Epson 9800 minor issues

[Farabomb]

I had the Epson bite me twice last week. Once was a proof where the LM and LC heads were not firing at all. I didn't check the proof because I was in a rush but when the customer saw it it was an issue. I also had some minor banding right after a head clean that I didn't think was bad but the ultra picky custy did. I'm wondering if the head is going away. What mileage should I be expecting out of a new head? January of next year will be it's second birthday. We don't run a huge amount of proofs and always use Epson inks. If it is the head is it user serviceable or is it safer to call in the Epson tech?

[DigiCorn]

Epson syas a head is good for 10,000 impressions. They usually have a mileage counter you can check in the menu, but this can also be reset which is nice for avoiding some error messages that may pop up as it gets to certain numbers. We had a horrible experience with Epson's devoted team, Decision 1. We are going to court because they fucked up the print head so badly the machine became inoperable.

There are lots of new deals on Epson large formats right now. I know the 9880 can be had for around $4000, and sometimes less if you make a deal with the seller in regards to supplies.

Run a Power Cleaning and then a nozzle check to see where your head really is.

[Farabomb]

We got this one a little over 2 years ago at auction for 2k with a proactive box and Bestcolor. There will not be another in the immediate future unless this one dies.

[andyfest]

We have an Epson 10600 mated to a Bestcolor Screenproof RIP. It's about 6 1/2 years old. The last check we did about 3 mos ago had the paper count at over 1,000,000 cm. Although the last tech said the head had about 6 mos life left, the plotter still seems to be working within acceptable cal ranges. I bought an identical little-used model for $2K this past summer to replace our present unit when it does eventually die. There is a way of doing a "power-clean" of the heads if you download the manual for your model. You could also try doing a series of 8 to 10 normal cleans. I would do a nozzle check printout as well. If you haven't used it much it could just be old ink plugging the system up.

[beck]

Epson says a head is good for 10,000 impressions. They usually have a mileage counter you can check in the menu, but this can also be reset which is nice for avoiding some error messages that may pop up as it gets to certain numbers. We had a horrible experience with Epson's devoted team, Decision 1. We are going to court because they fucked up the print head so badly the machine became inoperable.

There are lots of new deals on Epson large formats right now. I know the 9880 can be had for around $4000, and sometimes less if you make a deal with the seller in regards to supplies.

Run a Power Cleaning and then a nozzle check to see where your head really is.

We've had our 9800 for a little over 5 years, and it's still going strong.  Can't do a "milage" check - we've reset it a few times to solve error codes.

We have it serviced every year (wiper pad, minor stuff like that) as preventative maintenance (about a $300.00 service call) and it just keeps on going.

I agree... do a power cleaning, then a head check.  We've never had colors just stop printing.

beck

[DigiCorn]

We have an Epson 10600 mated to a Bestcolor Screenproof RIP. It's about 6 1/2 years old. The last check we did about 3 mos ago had the paper count at over 1,000,000 cm. Although the last tech said the head had about 6 mos life left, the plotter still seems to be working within acceptable cal ranges. I bought an identical little-used model for $2K this past summer to replace our present unit when it does eventually die. There is a way of doing a "power-clean" of the heads if you download the manual for your model. You could also try doing a series of 8 to 10 normal cleans. I would do a nozzle check printout as well. If you haven't used it much it could just be old ink plugging the system up.

That's what ours was... a 10600. It was nice, while it lasted. We were feeding it from BestColor also, until we upgraded to EFIColor

[Farabomb]

I will do a power cleaning right now. I've done them in the past but even after that it would stop printing a channel for no reason.

[Tracy]

do it a few times?

[Lumpy]

Also an alignment?

[beck]

do it a few times?

Also an alignment?

Yes and yes.

We've had issues when we've power cleaned 3 or 4 times, with a print head test in between, til the crap finally got cleaned out and it printed good again.  You burn up a bit on ink, so if you see no improvement after 2 or 3 times, maybe it's time to call in a tech.  When we've done it numerous times, we saw a bit of improvement each time.

beck

[Joe]

do it a few times?

Also an alignment?

Yes and yes.

We've had issues when we've power cleaned 3 or 4 times, with a print head test in between, til the crap finally got cleaned out and it printed good again.  You burn up a bit on ink, so if you see no improvement after 2 or 3 times, maybe it's time to call in a tech.  When we've done it numerous times, we saw a bit of improvement each time.

beck

What a great deal for the ink suppliers at a price of $3000-$5000 per gallon.

[Captain_Type]

We have inks stop firing, sometimes in the middle of a proof.

We print an EFI Color Verifier Chart after every proof, and have a copy of it taped to the trimmer to visually check each proof run. That has cut down on the proofing troubles quite a bit (at least the ones that make it out the door).

I also have a K100, a K75, a K50 and a K25 with the CMY equivalent next to each printed onto each proof where the customer can see it to verify gray balance.

[Farabomb]

Two power cleans and one order in for ink and it's playing nicely again. Problem is it will now sit for a week and I'll end up doing it all again but at least the boss is happy.

I have the same issue Captain. Normally it's not that much on an issue but sucks when you don't notice and you run 5 sheetwise forms.