or refillable carts?
>
> Harry
>
>   
I'm using an r2400 attached via USB to a dual core Athlon based desktop 
PC with 4GB RAM, running Vista. I edit photos in Photoshop CS3 using the 
QTR B&W ICC profiles, export the results as TIFFs then print them with 
QTR. Currently I'm using prefilled carts, but I'm considering going the 
CIS route next time I need to do a lot of prints (currently I'm between 
projects and wiped out with day job stuff so I'm not getting much done, 
but hopefully that will change soon!)

Like I mentioned, I tend to go for very high resolution images, so it 
kind of makes sense to be able to print them and do them justice. I 
spent a long time (and much paper and ink) being nearly-there with OEM 
inks, but with K7 I finally got the results I was looking for. :-)

Sarah

> In my case, yes, I've made the best B&W prints with K7 that I've ever 
> made.

> But K7 (I use the split tone version) gave me exactly what I liked 
> without any effort at all, no metamerism at all. I've also been 
> extremely impressed with the resolution I get with the K7/QTR flow, 
> definitely noticeable better than the ABW route. My images are mostly 
> either from a Better Light scan back (8000x6000) or a Megavision 
> monochrome medium format back (4000x4000), so being able to see that 
> resolution in smaller prints (which never quite worked with ABW) is 
> pretty awesome in my opinion.

What paper are you using?

Paul

pglombick wrote:
>> In my case, yes, I've made the best B&W prints with K7 that I've ever 
>> made.
>>     
>
>   
>> But K7 (I use the split tone version) gave me exactly what I liked 
>> without any effort at all, no metamerism at all. I've also been 
>> extremely impressed with the resolution I get with the K7/QTR flow, 
>> definitely noticeable better than the ABW route. My images are mostly 
>> either from a Better Light scan back (8000x6000) or a Megavision 
>> monochrome medium format back (4000x4000), so being able to see that 
>> resolution in smaller prints (which never quite worked with ABW) is 
>> pretty awesome in my opinion.
>>     
>
> What paper are you using?
>
>   
Moab Entrada currently. It seems to work pretty well. I'd quite like to 
find something a touch smoother, but I've been very pleased with it so far.

[s]

K7 works very well on Hahnemuhle Museum Etching for both neutral and
warm applications, 100% rag content, no obas. It is also thicker than
Photorag, with texture between Photorag and William Turner.

john




--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Sarah Thompson
<sarah@...> wrote:
>
> pglombick wrote:
> >> In my case, yes, I've made the best B&W prints with K7 that I've
ever 
> >> made.
> >>     
> >
> >   
> >> But K7 (I use the split tone version) gave me exactly what I liked 
> >> without any effort at all, no metamerism at all. I've also been 
> >> extremely impressed with the resolution I get with the K7/QTR flow, 
> >> definitely noticeable better than the ABW route. My images are
mostly 
> >> either from a Better Light scan back (8000x6000) or a Megavision 
> >> monochrome medium format back (4000x4000), so being able to see that 
> >> resolution in smaller prints (which never quite worked with ABW) is 
> >> pretty awesome in my opinion.
> >>     
> >
> > What paper are you using?
> >
> >   
> Moab Entrada currently. It seems to work pretty well. I'd quite like to 
> find something a touch smoother, but I've been very pleased with it
so far.

> 
> [s]
>

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "john dean" 
<deanwork2003@...> wrote:
>
> K7 works very well on Hahnemuhle Museum Etching for both neutral and
> warm applications, 100% rag content, no obas. It is also thicker than
> Photorag, with texture between Photorag and William Turner.
> 
> john
> 

John:

Thanks, that's what I been using to date with good results, but I'm 
always interested in what other people are using. It seems that I get 
slightly better results using my R2400 rather than my R2200, even 
though my R2200 is now dedicated to K7 inks to avoid switching out the 
K3 carts out of the 2400. I don't have a spectrometer or I would try to 
create my own profile for Museum Etching for my R2200 to account for 
variability. I bought it used (3rd owner) and maybe it's a bit out of 
whack.

Paul