waste ink reset interval

[johnwarfin]

I've only been active on this forum for a week or so and already received great help. Thanks for a wonderful website.

Anyway, I have just downloaded a waste reset utitlity thanks to Websnails great website and was wondering how often my CX7400 needs resetting. I realize all printers are different but I'm guessing it depends on how often you use the nozzle clean?

So if I rarely use the nozzle clean will the rest utility ever be needed? Can printing test pages, say magenta only, serve the same purpose and extend need for reset?

 

[websnail]

The printer itself will usually give you the "Service required" notification so it's not really something you need to worry about too much unless you're about to do a massive print run.

There's really no hard and fast figures on when the trigger point is reached but multiple cleaning cycles and cartridge changes will create far more waste than normal usage.

So if I rarely use the nozzle clean will the rest utility ever be needed? Can printing test pages, say magenta only, serve the same purpose and extend need for reset?

Your printer will still do maintenance head cleans when you turn the printer off/on as well as priming routines when cartridges are changed or chips reset themselves but the less cleaning you do the better.

In terms of printing test pages, the nozzle checks available via the printing preferences > maintenance tab are good way to go, they exercise all the nozzles without waste a lot of ink.. but the key really to reduced waste is actually to print regularly so your printer gets exercised and doesn't sit idle. Idleness as with thumbs is the devils work in inkjet nozzles..

 

[johnwarfin]

The printer itself will usually give you the "Service required" notification so it's not really something you need to worry about too much unless you're about to do a massive print run.

Do you know if, on an Epson, this is a preliminary warning or if it's already too late by the time you see it and printer stops?

In terms of printing test pages, the nozzle checks available via the printing preferences > maintenance tab are good way to go, they exercise all the nozzles without waste a lot of ink.. but the key really to reduced waste is actually to print regularly so your printer gets exercised and doesn't sit idle.

True that nozzle checks don't increment the waste counter but also seems nowhere near as effective at clearing heads as a cleaning cycle (which does bump the waste counter). Nozzle checks on Epson do very little actual printing.

Probably nozzle check is good at keeping heads from drying but not so much clearing clogs.

My theory is printing a page heavy in color would be as effective at clearing heads as a cleaning cycle but w/o bumping the waste counter.

 

[qwertydude]

I print in solid colors a lot to clear heads of contamination but never do it to a severely clogged or starved print head you could burn out the printhead. I've done that already.

 

[jackson]

I thought the ink (in the typical Canon) was water - why doesn't it evaporate when sucked into the waste pad?
If it evaporates, what wet stuff is left to accumulate in the pad necessitating a replacement..

 

[websnail]

I thought the ink (in the typical Canon) was water - why doesn't it evaporate when sucked into the waste pad?
If it evaporates, what wet stuff is left to accumulate in the pad necessitating a replacement..

Unfortunately it's a very simplistic view of the situation.

1. Evaporation requires heat and a means for the waster/base to evaporate off which depends entirely on your climate for the first part while the printer design doesn't really provide a simple path for such evaporation to escape.

2. The amount of ink the pads hold is quite substantial but they also trap that fluid in the pad, that's their job after all, so again this doesn't lend itself to evaporation.

I am fairly sure that a certain amount of evaporation is allowed for in Epsons algorithm for tracking waste ink build up in the pads but unfortunately you will eventually hit service required even if you don't use the printer very often because it will still prime and clean the heads whenever it's switched on.

 

[websnail]

The printer itself will usually give you the "Service required" notification so it's not really something you need to worry about too much unless you're about to do a massive print run.

Do you know if, on an Epson, this is a preliminary warning or if it's already too late by the time you see it and printer stops?

No, there's no preliminary warnings... it just shuts down and says "Service Required"... It's not a frequent occurence.. you're talking months... You can use the utility to keep an eye on the percentage though as there's a "check" function that queries the counter.

In terms of printing test pages, the nozzle checks available via the printing preferences > maintenance tab are good way to go, they exercise all the nozzles without waste a lot of ink.. but the key really to reduced waste is actually to print regularly so your printer gets exercised and doesn't sit idle.

True that nozzle checks don't increment the waste counter but also seems nowhere near as effective at clearing heads as a cleaning cycle (which does bump the waste counter). Nozzle checks on Epson do very little actual printing.

The key thing though is that if the nozzles are all firing you don't actually need to do any cleaning... Of course from an exercise point of view perhaps the test patterns from MIS (inksupply.com) are a good approach... They waste less ink for a multi-colour bar printout compared to the cleaning routine.

Probably nozzle check is good at keeping heads from drying but not so much clearing clogs.

Oh, yes, definitely... I wouldn't use a nozzle check as a cleaning alternative..

My theory is printing a page heavy in color would be as effective at clearing heads as a cleaning cycle but w/o bumping the waste counter.

The most effective approach is to not allow the printer to clog in the first place... You do that by using a good quality ink, think about the location of your printer in relation to environment (heaters, air con, etc...) and using it regularly...


Art Entlich on the YahooGroup: EPSON_Printers is a good person to query this further with though... What he hasn't learned about printhead cleaning, nozzles, etc... isn't worth knowing

Hope that lot helps though..

 

[johnwarfin]

Yes very helpful. Thanks.

I wasn't aware the waste reset utitlity can give counter status. In fact I've hesitated to use it in fear just running the program would do something bad but now I know better. Thanks again for helping me find it.

It's all well and good to talk about preventing clogs and drying but no matter what it's inevitable. Black is perfect on my brand new CX7400 but it has vertical pink stipes on the photos. Ink is used up at a ridiculous rate during cleaning and I didn't want to risk running out or filling the waste pads. At least not until the CIS arrives.

So it seems printing a color heavy page is similar to running a cleaning cycle but with more control and don't increment the waste counter.

 

[johnwarfin]

I thought the ink (in the typical Canon) was water - why doesn't it evaporate when sucked into the waste pad?
If it evaporates, what wet stuff is left to accumulate in the pad necessitating a replacement..

I can verify that Epson ink is not just water. My leaky bottles are covered in liquid that never dries, even years later. Horrible to handle. I still got "pink hand" from two weeks ago.

Glycerin, Ethyl Glycol, or whatever. Epson ink does NOT evaporate.

 

[johnwarfin]

I print in solid colors a lot to clear heads of contamination but never do it to a severely clogged or starved print head you could burn out the printhead. I've done that already.

Thanks, that is what I wanted to know. However Epson heads are piezo and, unlike Cannon thermal heads, I do not think they burn out when dry.