Epson Stylus Pro 7900 & 9900 Audio FAQ

I prefer to turn a machine off. On the 7900s and that series of machines – the 99s and that model series – some people will leave them on continually. The machines do go into an energy saver mode where they pretty much, almost shut off, there’s still gonna be some heat generated.

And the reason I like to turn the machine off is because if you leave it on it’s always generating heat through the power supply on the main board and if the machine is inactive, it’s sitting there, the ink is drying because of the additional heat that is now inside the machine. I prefer to turn them off, but some people will run into a situation on a “99” or a “79” series where [01:40] if they turn it on and off continually, every time they’re going to use it, then the machine is going to run a head cleaning cycle and when it runs that head cleaning cycle, if the nozzles are in any way, shape, or form clogged, the machine will fail the nozzle check.

Eventually, you’ll run so many cleanings and you’ll waste so much ink and you will actually fill up the AID board with cleaning failures and your machine will go into an “1800 error,” and you need a service man to take care of that issue.

If you leave the machine on, it’s not going to do that because the machine is not starting fresh and it’s not going to run a cleaning cycle. Of course, in the set up of the machine you have the ability to turn those features on and off, but still, even with them both off it will run a cleaning cycle.

Keep it in an environment that is conducive to the operation of the machine.

You don’t want it too cold–nothing below 60 degrees. A humid environment is not good, because paper will absorb water, which will end up giving you an image that is not as sharp, because the image is basically diluted because the ink is a pigment based, water-based ink. When you’re putting that ink that is already saturated is not a good thing. So you want to keep the environment 65% humidity is pushing it. I would like it somewhere around there you don’t want water dripping off the machine or yourself.

So keep it relatively dry temperature wise no hotter then 80 degrees for the machine or for you. There is no point in doing that. Keep it in an environment where it is relatively dust free, because the dust is a bad environment, more so on the older machines then these machines.

These machines will attract dust, since it’s an electronically charged piece of a equipment there is always some kind of charge going on here will attract to the print head and various areas by the print head, dust and dirt and hair. Everything that is in the air. And there is a lot of that in the air if you take a real bring light you know what I’m talking about, or sunlight comes in, there is stuff floating around all the time.

The best way to keep these machines functioning correctly and printing all the colors is to use them.

If the machine is in a studio where they only use it 1 week out of 4, the issue is you’re going to not so much clog the heads, but when it is time to use it again you’re gonna end up running a number of cleaning cycles–again expensive ink and time–to get all the nozzles back printing. I recommend if you’re not gonna use the machine at least once a week, to run a minor cleaning. That way you don’t have to print a document, just turn the machine on, go into setup and run a cleaning cycle. That way the ink will stay wet.

No, not recommended, not on these models. The print head on the 79, 99, that whole series, is very very fragile. If you’ve ever seen the bottom of one, it is gold and it is a very very thin gold foil that is on the bottom of it. The reason for it was to do away with, or, you know, really limit head clogs, and it does. Whatever they use there does help. But you don’t want to touch it, you don’t want to scrape on it. If you ever get a real bad paper jam it can actually damage the print head.

A lot people will come in and in the morning and they’ll run an auto nozzle check, which is a big time waster and a real ink waster. When you run an auto nozzle check the machine is going to–through the AID board, which is automatic ink detection (a big part of the newer machines) make sure that every nozzle is firing.

If one of those nozzle is not firing, it fails the nozzle check and continues to run another cleaning. It will run up to 5 cleanings before it actually fails and tells you in the display that you have a clogged nozzle. So to get around that I tell people to turn that off, if it’s one of the options available to the end user. Turn it off, you come back after a nice weekend, run a nozzle check.

If the nozzle check looks good you’re ready to go to work. Any kind of cleaning cycles what so ever. If the nozzle check is bad, clean the color where you have an issue. If there are breaks here and there in all the colors then you run a normal cleaning cycle. Then another nozzle check but do not run it in auto mode.

On these machines, the logic boards, the electronics – are almost bullet proof. The issues that we have with these machines, like any other piece of machine, is mechanical. And that would be the pump unit where you are having plumbing, hoses, pump, motors running, we have issues with that from time to time. Which I would consider normal maintenance but again based on usage. The print head can be a factor. They seem to be lasting approximately three years and when they fail it’s not a question of the head being clogged. It’s a failure internally in the head.

What that usually means is, people sometimes, with that machine, will spray Windex into the pump area. And there’s a grid that moves up and down, it looks like a flushing box – basically it is a flushing box. What it does, is it comes down when the machine is running a cleaning cycle, and it counts the number of droplets that are being sprayed from the print head.

This is how it determines if a print head is clogged. You know, whatever color is not spraying correctly, it actually, through the grid and the electronics associated with it, and the AID board (AID standing for “Automatic Ink Detect”), it can actually determine whether or not all nozzles are firing on a print head.
People will spray cleaner into that grid and it overwhelms the grid, forcing you to go into that error. And I’m not saying that’s what he did, but that’s where I would go with that one.

The answer is – replace the pump unit.

When a machine has been sitting idle, regardless of how you stored it, there’s a very, very good chance that the print head is no longer going to be functional.

You know, a week, a month, three months, that’s pushing it – three years? I’d be very, very surprised if you ran…you know, try running three or four power cleanings and see what happens. But it’d be my thought that you’ll end up putting a print head in that machine.

If you end up putting a print head in it, it’s gonna be as good as new when the tech is done with it, but that’s probably what you’re looking at.

Absolutely not, and no one knows why it happens. Nobody I’ve ever spoke to has an answer for it.

You know, there are adjustments that can be made to the machine and the user can make them on a 9900. It’s a few adjustment and you can vary the feed, but it’s really a pain in the ass, it does effect print quality. There’s really no answer.

Epson would point their finger at the software driving it, and the software manufacturers say, “No, it’s not us,” but this is a common issue that’s been with all the machines that they’ve made. And that would be the whole series.

What I tell people to do is resize it to the point where you’re gonna compensate for that. You know, if you’re stretching canvas and things like that that’s what you should do. Or just go the overage and cut back what you don’t need.

Ron: Absolutely. Yeah, sure. You know some RIPs will allow you to pick the channels you want to use or not use, depending on the inks you’re using .If you can eliminate that, fine, it’s not going to have an effect on the output.

You know, when people ask questions like this they seem rather simplistic in that – don’t they know by looking at what they’re printing whether they’re getting banding or they’re missing lines? And I guess what he’s asking is, is the mixing of the colors, is it going to make a difference? I don’t know.

Justin: Right, okay. From a hardware side, if you see a problem, then you need to fix it. If not, you’re good to keep printing.

Ron: Yeah, yeah. If he’s lost his green and he’s unhappy with the output without the green, its time to change the print head.

Justin: I mean I think green and orange both are used to sparingly that he probably wouldn’t run into an issue. Just my thoughts on it initially. And if there’s a problem with color, maybe just re-profile it without that green channel in the profile might make up for it or something.

Ron: Oh, yes you can do that, sure, without a doubt.

Then you’re forced leave the machine on all the time and your PC on all the time. Some people will do that, if you can get somebody in there to do that for you I like that better. I don’t like leaving any equipment on unattended.

So what happens is when you put that ink cartridge into the slot it works .You take out on it’s way out it pulls the prongs, little copper prongs that read the chip, and now you have a situation where that color will no longer work. And then you have to call a technician and he goes and replaces the chip.