Epson Stylus Pro 7900 problems . . . .

[dabob]

We have been running a 7900 pro for our contract proofs and lately have been plagued with thin lines running across the sheet. We had a service guy in and said that it was due to scratched heads and plugging from a dirty environment, it sits in the front office, albieit within 25 feet of an outside door). He said that the only cure is to replace the heads - according to him they are all in one unit, at a price of 2400 bucks - thats as much as a new printer . . . so, my questions are:

1. Does this sound like a reasonable price all things considered.

2. What solutions are you using for your proofs and what kind of maintenance issues have you had to deal with on your machine.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Correct Color]

The "scratched heads from a dirty environment" honestly sounds pretty lame. I've never heard that one before and it'd take some pretty good-sized chunks getting up in there to do it.

If it was my machine, I'd run a nozzle check, and then several cleanings to see if I could get all the nozzles back. It seems more than likely to me that you've just got some clogged nozzles from not running the thing all that much -- not all that uncommon on ay inkjet, but Epsons in particular.

However, if you try and try and you can't get all your nozzles firing, then yes, it does cost that much to replace the heads, and yes, it makes about as much sense to get a new machine.


Mike Adams
Correct Color

 

[pabney]

Actually, we had the same issue only with our 9900.
We ended up ordering a print head from China direct and changing it ourselves, cost us about $600.00.
Of course if something goes wrong, Epson service won't touch it.

 

[Repro_Pro]

At specific Epson forums such as EpsonWideFormat(at)groups.io you may find more answers.

 

[Justin M]

Definitely could be clogged printhead. I'd probably try doing the printhead adjustment as well. Dust is probably unlikely cause but the printheads can get damaged. Epson parts and service are usually expensive and they are, in my experience, harder to fix. The large format HP printers are usually reasonably priced and the quality is good. Canons also have some really nice large format printers as well. What's nice about those is that they actually have user replaceable printheads and they are usually a couple of hundred dollars. That could end up saving some money and service calls.

 

[WI-Flexo]

One other thing to double check is the cutter. We once had bits of paper on the blade that was scratching the prints. We thought it was the head also until we took out the blade and saw the buildup. Just a thought. Best of luck.

 

[kdw75]

Our 9900s have been problem free except. You might try taking a look at the wiper, which should be replaced every year or less by the user. We had a piece of cat hair get on ours and it would case random hair shaped white gaps in the printing. On our old 9600 I replaced a print head. It wasn't too hard with resources I found on the internet, including a service manual.

 

[mjalbro]

Are they white lines, or black lines? If they are black lines, you could just have a bunch of ink/dust dangling from the carriage, but the service guy should have caught that, if he was any good.

Yes Epson heads are pricey.

 

[Lorenzo lab guy]

I agree with kdw 75. Most users aren't aware of the need for regular wiper blade maintenance. We clean monthly and replace yearly on our Epsons. Easy to do.
There is lot's of info here: