Is my Epson stylus color 980 worn out?

[thrugoodmarshall]

I suspect my Epson stylus color 980 is worn out.
Has anyone else seen this problem?
What did you do to solve it?

Over the past couple months (it's getting worse), I have noticed that
color images I print have two problems. These problems were not
present a year ago, and I'm using pretty much the same drivers, ink,
and paper as at first, when printing was good.

Small images are pale, and there is a *very faint* magenta ghost of
the image shifted above and to the left of the correct image.

Large images show a similar failure of the top 1/2" or so of the
image. The rest of the image looks somewhat decent, but is not as
contrasty as I seem to recall it being in the past.

Black text prints perfectly.

Inkjet pattern test makes a good pattern.

Technical:

OS: GNU/Linux
Distro: Slackware 9 (current)
Print System: CUPS
Driver: Gimp-Print
Paper: 24# 90+Brightness inkjet paper.
Mfr varies; the $5-$8/ream stuff.
Inks: MIS Archival Color
Cartridge: MIS CFS (hoses between cartridge and bottles of
ink)

Note: Epson has *excellent* linux support (epson-kowa), and the 980
driver for CUPS+gimp-print has performed flawlessly in the past. I do
not suspect this is the issue.

Note: I have also asked MIS about this. Their products are solid,
and so is their support. I don't think it's the fault of the inks/CFS
system per se. However gobs of (relatively cheap) high quality ink
encourage me to print a *lot* more photos that I otherwise would.

 

[Yianni]

Small images are pale, and there is a *very faint* magenta ghost of

the image shifted above and to the left of the correct image.

Large images show a similar failure of the top 1/2" or so of the
image. The rest of the image looks somewhat decent, but is not as
contrasty as I seem to recall it being in the past.

Note: I have also asked MIS about this. Their products are solid,
and so is their support. I don't think it's the fault of the inks/CFS
system per se. However gobs of (relatively cheap) high quality ink
encourage me to print a *lot* more photos that I otherwise would.

Pigmented inks worn the printhead more than the "conventional" dye
inks. Additonal, MIS archival inks dries faster causing more damage
if they dry into the nozzle (if they dry the possibility to recover is 10
times less than normal pigmented). Supposing you have printed
many photos, I think was the end of the printhead. Of course you
can replace the printhead.

 

[J. M. S.]

What does the test print look like?
The cartridges could be bad.

J