Help with Epson Stylus photo 1500W issue, clogged nozzles? It came suddenly out of nowhere.

[martin0reg]

If there are more missing nozzles instead of less on the nozzle check print, and if they are not the same, then it's often not a clog but bad inkflow or more precisely air instead of ink, from bad sealing anywhere in the system, or from a bad cartridge. But if you are still on OEM carts this would be a surprise because these are very reliable and epson claria is one of the most stable dye inks you can use (tested and prooved by wilhelm and aardenburg). Anyway shit happens, and cleaning cycles with OEM ink are not cheap.
Regarding longevity some very general findings: pigment ink is more stable than dye, and 3rd party pigment ink is way more stable than 3rd party dye. Because 3rd party dye ink use to fall behind OEM dye more than 3rd party pigment. But there is at least one dye ink which comes very close to epson's dye: the fuji DL ink in large cartridges for DryLabs, extensively tested in the quoted extensive thread.
And you beautiful illustrations are showing, what I know from my own experience: printing on uncoated paper (wthout inkjet coating), can be really nice. And pigment is not better than dye on such paper, in fact the paper choice is easier with dye ink. You have to experiment with different watercolor art papers, jtoolman once used an uncoated sort from canson, i found a watercolor paper from "boesner" (guardi artistico 250g, very stiff, too stiff for some standard paper feeds..)
With uncoated (art-) paper you will not have the full resolution and the contrast can be weak, deep blacks are missing.. but depending on the subject it can result in a real fake (painted) aquarell.
On the other hand there are many coated fine art inkjet papers which have also very nice textured surfaces. Some seems to be a bit pricey, to say at the least..

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

did you try to wash the nozzles already with the pull/push method ?

 

[olynx]

It seems that this happens every time after head cleaning (by the printer itself). Yesterday I did nozzle checks and they were coming out missing in the same places every time. Today's nozzle check is worse, more gaps but yesterday's gaps are still there, in the same place.
I have tried various uncoated watercolor papers by now and I think as you say, @martin0reg , the watercolor paintings come out really nice indeed. I prefer the coated (in this case it's Marrutt's 300g smooth fine art paper) for my paintings, they come out perfect, as I want them to be and it has a bit of a watercolor paper texture to it, very similar to the watercolor paper that I love. I will be using this paper for my further prints (when this clogged issue will finally be over...). But I will definitely not stop there, I'm planning on getting more different papers to try out!

@Ink stained Fingers I haven't tried that yet but I'm trying again The Hat's method of printing a lot. I'm really confused now because it was doing fine until the printer did it's own automatic head cleaning..

 

[olynx]

I repeated wiper blade cleaning and did a pump cap cleaning too as shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmXNTOHxVaU
After this I did another nozzle check, it came out almost perfect. I'm really suspecting there's something wrong with the spongy pad and the pump cap when it's doing it's head cleaning.. The sponge get's foamy during it's automatic head cleaning, as I've already shown in the pictures before : in the same corner.

Any ideas?

 

[apetitphoto]

I'm going to go out on a limb here, because I really don't know. But, in your first photos there is one that shows what I assume are the drain lines from the cleaning station and they, to me, look extremely clean. That is, it does not look like the ink is leaving the cleaning station as it should. That, coupled with your comments about a foamy pad make me wonder more about whether proper draining is happening.

Just random thoughts...

 

[martin0reg]

This looks very strange, to my eyes probably not solid ?!
When does this appear - only when you pull the plug? Or after pressing the ink button, let the carriage move, (for changing carts or just for taking a look at a cart) and then pressing again to normal state cartridge?

Could it be a bubble of ink foam? But from where - maybe not out of the head but out of the purging pad itself? Sort of wrong pressure? I'm only guessing.
But I can tell from other epson models with similar purging units, that they only make an auto cleaning cycle if I really pull out a cartridge and put, a new one or the same, in the slot.

