Epson 7900 - New print head?

[Beun2016]

Hi,

I have a problem with small horizontal lines in the print direction. They seem to disappear after a thorough cleaning. On my nozzle print checks I have a big gap in the yellow color. And furthermore at the area of the gap there is a slight offset of ink to the right. I have attached a picture of a closeup of the nozzle check of the yellow color photographed through a blue lens. Should I clean the head manually, or is the head

damaged beyond repair - or something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

there are apparently lots of reports about clogged 7900 printheads like here

http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/showthread.php?404-Epson-7900-printer-problem

http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/cont...safe-long-term-storage-or-when-switching-inks

Flushing the printhead may be worth an attempt before going for the more expensive route.

 

[Beun2016]

Thank you for your reply. I have had a "technician" clean the machine, and change the wipe station. However he could not tell why the yellow is offset like that, so before I purchase the Piezo flush, which actually sounds like a good solution, I hoped to hear from an expert, if they knew from the picture the head is destroyed - or if this error might ,as you suggest, can be fixed by cleaning... Maybe its impossible to tell from the picture alone...

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm running an old 7600, not an 7900, but I see that the internet is full of reports about clogged 7900 printheads if you just search for it. Missing nozzles are one effect, deflected nozzles another. I assume that the 7900 firmware counts the printhead usage, and there should be a way to read out that status information letting you know how far you are away from a recommended head change, either via the printer menu in a service mode or with a maintenance adjustment program. But apparently the printhead is causing problems much before that point. Based on my own experience with the 7600 and other Epson printers those deflected nozzles appear infrequently but could be cleaned away in most cases, or disappeared without further action after some time. Some refill inks appear to cause that problem more frequently. I guess there is some contamination at the nozzles edges causing a slight deflection of the ink stream when ejected from the nozzles . And this appears to be soluble with a cleaner or by the ink itself - some inks. So cleaning may eliminate or reduce that effect, and it is non-destructive and not too expensive either. But this will most likely not solve the overall weakness of the 7900 printheads but just extend the useful life somewhat.

 

[Beun2016]

Thank you again. That was a real eye opener, and yes, my printer is definitely suffering from the correct term you pointed out: deflected nozzles. I have googled it extensively and it appears im not alone. There are quite a few threads out there showing exactly the same nozzle pattern as me. But unfortunately the only thread which ends with a complete fix was buying a new head.