Hi Walker,
How is the P9000 in terms of printhead life compared to the 9900 ? Any less hassles? If investing in a new - warrantied - printer, which is best for Piezo Pro using 5 inks and g.o. ?
Thanks,
Tom
From what I gather (early years yet) the P9000 is the same head but better dampers/cleaning assembly and pressure. In other words, they have fixed most of the issues that caused the head to de-laminate pre-maturely in the first place (mainly mis-aligned contact between cleaning assembly and head + odd ink pressure). We had to re-design a cartridge from scratch for the new SC-P printers because of the difference in ink pressure.
Long store short: the SC-P printers will last longer. However, in general, Piezo ink is much more gentle on these heads than color ink (less large particle color pigment, the glossy carbon is tiny). Because we also do sub 1 micron filters of the ink and keep the Pro ink really fresh Pro ink will allow for a very long-lived 9900 as well provided you don’t get miss-alignment.
SC-P9000 if you can do it, but if you have a 9900 with a good head and new dampers/cleaning assembly, that will last a long time too. Longer than color ink (Epson or non).
best,
Walker
Thanks Walker,
I have no doubt Cone ink is superior; your post was informative.
Sourcing a 9900 with a good head / cleaning assembly is becoming more and more difficult. I just bought one from an ad agency / pre press place, for not much money, but although the nozzle check was perfect, it is not in the greatest shape and already playing up ( if I have time I will post a pic of the old wiper assembly - yikes ! ) The best use I ever had from a 9900 was one I bought from a very talented but amateur photographer who only used it occasionally.
I’m thinking rather than becoming an expert on nursing 9900s I might like to become a better printer with a better machine and possibly the new ink formulation as well.
Cheers,
Tom
I’m guessing you would recommend purchasing the extended warranty for a new P9000 if available - correct ?