WHY?

[Roland Karlsson]

My understanding the OP didn't 'care' if people bought expensive printers and didn't use them, only why would they then complain of their printers clogging. Kind of like buying a car but seldom driving it and complaining of the battery dying.

Hmmmm ... I am not reading the printing forum regularly, but from what I have seen its not really complaints. Its rather questions for help what to do. Sounds like the correct forum to me and very reasonable posts.

Then ... the truth may be that you cannot buy a printer and almost never use it. It will then clog or malfunction in some other way.

And some here seems to "know" it to be so. But ... what people knows in a forum is seldom 100% true, or at least hard to verify.

--
Roland

support http://www.openraw.org/
(Sleeping - so the need to support it is even higher)

X3F tools : http://www.proxel.se/x3f.html

 

[jtoolman]

No one can really predict that if you do not print X number of times a day, a week, or a month , that you will experience clogs. There far too many variables to deal with. Certainly lack of use will definitely contribute to the possibility of experiencing clogged nozzles. Another seldom considered condition is your humidity level where you printer lives. High humidity, you'll may not even experience a clog even if seldom used. Low humidity especially in the winter when the heat is on and you probably will. Will you if you print print often or seldom? No one really knows. If you read the posts on the subject they will run the gamut.

People that print on fine art rag paper will tend to clog more often. These paper have all sorts of loose fibers and dust that will affect you print heads.

All that being said, the best you can do is give your printer the most favorable environment to live in and don't forget that you need to PRINT!!!! The rest is up to the position of the stars!!

 

[Dimitri_P]

jtoolman wrote:

I see this quite often and I have to scratch my bald head and ask myself,,

Why do people insist on buying expensive photographic printers and then they say,

"I need a printer that doesn't clog too much as I only print photos once a month or less."

Please use the local Photo Lab. No worries about clogging there!

A)Because Epson doesn't have a warning on the printer that reads: "Use it or clog it"

B)and because forums doesn't have a warning that reads: "If your infrequently used Epson clogged, go away and print more often"

 

[Sal Baker]

Dimitri_P wrote:

jtoolman wrote:

I see this quite often and I have to scratch my bald head and ask myself,,

Why do people insist on buying expensive photographic printers and then they say,

"I need a printer that doesn't clog too much as I only print photos once a month or less."

Please use the local Photo Lab. No worries about clogging there!

A)Because Epson doesn't have a warning on the printer that reads: "Use it or clog it"

B)and because forums doesn't have a warning that reads: "If your infrequently used Epson clogged, go away and print more often"

Epson should certainly add A) to the statement they currently make for their latest LF printers: "And, with our latest ink-repelling coating and auto nozzle verification technologies, clogged nozzles are virtually eliminated."

My 3880 has not had any clogging issues in almost 3- years. I sometimes go a month or two between printing sessions with no problems. If you shoot, edit, make prints for gallery shows it would be nice to have a 24 inch or larger printer that is dependable as the much cheaper 3880.

Canon approaches the problem by designing print heads that have a huge redundancy of nozles that are seamlessly switched on when a nozle becomes hopelessly clogged. This is completely transparent to the user making the printer appear to be clog-free. When the nozzles are finally all clogged, the heads are user replaceable for a few hundred bucks (consensus seems to be about 18 months to two years).

After owning 4 Epson photo printers, and loving the 3880, I'm looking seriously at the Canon 6400. Epson should live up to their larger format printer marketing claims.

Sal

 

[fft81]

jtoolman wrote:

I see this quite often and I have to scratch my bald head and ask myself,,

Why do people insist on buying expensive photographic printers and then they say,

"I need a printer that doesn't clog too much as I only print photos once a month or less."

Please use the local Photo Lab. No worries about clogging there!

I am not a pro photographer (I am "The uncle Bob with DSLR"). I bought 3880; i bought refillable carts and i use inkowl inks. I print for myself, family and friends. I had 1 clog in last 5 months but it did not effect print output and cleared up after ink refill. I like being able to use what ever paper/canvas i choose to get the particular result i want. Frequency of printing has nothing to do with quality we expect and the money we are willing to spend to have intimate control over the results we get.

 

[Sal Baker]

jtoolman wrote:

I see this quite often and I have to scratch my bald head and ask myself,,

Why do people insist on buying expensive photographic printers and then they say,

"I need a printer that doesn't clog too much as I only print photos once a month or less."

Please use the local Photo Lab. No worries about clogging there!

It occurs to me that there might be a misunderstanding about what many people say.

I may not print for several weeks or a month as I spend a lot of time shooting and editing. But that doesn't mean I'm making a print or 2 once a month less. When I do print it is usually 20 or more large prints over a weeks time. Trying to send my images to a lab and having to accept results that are usually different than my vision would be unworkable.

Everything I shoot and edit is done for the sake of the final print. I finally have a demand for prints larger than my 3880 can make, and I want to control those like I do with my smaller pieces.

I've been printing my own work since the '70's. Sending files out (from my perspective) is like a painter sketching out a composition on canvas, and hiring someone else to perform the small detail of adding the paint.

Sal

 

[Phil Hill]

Sal Baker wrote:

Epson should certainly add A) to the statement they currently make for their latest LF printers: "And, with our latest ink-repelling coating and auto nozzle verification technologies, clogged nozzles are virtually eliminated."

My R3000 recently sat for more than four months without being used. No clogs.