Marcin3800
Printing Apprentice
- Joined
- May 28, 2016
- Messages
- 5
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 13
- Printer Model
- Epson Stylus Pro 3800
Hello everyone,
Last week my beloved SP 3800 started acting weird - pictures didn't look as "awesome" as always. After quick investigation I have discovered, that not all blacks are printing. I did a nozzle check, and the first block of black was missing completely. I Did power cleaning, didn't help. I have cleaned the printhead with isopropyl alcohol and lint-free wipes (was a little dirty but no excessive dirt). As most of my prints (like 95% of them) are done on glossy media, the Matte Black is in very rare use: the cartridge that came with printer in 2009 or so was still in use. I thought that, because of this very old ink, something got clogged. I have purchased new Matte Black, replaced it and did more investigation that came with the following facts and conclusions:
1) Matte Black is printing perfectly, no clogged nozzle
2) Photo Black still missing the whole block on the nozzle check print
3) Since the printer has 9 inks and only 8 color nozzles, Matte and Photo Black are using the same nozzle (obvious, but came to me only later - I was really scared that my printhead is clogged), therefore it cannot be the clogged nozzle that's causing the problem
4) Photo Black ink was in use on fairly regular basis (at least once a month recently). Before that the printer was left unused for longer periods of time (sometimes), but never had any serious issues with print quality and/or missing colors.
Looking at the above I came to the conclusion that the printhead is not the problem, but the supply of Photo Black ink.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, and please suggest the solution. I have read posts on different forums, but most of them related to blocked nozzles, which is not the issue here.
One more thing: I have always used original Epson inks and standard paper (Epson/HP)
Any help would be much appreciated
Thank you,
Marcin
Last week my beloved SP 3800 started acting weird - pictures didn't look as "awesome" as always. After quick investigation I have discovered, that not all blacks are printing. I did a nozzle check, and the first block of black was missing completely. I Did power cleaning, didn't help. I have cleaned the printhead with isopropyl alcohol and lint-free wipes (was a little dirty but no excessive dirt). As most of my prints (like 95% of them) are done on glossy media, the Matte Black is in very rare use: the cartridge that came with printer in 2009 or so was still in use. I thought that, because of this very old ink, something got clogged. I have purchased new Matte Black, replaced it and did more investigation that came with the following facts and conclusions:
1) Matte Black is printing perfectly, no clogged nozzle
2) Photo Black still missing the whole block on the nozzle check print
3) Since the printer has 9 inks and only 8 color nozzles, Matte and Photo Black are using the same nozzle (obvious, but came to me only later - I was really scared that my printhead is clogged), therefore it cannot be the clogged nozzle that's causing the problem
4) Photo Black ink was in use on fairly regular basis (at least once a month recently). Before that the printer was left unused for longer periods of time (sometimes), but never had any serious issues with print quality and/or missing colors.
Looking at the above I came to the conclusion that the printhead is not the problem, but the supply of Photo Black ink.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, and please suggest the solution. I have read posts on different forums, but most of them related to blocked nozzles, which is not the issue here.
One more thing: I have always used original Epson inks and standard paper (Epson/HP)
Any help would be much appreciated
Thank you,
Marcin