Digital BW, The Print

That's interesting. My printer has that pad (as does my 1270, so when he
says "newer" he means it ;-) ) but what it doesn't have is the overnight
parking pad. I think I may have dissolved it when I used 409 cleanser on it
in lieu of Fantastic. I used Piezo inks formerly and MIS VM now, and I've
had very few clogs with either inkset. I still put a few drops of Windex on
the parking pad from time to time, and I wonder if that just dissolves the
surface sludge and lets it flow downstream. My nozzles may not get sealed at
night, but at the same time they don't get sludge deposited on them, so
maybe it's a fair trade. Maybe its the reason for my good luck with clogs...

If you get the chance to speak with the tech again could you ask him his
thoughts about the need for foam there? I've been meaning to replace it, but
now I'm thinking maybe I'm better off without it....

Todd

> The Epson certified repair technician that is servicing my 1160 had a
> potentially very interesting observation.
> 
> He noted that the 1160 might have problems with pigmented inks due to the
> design of the ink pad and waste drain on the left side of the carriage.  It
> is designed for dyes, which soak right through the pad and then drain down a
> tube to the main ink waste reservoir at the bottom of the printer.  However,
> pigments do not soak through this pad.  The liquid carrier may, but the
> particles make a sludge on top of the pad and ultimately start to get
> re-deposited on the head -- causing clogs and other problems.
> 
> So, what this person did with my 1160 is simply remove the pad so that the
> ink would just flow straight down the tube.  The tech says that newer Epsons
> do not have the pad, which he claims is not needed.  He recommends that
> anyone using pigments on an 1160 take some tweezers and pull out the pad.
> 
> I guess I'll find out whether this pad is needed or not, since the tech did
> remove it from my 1160.  I'll let you know whether I find any differences.
> 
> Does anyone have any information about this pad and why it's there?
> 
> Paul
> http://www.PaulRoark.com