Epson 9800 no Magenta

[lillhannus]

I have an Epson 9800 that has been running perfectly all of it´s long life. A week ago I decided to exchange the wiper and cap top since it´s never been done before. After that I ran a cleaning cycle and a nozzle check and it looked horrible. I decided to testprint a peice to see if it made a difference and it did. I now had black, magenta and cyan back but no yellow(it never got through to check all the other colors). The strange thing is that the next day I had black, cyan and yellow but no magenta at all and i can't get it to print magenta.

As far as I can see the maintenance station is looking fine even though I tore it apart completely to clean it and exhange the cap top. Ink is pulling to the waste tray and the wiper is doing it´s job.

Any ideas?

I´m thinking maybe i didn't put the maintenance station together as it´s supposed to but it seems to work just fine. Could there be air in the ink lines? How do I check and fix that?

 

[RayGun]

Lillhannus,
Our 9890 just had to have a $4500 head replacement because we ended up with dried out magenta, vivid magenta, and light blue. Partially because we weren't using it enough and also because the ink cartridges had been run completely dry. DON"T DO THAT. (take it from me - when it gets low, change it!) A couple hundred for new ink is WAAAYYYY better than a couple thousand for a technician to come out and repair it.TL
The chemical make up of magenta makes it the thickest of the colors (even thicker than black!) and thus making it prone to a quicker set rate if there is ANY bit exposure to air. In the process of your replacing the wiper and cap, how long did the print head sit in the open? Even a 20 min cleaning can be enough to cause some congealment in the exposed areas.
Running a complete ink fill or two, while it wastes a copious amount of ink and fills the waste container, could help move any clogs or air bubbles through the lines. Also, a simple yet dangerous if done wrong way to keep the head moist and ink flowing is to have a good paper towel with Windex on it under the print head while doing maintenance. Ammonia based solvents will keep the ink from gelling, even if only for a 20 min fix. Always check for particles after removal.

Additionally, yes if the maintenance station is even the slightest bit off, it will not seal around the head properly and your cleaners, sensors, and head will be adversely affected by the exposure. In my opinion, after having to learn it the hard way for myself, I now call a technician for ANY type of above normal wear and tear maintenance I'm doing for the first time. Since I bought a service manual, I have a direct conversation with a tech over the phone and get straight to the issue and repair I'm about to embark on. If they're demeanor is one of, "Oh yeah, that part - that happens all the time. Here's what ya do..." then I know I can usually fix it with their advice. Having a good relationship with a repair technician is priceless - one 10 minute phone conversation would have saved me $4,500 dollars.

TLDR: Magenta is thick, exposed print head is bad, Technicians are expensive but worth it.

May not exactly solve your problem, but I hope it helps some!
-RayGun