When the printer does a cleaning cycle you can examine what happens on the "porous pad" (it's no sponge). Take a flashlight and when the carriage moves a little to the left, you can see the surface of the pad is sucked dry from underneath. At least that's what I see.. There should be no such big ink bubbles and if, they should be sucked into the pad in seconds, just like the wasted ink.

to add: this bubble or whatever, doesn't it disappear when the carriage moves from the pad and back on it? Just by the contact..?... So you should check also that the pad is in the correct "spring load" position, and not jammed in a fixed position.

PS:

I'm going to go out on a limb here, because I really don't know. But, in your first photos there is one that shows what I assume are the drain lines from the cleaning station and they, to me, look extremely clean. ...

Yes, those clean tubes are suspicious.. to identify for sure, where these parts coming from or leading to, a service manual would be helpful. But I agree they probably should not look as clean as those.

 

[olynx]

I was wondering too if the relatively clear tubes are normal or not.. there's some droplets of ink inside them, maybe not really visible on the picture.
It's not solid indeed, it's foamy ink that comes from the purging pad itself when the purging pad is trying to evacuate the ink after I've pressed the 'change cartridge' button or after a head cleaning (which I don't do often) but there was an auto head cleaning that happened after I've printed some test pages..

I have watched it several times before, as you described, with a flash light (I'm a curious person). It looks like the ink is being sucked in everywhere on the pad without problem except that bottom left corner that looks like it's pushing the ink out and making it foam.. I can make a video next time, to make it more clear of what's happening. The print head is smearing that excess ink all over the page (as you can see in my previous posts, on the pictures of the nozzle checks, there are some black smears) and inside the printer as well, I try to clean it up as much as I can every time.

The purging pad is not jammed, it's "springy", as it should be I suppose?

I'm still pretty much in the dark with what's going on...

 

[martin0reg]

This issue is getting mysterious.. the main area of the pad sucks in - but the lower part is spitting out... or at least making bubbles.. seems to be a rare beast.
My guess: if there would be two "sucking tubes" underneath then the lower one is failing somehow.
Or the pad itself has some kind of "inner tubing" with several draining holes, which leads to (one or more doesn't matter) the sucking tube(s). And there maybe clogged draining ways/routes which results in wrong pressure so that some of the ink find its wrong way out. (compare "cross contamination" in the head).
I found some detailed photos of the trouble part (scrol down), but anyway I can only guess what is going on.
http://www.sdott-parts.com/epson-1390-1400-ink-pump-system-1555374-1454345.html

 

[mikling]

does not look like you are getting anywhere. And also not considering what was already suggested.
Reread #9 and the aspect of a restricted exit.

If you are not getting results, Here is what is likely happening. The peristaltic purge pump can generate high pressures. It pulls the ink out with air .....good. Now what happens of there is a blockage of some type towards the end of the exit tube or somewhere along the exit tube. Pressure builds up and as soon as the pump finishes its job, the trapped pressure comes back in reverse and slowly leaks past the resistaltic pump. You get the foaming. See.
?
How can this blockage occur? It could be a combination of factors but the one thing likely in this is that you are dealing with pigment ink.It could have gelled up, reacting with the dye or dried up . No one will know why at this point except that is the source of the problem.It would not have happened with dye ink.

To fix, you cannot use the printer pump as you see anytime you operate the clean it goes no where.To fix, you will need to disassemble the printer and then follow the purge tube and find the location of the blockage. You will not be able to push through with a syringe to suck the blockage clear, well, unlikely because the printer is new and the pump will seal well. You best find a piece of wire that will act as a roto rooter and clear the blockage.

Instruction to install a external waste ink tank will also be necessary to get to the waste TUBE not tubes on the 6 tank model. Good luck.

 

[martin0reg]

For dismantling you will need a good instruction from a service manual or other sources.
But before this I would try to soak the pad, or rather flood it with hot cleaning solution. Let it sit and sink into the waste ink for at least some hours, repeat with new heated cleaning fluid 2-3 times a day, then run a cleaning cycle.. Be patient, it probably took more than days to clog. And the good thing is, epson printheads can stand more and heavier treatment than canon, IMO