first nozzle check of the day shows clog in K position, but always clears up

[Paul W.]

First... I'm using a 1400, and the inkset is called Eb6. It consists of 100% Eboni black (a pigment ink) in the black position, the other five positions use varying dilutions of Eboni. Printing with QTR.

I hesitate to call this a problem, it always clears up in one cleaning. Very rarely, it takes a second clearing. I finally decided to give the printer a deep cleaning, including the shoe-shine under head technique, wiper blade, parking pad, nipple cleaning, etc. This cured the first startup clog, but only for a couple of weeks.

Not really serious (I hope), but getting to be a bit of a concern and a nuisance as well. Being that the black cart uses 100% Eboni, a pigment ink, might be the cause. The other five carts are always clog-free upon startup.

One thing I should add... my Eboni (version 1.0) is several months past expiration date, But then I had this problem before expiration.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Paul W.

 

[mikling]

First... I'm using a 1400, and the inkset is called Eb6. It consists of 100% Eboni black (a pigment ink) in the black position, the other five positions use varying dilutions of Eboni. Printing with QTR.

I hesitate to call this a problem, it always clears up in one cleaning. Very rarely, it takes a second clearing. I finally decided to give the printer a deep cleaning, including the shoe-shine under head technique, wiper blade, parking pad, nipple cleaning, etc. This cured the first startup clog, but only for a couple of weeks.

Not really serious (I hope), but getting to be a bit of a concern and a nuisance as well. Being that the black cart uses 100% Eboni, a pigment ink, might be the cause. The other five carts are always clog-free upon startup.

One thing I should add... my Eboni (version 1.0) is several months past expiration date, But then I had this problem before expiration.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Paul W.

Eboni is actually the old Image Specialists matte black pigment otherwise known as WJ1082. It is a pure carbon matte black with very high density. The other dilutions are principally just using diluants from the ink. It is likely that the diluants are a little more volatile than the matte black ink itself as it is common for the other diluted 5 shades to break down the meniscus due to drying faster but not normally within a day or so. Be careful of the diluant used in such a case. If the diluant is OK then the next.
If such is the case, your parking station seal might be dirty or no longer sealing perfectly and you need to watch out when the printer is left unused for long periods.

Newer printers will give better results in B&W than using the 1400 print engine which is really really old now. Over ten years maybe.

 

[Paul W.]

Thanks for the background, all useful to know - and quick reply! Actually, it's my understanding that Image Specialists gets its ink from another company, and lately that supplier has changed the formulation of Eboni... that's why I called my Eboni 1.0, some folks call the current one 1.1. It's a tad warmer and has a slightly better Dmax. The dilutant is part distilled water, part glycerine, PhotoFlo and Edwal LFN.

If the diluant is OK then the next.

Just wondering... is there something missing here? (I'm new here, pardon my clumsiness with the quote if it doesn't turn out right.)

Thanks for mentioning the parking station seal... I'll give that a wipe also.

You're doubtless correct on the age of my setup. I admit to being a tight-fisted geezer! One of the (few) things I miss about the darkroom is how most of the equipment doesn't get out of date over the years. My Beseler 23CII I bought in the 70's - and the original dates from the 50's. Hardly any changes... the only thing that could go wrong is a burnt-out bulb! What about the 1430? Is its print engine more up to date? I have one of those, use it for color.

What would you suggest for a more up-to-date b/w printer? I'll have to face that sometime.

This is a great forum, everyone is so helpful and knowledgable.

Paul W.

 

[mikling]

The 1430 uses the same print engine as the SP1400 which was really a wider Epson R260 which preceded the SP1400 by about 1 year if I recall.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

long time ago I was running a R265 with a refill matte black, and that was showing similar effects, it could be that the matte black ink has a higher particle density or that the matte pigments are less coated, encapsulated whatever than those in the photo black and settle faster in the cartridge than all the other inks, and I gave up matte ink since then. Other pigment inks incl. photo black appear to be much less prone to that effect to me and I barely need any cleaning cycles up to a week idling or so.

 

[pharmacist]

Same problem here with my Epson 1500W with OCP matte black. Due to the very particle size of matte black ink, the nozzles seem to "clog" a bit.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm not doing dedicated B/W prints demanding the most contrast in the darks, I'm happy enough with the new photo black compatibles to the new P600 Ultrachrome HD ink set, that gives a darker black than the previous K3 black.

 

[websnail]

Given the source seems to be the 1082, would it be worth looking at the Inktec K3 alternative and seeing if that would dilute in the same way given that they use the encapsulated pigment?

Only concern I have is whether or not the solvent/solution used as a diluting agent would be compatible. Inktec don't have a base available separately so it'd be a real suck it and see...

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I tested the inktec K3 photo black compatible ink last year, I didn't like it, the black gets a pretty strong metallic aluminum like sheen against reflecting light, and the black level is just average as well. The photo black of the Lyson P600/HD compatible ink set does a visibly better black , darker and no tilting light effects. But as discussed already elsewhere just diluting these inks into gray won't give you netural grays, you would have to tune the grays with a tad of this or that colored ink.

 

[Paul W.]

Hoo boy... thanks for the suggestion of a different ink but I'm pretty wedded to Eboni. I've created QTR curves just for this ink and I really don't want to change blacks at this point. BUT thank you nevertheless - I do appreciate all thoughts!

Regards,

Paul