Problem with Epson 7890 - stubborn nozzle maybe?

[Fidget242]

Just wondering if anyone can help here, we have an Epson 7890 which has just gone out of warranty 2 months ago - as luck would have it it seems to have developed a problem.. The light magenta nozzle test has one line missing (or strip, whatever you want to call it). I've ran about 8 cleans just for that colour pair, a few general cleans, 2 power cleans on just that colour pair and a few general power cleans - all over the course of the past 4 days. The one line or strip - is still missing! I've even tried the old soak a paper towel in ammonia \ cleaning solution and leave under the print head for 12 hours, but that didn't work either.

I just don't know what to try next? Hoping someone can help - any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated.

[pisquee]

Please just use printer cleaning/flush fluid and not harsh chemicals like ammonia or isoproyl - preferably use the cleaning fluid from the manufacturer of the ink you're trying to clean.
We find minor issues like single lines missing from test patterns don't affect the print and tend to clear themselves up after printing.
Low pressure can also cause this issue - not enough pressure to hold enough ink in the damper/head.

[GoonerGary]

Have you tried just printing to help clear the blocked nozzle? Printing a magenta purge sheet could help.

[Fidget242]

I've been printing with it since it started yes but it's still exactly the same, it's not a massive problem but anything that's pink has streaks in it. I didn't want to use the ammonia cleaning solution but it's been streaky for so long and we had a customer chasing us for their order which was predominately pink..

I've had problems like this in the past with many other printers and they have just worked there way out, but it's never lasted this long before and it was such a shock with this particular printer, it's never caused a problem before. I'll try printing a big block of magenta and see if that helps - thanks for the suggestion.

What could cause low pressure pisquee? and is there a way to fix it?

Thanks again both for your advice, much appreciated

[pisquee]

low pressure could be a fault damper, or the pipe into the damper isn't tight,or at the other end somethings not quite tight in terms of the pipe into the cart (or the cart itself)
If it is consistent, and only always the same nozzle missing, then it does sound like a blockage though.
Are there more more powerful cleaning programs in the service menus? (there 3 levels of stronger cleaning the service menus for our 7600/9600 machines)

[Fidget242]

Well I've printed a few A2 sheets of magenta out and it's still exactly the same, a few more cleans too which made no difference. What are the service menus? The only cleaning options I have is standard clean, power clean, and clean colour pairs (which is also standard or powerful). Starting to get a little concerned now though, thought it would have gone way before now as it's coming up to a fortnight since it started... thankfully somebody local has been doing the prints for us this week at a cost, but would rather not have to keep forking out for this!

Would something as drastic as this video be worth trying? Really don't want to attempt it unless I have to, although having said that if it will definitely fix the problem I will try it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLytOfTFvac

[pisquee]

Copied from another forum:

To enter the Service Menu of the 7890/9890 and 7900/9900 printers, you must first turn the printer on normally and make sure it accepts all the refillable cartridges, then turn the printer off. With the printer off, press and hold the Right and Down arrows, along with the Center (hold all 3 buttons at the same time), then push the power button while continuing to hold the 3 buttons until the printer is started up. The LCD screen will look the same as normal startup (should display "Ready"), but when the Menu button is pushed, different options will be available- including more advanced cleaning cycles. This information is all available in the Epson Service Manual, which you can get fromwww.2manuals.com if you don't already have a copy.

[Fidget242]

Copied from another forum:

To enter the Service Menu of the 7890/9890 and 7900/9900 printers, you must first turn the printer on normally and make sure it accepts all the refillable cartridges, then turn the printer off. With the printer off, press and hold the Right and Down arrows, along with the Center (hold all 3 buttons at the same time), then push the power button while continuing to hold the 3 buttons until the printer is started up. The LCD screen will look the same as normal startup (should display "Ready"), but when the Menu button is pushed, different options will be available- including more advanced cleaning cycles. This information is all available in the Epson Service Manual, which you can get fromwww.2manuals.com if you don't already have a copy.

Thanks again for that - I've run all 4 levels of cleaning in service mode for the light magenta \ light cyan pair, and done a service mode clean (blimey did that make some strange noises!) and it's still exactly the same line missing from the nozzle test pattern. I've only got 11% of ink left now though!

The thought in my head now - is it worth buying another cartridge or is it going to cost hundreds to get this repaired?

[NikGrey]

Sounds to me like the only thing left to try is replacing the Damper, by doing that you can also ensure everything else is tight.

I just replaced all of the dampers in my 4000 and for me that was a simple process, haven't been able to test it as yet though as I still don't have any ink for that machine

[Fidget242]

Thanks Nik, I'm thinking the same. I don't suppose you know where I can order them from within the UK? I can only find USA suppliers... I took the head out and cleaned it as per the video I posted earlier but it's made no difference unfortunately, still got the exact same line missing!!

Thinking of ordering an Epson 1500 to use in the meantime as it's going to take a couple of weeks for the dampers to arrive, the guy that's been doing our prints is going away on holiday at the weekend and I can't just close down for that long :frown: