Epson 9890: sudden colour cast problem

Papermouse

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Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read, I tried to keep it short:

Since last week my Epson 9890 gives me the wrong colours ( magenta/reddish cast) and all attempts to fix this or determine the cause have failed so far.

So I am hoping someone can recognize this and help me.

printer: Epson Stylus Pro 9890, bought 2nd hand about 2 years ago
PC1: Win7 self build, with printer installed
PC2: Win10 self build, printer was not installed here
colourtest: I make little 5.7x5.7 colour test before every print. Hence I am easily able to take a colour test from 1.5 week ago, which was fine at that point.
media used: this week: Bonjet atelier for photo paper, Epson for canvas
All printing is done from Photoshop CS6, genuine ink only

Facts and tests:
(I have numbered them so they can easily be referenced in answers)
1 The colour changed basically over night: on Wednesday 12th no problems, until Friday I only did black&white (b/w) and Friday 14th the colour cast was there.
2 B/w printing is done with Epson advanced b/w, colours determined by printer.
3 colour printing is done with colours determined by photoshop, with official Bonjet colour profile.
4 No hardware changes were made.
5 Same printer cable.
6 No software has been installed in that week.
7 ICC profile files have not changed.
8 Bonjet did not update its profiles this year.
9 Nozzle checks are good, there are no missing or defelecting nozzles.
10 Monitor calibration (Datacolour spyder5) has not been updated that week.
11 Installing the printer on PC2, printing the same colourtest with the same icc and settings, on the same media with the same cable gave an identical colour cast.
12 Normal cleaning & Power cleaning did not solve things.
13 Taking a colour image, turning it into b/w, printing it as colour with colour profile: a colour cast is present
14 printing preferences in the control panel/printers does not show anything weird
15 printing the same image from indesign gives the same colour cast.

Can anyone suggest anything that might solve this colour cast problem or point me in a direction where to look / test next?

Thanks!

Alex
 

stratman

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Welcome to the forum, Alex. May you find solutions to your issue.

genuine ink only
To clarify - do you refill? Is there a possibility of a cartridge in the wrong slot?

Please scan, crop and post your nozzle check.

Post an image representative of the issue as well, preferably an image that is either standardized so we know what to expect, or, post along with the bad print an example of how it should look.
 

Papermouse

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Hi Mr Stratman,

Thanks for the help.
No refilling, original Epson cartridges only. "cartridge in the wrong slot" Wow, didn't even know that was possible :). They are all in the right spot :)

With this I have uploaded this morning's nozzle check as well as a sample:
on the left is the b/w image printed in colour, on the right is the same image printed as advanced b/w.

Love to hear any suggestions, if you want to see anything else just let me know.

Greetings,
Alex
 

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stratman

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on the left is the b/w image printed in colour, on the right is the same image printed as advanced b/w.
Whatever help I give with an Epson is based only on my experience with Canon, so take it with a grain of salt.

Unless there is a settings change you are unaware of, or, an ink cartridge with the wrong ink, or, one or more cartridges are not functioning properly, then I would approach this as corruption of an application or ICC/printer driver file(s) or an electronic failure with the printer.

Are the color changes apparent on a standardized calibration image such as this?

BC-Ep29-COVER.jpg
 

Papermouse

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Hi Mr Stratman,
Thank you for your reply.
Just a quick thought before I leave for home and get back to this tomorrow:
if "cartridges not functioning properly" wouldn't that show up in the nozzle check?

I did a fun test: making a new paper profile on an old XP pc (My old Gretag I1 can only work on the XP) and print with that profile: way too dark, and magenta cast now turned too almost green :)
Enjoy your evening.
Alex
 

stratman

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wouldn't that show up in the nozzle check?
Yes. I do not know how your nozzle check should look. Others might, so that is why I asked you to post it.

I gave a list of potential causes, not saying these are your causes.
 

Papermouse

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Hi Mr Stratman,

Just in case: I was only wondering / asking, not commenting :). I think the best way to give each other new ideas is to say whatever comes to mind.

About your options:
settings change you are unaware of:
I may print different then most: I have blank psd's for each size / paper / colour or b/w. They remember also all the printer settings for me, so I don't have to change that or think about it.
After editing an image, I scale it to the proper size and place it in the psd I need.

This makes a settings problem highly unlikely. Just to be sure I made a test using an old blank psd from a while back. Same colour cast.

one or more cartridges are not functioning properly. I am still curious about this one. Never thought of it.

corruption of ICC file(s) that's why I checked the files; the properties say they have not changed or been accessed.

corruption of an application or printer driver file(s)

electronic failure with the printer
that's why I installed the printer on another pc. As it came with the same result and the advanced b/w are good I assumed the application, printer and printer drivers are ok, but that assumption may be wrong somewhere.

The nozzle check is supposed to look like this, accept the 2 "bumps" around the LLK (which I never saw before checking a scan of a nozzle check, but is also visible on a several months old nozzle check).

I now notice I have been too careful with uploading too many Mb's, the resolution is too low. As I cannot update them, here is a new upload:

I'll post some other test results later on.

Thanks again,

Alex
 

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stratman

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Using the same application with the same ICC with the same settings and getting the same results suggests you should simplify the process and try printing with a different application, letting the printer manage the color with a paper type the printer's own ICC was made for.

The idea is to first see if default parameters produce the same issue in order to help rule things in or out as the cause.

Print out the calibration image I posted and post it here.

The "bumps" noted in the nozzle check is reminiscent of images we've seen of warped nozzles caused by heat damage. See Post # 3 here. Not sure if a print head alignment or cleaning your timing strip (see same link as above) would help, but you might consider trying.
 

FinalProof

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Hi Alex, your nozzle check looks good aside from the 'bumps' which might be ink or paper dust build up on the head (try a head clean with distilled water on a dampened paper towel or if you have some head cleaning solution better still, check the video on inkjetmall for the method) getting back to the original problem, have you tried deleting the current driver and downloading the newest driver from the Epson support page, might be worth trying.

Another thought, a magenta colour cast can be because of double profiling, check that you are not selecting 'photoshop manages color' and also 'printer manages color' can only be one not both.

Brian.
 

Papermouse

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Hi All,
I can now upload a complete test run of this morning.
Just in case it could matter, I hit the "initialize settings" on the printer after videotaping all the setting. No note worthy changes it seems.

I tried to make reviewing as easy as possible by overlaying & cropping all scans as carefully as I can and renaming all files with the actions taken.
Just in case (I never do this this way) I also included screenshots of the settings on each test.

Faststone = faststone.org image viewer
On two test there is a bit of overlap because of a positioning mistake.
All test scans have the exact same tiny curve on them to try to take out the scanner's influence.
All prints have been taken within a 75 minute time frame without any other changes on hard- or software, after a "good" nozzle check.

I hope I've done everything clear.
Thanks for reviewing :)
Alex
 

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