Running A Cleaning Cycle; Printing A Nozzle Check Pattern - Epson 9600 Printer Manual

132 | Maintaining and Transporting the Printer

Running a Cleaning Cycle

If your printed image is unexpectedly light or has banding (faint light or
dark horizontal lines), you may need to run a cleaning cycle. This unclogs
the print head nozzles so they can deliver ink properly.
The cleaning cycle uses ink, so you should run it only if print quality
declines. To determine whether a cleaning cycle is necessary, print a nozzle
check first. You should also print a nozzle check after cleaning the print head
to see if the cleaning cycle was successful.
There are two ways to run a cleaning cycle:
Using the printer's control panel buttons, as described below
•
Using the Head Cleaning utility in your printer software, as described
•
on page 54 (may not be available if you are accessing the printer over a
network)

Printing a Nozzle Check Pattern

Follow these steps to print a nozzle check pattern:
1. Load a letter-size sheet of paper in the printer, following the instructions
on page 77. (You can print the nozzle check on larger sheets or on roll
paper, but you will use more paper.)
2. Press the
SelecType
.
SETUP
3. Press d until you see
.
CHECK
4. Press r until you see
prints.
5-132
button on the control panel. You see
, then press r . You see
TEST PRINT
, then press
PRINT Enter
PRINTER
NOZZLE
. The nozzle check sheet