Summary
Use the following procedures to install PiezoTone or K7 inks for the first time in a 7600 or 9600 printer.
The 7600 and 9600 printers use procedures which depend specifically on the type of black cartridge your printer has in it currently, the type of black cartridge you will be installing, and whether or not you will be using flush cartridges.
Contents
Preliminary steps: Steps to test your printer and prepare it for changing over your ink cartridges.
Ink change procedures for 7600 and 9600 printers Procedures used to flush out the old ink set and replace it with Piezography inks.
Information on ink cartridge positions in this printer. This section lists the locations of each cartridge in the printer, including mixed sets of PiezoTone and K7 inks.
Printer Testing
Verify that your printer functions perfectly with Epson inks. In addition to printing a perfect nozzle check, make test prints to be certain your printer does not have unfixable banding problems. Take the time to scrutinize your printer’s performance before moving to the next step. It is not possible to diagnose many printing problems on a printer that has not first been tested with Epson inks. It is important to test your printer in this way, whether it is old or new.
Determining whether flush cartridges are needed when changing inks in your7600 or 9600 printer:
· Flush cartridges are required when installing Piezotone inks.
· Flush cartridges are optional when installing Piezography K7 inks.
· Flush cartridges are suggested when switching to Piezography K7 inks from a non-Epson or non-Piezography ink set.
· Flush cartridges are suggested if you have been experiencing clogging problems with your current ink set.
Items needed on hand when changing inks
· A set of ink cartridges,
· A set of flush cartridges (if used),
· A spare maintenance tank (available through Epson), or a large format cartridge and waste tank chip resetter. Depending on how full your maintenance tank is initially, you may or may not need a chip resetter or spare tank.
· The black position “draining” cartridge that came with your printer may be needed, depending on your situation (see below).
Note about resetting the chip on the maintenance tank: Instead of replacing a full maintenance tank with a new 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
Ink change procedures for 7600 and 9600 printers
Background on the 7600 and 7600 printers and black position cartridges
Two separate cycles are needed to switch inks in these printers. The required cycle depends on the type of black cartridge you are switching from and the type of black cartridge you are switching to.
If you are switching from a Photo black to matte black cartridge, or from a matte black to Photo black cartridge, you must use a black ink change cycle.
If you are switching from a matte black to a matte black cartridge, or from a Photo black to a Photo black cartridge, you must use an initial fill cycle.
If you use flush cartridges as part of the process, you need to use two flush cycles. They may both be the same type or they may be different, depending on the chips on the black cartridges involved.
Before proceeding, you must determine which types of black cartridges you have. Refer to Table 1, below, for an explanation of the types of chips on each of the different black position cartridges available for these printers.
|
If you have this black position cartridge, |
..It contains the following chip |
|
Epson Photo Black |
Photo Black |
|
Epson Matte Black |
Matte Black |
|
Flush cartridge |
Either Photo Black or Matte Black* |
|
PiezoTone Portfolio Black |
Photo Black |
|
PiezoTone Museum Black |
Matte Black |
|
Piezography K7 Shade #1 |
Matte Black |
Table 1: Explanation of the chips found on different black position cartridges
*The flush cartridges supplied for these printers may either be chipped as Matte Black or as Photo Black. The cartridge will be clearly labeled as to the type of black chip.
Use the following steps to switch from your original ink set, to flush cartridges, if used, to the final ink cartridges.
1. Test your printer with Epson inks, and have the proper equipment on hand (see Part I for details).
2. Determine the ink change steps you need to follow, to change the inks in your printer:
Refer to Table 2 (below) to determine which ink change steps to follow, based on the types of black position cartridges you have. Follow the ink change steps shown in this table for your situation.
|
Changing FROM ink cartridge type: |
Flush cartridge used? |
Changing TO ink cartridge type: |
Perform the following steps: |
|
Photo |
Photo |
Photo |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Photo |
Matte |
Photo |
1. “Black Ink Change” 2. “Black Ink Change” |
|
Photo |
Not Used |
Photo |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Matte |
Photo |
Matte |
1. “Black Ink Change” |
|
Matte |
Matte |
Matte |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Matte |
Not Used |
Matte |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Photo |
Photo |
Matte |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Photo |
Matte |
Matte |
1. “Black Ink Change” |
|
Photo |
Not Used |
Matte |
1. “Black Ink Change” |
|
Matte |
Photo |
Photo |
1. “Black Ink Change” |
|
Matte |
Matte |
Photo |
1. “Initial Fill” |
|
Matte |
Not Used |
Photo |
1. “Black Ink Change” |
Table 2: Ink change steps needed for different types of black position cartridges.
3. Perform Ink Change Steps. Use the information from Table 2 to determine which ink change step or steps you must use. If you need to use two ink change steps, use them in the order mentioned in Table 2.
Used when switching from a PHOTO to MATTE or MATTE to PHOTO black ink or flush fluid cartridge
Turn the printer on. On the printer’s control panel, push the Select Type/Right Arrow button once so the printer LCD screen shows “Printer Setup.”
Scroll the Down Arrow button until you see “Maintenance.”
Press the Right Arrow button once, then the Down Arrow button once, so the LCD screen reads “Bk. Ink Change” (Black Ink Change).
Push the Right Arrow button, so the LCD screen reads “Exec.” Push the Enter/Cut-Eject button.
Raise the cartridge ink lever, and remove all seven cartridges from the printer.
Install only the black drain cartridge in position #1 and lower the ink cartridge lever. The printer will drain all the ink out of the tubes and the print head.
After the cycle completes, raise the ink cartridge lever, remove the black drain cartridge, and install the set of seven ink or flush cartridges.
Lock the ink cartridge lever. The printer will begin to charge with ink or flush fluid. The LCD screen will display “Ready” when done.
If you have just installed the new ink set in the printer, verify that you have a perfect nozzle check pattern, and then you may begin printing.
If you have just filled the printer with flush fluid, if possible, turn the printer off for several hours, overnight, or longer, to allow the flush fluid to dissolve any residual ink in the tubes.
Used when switching from a MATTE to MATTE or PHOTO to PHOTO black ink or flush fluid cartridge
Turn the printer off, remove the installed cartridges and replace them with the next set.
Turn the printer on while holding down the following three buttons: Paper Feed Up, Paper Feed Down and Cut Eject. The printer will start up in the “Check Menu.”
Scroll through the list to the “Cleaning” section. Press the Enter/Cut-Eject button.
Scroll through the cleaning list to “init. fill” (initial fill). Press the Enter/Cut-Eject button. The printer will flush out the old set of inks or flush fluid, refilling with the new set.
Turn the printer off to exit the “check menu.”
If you have just installed the new ink set in the printer turn the printer back on, verify that you have a perfect nozzle check pattern, and then you may begin printing.
If you have just filled the printer with flush fluid, it is beneficial to leave the printer off for several hours, or overnight, or longer, to allow the flush fluid to dissolve any remaining ink in the tubes and print head.
Information on ink cartridge positions in this printer. This section lists the locations of each cartridge in the printer, including mixed sets of PiezoTone and K7 inks.
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:
|
Color position in printer |
PiezoTone cartridge that must be used in this slot |
Piezography K7 cartridge that must be used in this slot |
|
Black |
Museum Black or Portfolio 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 |
|
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, and one black cartridge, either portfolio or museum black. When choosing a warm set or a cool set, each of the three cartridges must be 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. When using 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 cartridge can be any one of the following: 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.