Epson 9800 clogged nozzles

[edwinb]

Just to add for future readers, after SS cleaning you should do something like 1 power + 2 std nozzle cleans to clean out loosened debris and surplus ink
Edwin

[magicrick1]

I have 9800 about 3 years old. Lately it is haveing a problem with fine white lines (clogged nozzle). What's unusual is that I clean the heads with a basic cleaning from the software (not the machine itself) and everything is fine for several print but then the lines show up again even in the middle of a run of several prints. My experience with Epson printers has usually been that the heads would clog when they sat too long(several days or weeks) I've never had the clog in the middle of runs. This has been going on for a few months now. Any ideas. Thanks Rick Anderson

[PrePress Guru]

Hi Rick,

This seems to be a common occurrence with older 9800's. One of my clients recommended the following after an Epson tech came and told them about it. IIRC this is 9800 specific and does not apply to the 9880.
Your mileage may vary on this tip. I have a 9880 so i cant try it myself.

Put the printer into the Change Cutter Blade mode.
Use a flashlight and look all the way to the right, were the print head rests.
Check and make sure that the wiper blades are free from bust and paper flecks. They make contact with the print head and must be cleaned often according to the tech.
Then run another cleaning cycle to be safe.

They said that this helped a lot and the problem subsided for a while.
But Epson has built in obsolescence to these printers as i have found out the hard way.
If the wiper blades are continually dirty, they will permanently damage the print head.

[Mickey Noony]

Sounds like what has just happened with our 9800 again just over 3 years old got a fine white line in some close detailed printing and did the usual clean. Printed a nozzle check and had loads missing, so did a power clean ended up with only about 30% printing and inks bleeding into each other magenta where cyan should be and so on. Funny the only colour through out this yellow had printed virtually perfect.
We have just had an engineer out who has done a strip down & clean of the carriage & wipe area but is now printing worse than before and have done 6 power cleans, 2 SS cleans and umpteen normals still to avail.

Do you think it's the heads? and if it is going to cost at least a grand to sort then it might be worth trading in and getting a new 9880 or 11880. which prices seem to be starting at about £3450.

Cheers

Mickey Noo

[mitchhughes]

It sounds like you may have bigger problems than hoped for. As a last resort, you may try one more option before replacing the heads. In the menu on the printer, tell it to change the cutter so that the print head will move out of the way of the cleaning pads. We have had great success spraying the cleaning pads with two broad sprays of standard Windex. Try to use a non-ammonia or low ammonia variation. After spraying the cleaning pads, run another cleaning cycle. In older printers, it was wise to let the printer stand for an hour after the cleaning to let gravity move ink through the lines. This is not necessary with the 9800 as the cartridges are pressurized. If it doesn't clear things, I'm afraid it may be some of the nozzles in your print head have gone bad.
Best of luck!

[elytahan]

It's been almost 16 months that I got my 9800 printer fixed by a repairman who replaced the print head and pump cap for a total of $938.00. Prior to that, I had spent close to a $1000 in inks and troubleshooting to no avail so after all, I was very happy with the repair job and the printer has been working great since. I recommend getting the head replaced as it saved me a lot of trouble and heartache.

[Mickey Noony]

Hi Mitch

Will have a go, just getting a price on a new machine which can be installed & up & running
in 2 days, as work is mounted up fast which should go along way towards paying for another.

When we bought this printer it did pay for it self in the first 5 months profits so was well worth it and at the last count went through 180 ink cartridges in 2 1/2 years and 37k sq mtrs of media.

We have been using a matt Xerox vinyl which is great for mounting but does have quite a chalky coating which could be our problem.

Cheers Mickey