Epson 9900 - Maintenance and Standard Practice

[zacgil]

So we have an Epson 9900, and I just want to know what y'all are doing for maintenance and standard practices for keeping it in good working order. 

The biggest problem I have is clogged nozzles.  Which never seem to go away.  I've tried the trick of wetting a paper towel with windex and sliding the Printheads over it.  The ammonia gasses are suppose to break down the ink clogs.  It seems to work but only for a day or two.  Is there a trick to getting them to stay clog-free?

Also, how low are you letting your inks go before replacing them?  Is it bad practice to let it get empty before you switch them out?  Vendors say not to, but that means buying ink more frequently.  So not necessarily a viable source.

Are there any or preventative maintenance that you guys are doing?

[DigiCorn]

We have a 7880 and here's what I can tell you:

• Leave it on all the time; turning it off and on charges the cartridges and wastes ink
• Run a nozzle check at least once a day; I do mine in the morning when I get here. It can help keep the nozzles from clogging and uses less ink than a regular cleaning cycle, or power cleaning cycle. You will have to do those things once in a while, but this will minimize it.
• I do a relinearization by measurement about every two months to maintain color.

[David]

same here, our 9900 is left on all day and we will run a nozzle check every morning.
sometimes we follow it up with a cleaning, maybe a power clean.
We also have the onboard spectro, so we have to keep it aligned as well.
When we change out any inks or paper, we will do the nozzle check, head clean and spectro align. SOP.

[Farabomb]

9800 here. Bought it off another closed company. Not a lot of hours on it but it sat too long so we had to replace the head. So far so good, think there was only one time it clogged so bad I had to do the windex trick. I run a nozzle check every time before I do the first proof of the day, that normally sorts it. It's gone weeks without being run and still once the nozzle check is finished it's good for a while.

I run the ink down to 3-4% of the tank. This leaves me with a ton of old tanks with a little ink in it but I'd rather that than it going dry midway through a proof.

It never gets shut off, it's on 24/7. 

Kodak KPS handles the color. Have to calibrate it once a week. 

[Ear]

I leave my 9900 on all the time. I have the SpectroProof attachment, EFI colorproof RIP.

I don't have too much trouble with clogged nozzles, but I use the normal clean printhead function at least once per week. Powerclean if it gets real bad.

Maintenance tanks... I let mine get almost full, then swap them. It seems to only use the one on the operator side, so I swap them and get double life, then order a pair and just replace both at the same time.

[Joe]

I haven't had any issues with inkjet printers since we got rid of all of them.

[Ear]

   If only...

[Farabomb]

Maintenance tanks... I let mine get almost full, then swap them. It seems to only use the one on the operator side, so I swap them and get double life, then order a pair and just replace both at the same time.

Forgot about that little trick. Yup, swap them and have 2 backups at all times. They will fill up at the worst possible friggin time.

[zacgil]

With the maintenance tanks I've heard of people removing the housing and just replacing the absorbant "stuff" and resetting the counter.  Is this worth the time or is it better to just get new ones?

[Ear]

Ya, I've heard of people messing with inks and other hacks but I stay away from that kind of thing, with such an expensive piece of equipment. Management has to accept the fact of consumables but swapping the maint tanks is harmless and saves money.

[Farabomb]

Management has to accept the fact of consumables but swapping the maint tanks is harmless and saves money.

This is a battle I've mostly won. Yes, you can do it, doesn't mean you should.

[Ear]

You have to learn to not get their hopes up. You cannot ever mention the possibility of a hack or they will expect it. You give them the worst scenario, then try your hack. If it works, you look like a hero. If not, you don't have egg on your face.

[Farabomb]

Hacking a proofer isn't where I'd be trying to save pennies. Have a color shift that happens on a proof and nobody catches it until it gets to the customer is a bad deal.

Again, just because it can be done doesn't mean it should be done. I'm watching my brother redo 60% of his new plow truck and saving pennies on things when they go wrong, it will mean the truck is down or you're doing repairs out in the snow. Not my idea of money well spent.

[Ear]

Agreed.

[DigitalCrapShoveler]

The thing practically takes care of itself. By default, the machine is set up to maintain itself. Just don't turn it off and make sure to let the machine go through its scheduled cycles. Are you using Epson inks? If you are getting a lot of clogged heads, it may be because you are using 3rd party inks or are skipping cleaning cycles. Take care of your machines and they will take care of you. Saving a penny is utterly a useless ploy.