QTR-Quadtone RIP

My old Epson 1280 finally got totally clogged using a Jon Cone's K6 CIS
inkset and I had to get rid of it--admittedly, though, I had left it
alone during long periods when I did nothing but turn it on and off
daily.  So I bought an Epson 1400 and the new K6 CIS inkset for it, and
after a couple of weeks of almost daily printing it clogged permanently,
despite my trying every trick in inkjetmall's book to unclog it. 
Fortunately, amazon replaced the printer at no cost, and now I think I
have found the answer to avoid clogs.

Every morning without fail I invert each of the bottles of ink a couple
of times to keep the pigment in solution (hold your finger over the
air-hole when you do this!), then do a head cleaning--one such daily
cleaning has worked so far to give a perfect nozzle check.  I've been
printing daily for 2-3 weeks now--about 75 13x19  prints in all--with
nary a clog.  This is a particular advantage of the CIS because you can
invert the bottles, something you can't do with cartridges.


--- In QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com, "dawsonmpleasanton" <dawsonm@...>
wrote:
>
> I'm going to post in both QTR and Piezography 3000 forums in the hopes
that someone can help me out.
>
> I recently made a concerted effort to get back into b&w printing on a
desktop inkjet. I decided to go with the Jon Cone K6 inkset for my Epson
1280 printer.
>
> I am not using a continuous feed system. I went that route with b&w
printing a few years ago and my printing needs are infrequent enough
that it just doesn't make sense (maintenance or cost-wise). Instead I am
using spongeless cartridges from MIS.
>
> In prepping for this move I bought and installed a brand new print
head as the old print head had two nozzles that just would not unclog
after all sorts of cleaning. Nozzle checks with the new print head were
perfect using Epson OEM inks and with Cone flush ink.
>
> Loading up the new K6 inks also went perfectly. Beautiful prints. But
I was only able to get about 10 prints out before I had missing nozzle
checks. Several cleaning cycles did not fix the problem.
>
> I thought maybe the cartridges were defective in some way so I loaded
up a new blank set of cartridges. After installation, bingo, first time
delivered perfect nozzle checks. Printed about 5-10 more prints before
same nozzle clogging problems occurred.
>
> Cleaning would not solve the problem. I put back in the Cone flush
cartridges. Beautiful. Perfect nozzle checks. Put back in the K6 inks.
No joy. No amount of cleaning gives me a clean nozzle check.
>
> I'm close to giving up on this system but I know there are many out
there happily printing b&w. So any hints on what to do with my system
would be greatly appreciated.
>
> I know the 1280 is outdated and I have heard that nozzle clogging can
be an issue with this printer. I thought the pigment in the K6 inks were
supposed to be the finest particles yet from Cone.
>
> Do I...
>
> 1. Perservere with my 1280 and Cone inks? Anyone have some hints?
> 2. Give up on the K6 inks and move to MIS inks?
> 3. Give up on the 1280? The Epson 1400 uses the K6 inks too.
> 4. Switch both to the 1400 printer and to MIS inks.
> 5. Give up on these 3rd party b&w inks altogether? (I hope not)
>
> Regards, and thanks in advance.
> Mike
>




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