Summary
Use the following procedures to install Piezotone or Piezography K7 inks for the first time in an Epson Stylus Pro 4000 printer.
Contents
Preliminary steps: Steps you must take to test your printer and prepare it for changing over your ink cartridges
Ink Change Procedure: Procedure used to flush out the old ink set and replace it with Piezography inks
Information on ink cartridge positions in this printer: Table and explanation of the different ink combinations that can be used in this printer. Explanation of which printing software is needed for each ink set
Printer Testing
Verify that your printer functions perfectly with Epson inks. In addition to printing a perfect nozzle check, make certain that the printer does not have unfixable banding problems by making test prints. Take the time to scrutinize your printer’s performance before the next step. It is not possible to diagnose many printing problems on a printer that has not first been tested with Epson inks.
Use of flush cartridges with the 4000 printer
The use of flush cartridges is required when installing Piezotone inks,
The use of flush cartridges is optional when installing Piezography Neutral K7 inks.
The use of flush cartridges is suggested when switching to Piezography Neutral K7 inks from a non-Epson or non-Piezography ink set, or if you have been experiencing clogging problems with your current ink set.
Black ink cartridges used
The NK7 ink set consists of seven cartridges. Use a non-empty flush, Piezotone or Epson ink cartridge into the eighth, photo black slot. Don’t use a chip resetter on an empty Photo Black cartridge to “fool” the printer into thinking it has ink in the Photo Black position—using an empty cartridge will damage the print head!
The Piezotone ink set uses both a portfolio (photo) and museum (matte) black cartridge. When you purchase a Piezotone ink set you will receive cartridges for both black slots.
Items needed to have on hand when changing inks
A set of ink cartridges, a set of flush cartridges (if used),
When using Neutral K7 inks, an eighth cartridge, either ink or flush fluid for the Photo Black slot
A spare maintenance tank (available through Epson), or a large format cartridge and waste tank chip resetter.
Note about the maintenance tank: Instead of replacing a full maintenance tank, you may use a large format chip resetter to reset your maintenance tank chip to read empty. It is safe to reset the maintenance tank chip one time; if you wish to do it more than once, periodically check the waste ink level in the tank, to ensure that it does not overfill with waste ink. Chip resetters are available on-line. Be sure to purchase one specifically for large format Epson printers
1. Test the printer with Epson inks, and have the necessary equipment on hand.
2. Turn off the printer, raise the ink levers, and remove the cartridges from the printer.
3. Install the flush or ink cartridges in the printer, and lower the ink levers.
4. Hold down the Left Arrow, Down Arrow, and Up Arrow buttons simultaneously as you turn on the printer. This activates the Service Menu.
5. The ink change procedure for the 4000 is performed using an INITIAL FILL procedure. This option is found in the SELF TESTING > CLEANING menu. Follow the prompts on the LCD screen, and hit the execute button to begin the initial fill.
6. After the initial fill cycle finishes, restart the printer.
7. If you have just installed ink, print a nozzle check pattern. If the ink channels are still stained with the original color inks, run a KK2 cleaning cycle to clear out the old inks. The KK2 cleaning option is found in the SELF TESTING > CLEANING menu. After the KK2 cleaning, print another nozzle check pattern. You should find that the color stains are gone and the printer is ready for Neutral K7 printing.
8. If you have just installed the flush cartridges, turn off the printer, allow it to sit overnight or longer (longer periods of time are not harmful to the printer), and then repeat the above steps to put the ink set in the printer. Allowing the printer to remain filled with flush fluid will help remove residue from the previous ink set.
Important Note: Do not rely on the “automatic” nozzle check cycle when running Piezography Neutral K7 or Piezotone inks. The printer does not recognize the ink densities of the patterns and will determine the print head is clogged, even if it is not. Use the “manual” nozzle check cycle instead.
Information on ink cartridge positions in this printer
This printer uses chipped ink cartridges. Each available PiezoTone or K7 ink cartridge only fits in one slot. A complete set of inks contains the following cartridges, as shown in the table below. Please note that the K7 ink cartridges are installed according to color position on the printer, and not according to shade number.
|
Color position in printer |
PiezoTone cartridge that must be used in this slot |
Piezography K7 cartridge that must be used in this slot |
|
Matte Black |
Museum Black |
K7 Shade #1 |
|
Cyan |
Dark Gray Warm Neutral or Carbon Sepia |
K7 Shade #2 |
|
Magenta |
Medium Gray Warm Neutral or Carbon Sepia |
K7 Shade #4 |
|
Yellow |
Light Gray Selenium Tone or Cool Neutral |
K7 Shade #7 |
|
Photo Black |
Portfolio Black |
Flush Cartridge |
|
Light Cyan |
Dark Gray Selenium Tone or Cool Neutral |
K7 Shade #3 |
|
Light Magenta |
Medium Gray Selenium Tone or Cool Neutral |
K7 Shade #5 |
|
Light Black |
Light Gray Warm Neutral or Carbon Sepia |
K7 Shade #6 |
Explanation of the table: For the six “color” positions, (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Light Cyan, Light Magenta, Light Black), you must choose either one PiezoTone ink cartridge, or one K7 cartridge. The table above shows which cartridges can go into each slot.
· A Complete PiezoTone ink set consists of one cool set, one warm set, one portfolio black and one museum black. When choosing a warm set or a cool set, each of the three cartridges are of the same tone (all three warm carts are either WN or CS, and all three cool carts are either CN or ST). With a set of PiezoTone inks, Studioprint RIP is required for printing.
· Complete Piezography K7 ink set consists of 1 each of the seven shade cartridges. The eighth slot, the photo black slot, is not used by K7 inks and is generally filled with a photo black position flush cartridge. With a complete set of K7 inks, one may use either Studioprint RIP, or QuadToneRIP for printing.
· Mixed PiezoTone and K7 ink set: in this configuration, either the cool or warm PiezoTone inks are replaced by three K7 shades.
o K7 shade numbers 2, 4 and 6 take the place of either WN or CS cartridges;
o K7 shade numbers 3, 5 and 7 take the place of either CN or ST cartridges.
o The black position cartridges can consist of two of the available black choices: Portfolio black, or portfolio black flush cartridge for the photo black slot, or Museum Black or K7 Shade #1 for the Matte Black slot.
With a mixed set of PiezoTone and K7 cartridges, Studioprint RIP is required for printing.