One last thought…what is the possibilities of filling 9600 carts with K3 inks. If so I’ll go to my 9600 that still kicks butt. There you have it, see if this scan gives you any clues as to whether I have a dead nozzle. I know your familiar with the endless conversation I’ve had with Epson which remarkable they covered the cost of the third as a “curtesy” as I have owned over 10 Epsons. The printer is about 6 years with me new and from day one has had cone color pro inks through the print head. Just a little history…this is the third head in this printer, it will not see another. This pattern is exactly the same for numerous printings. What I find curious (mostly annoying) is the way it has a significant band at the beginning and then goes to the regular banding. Through this I determined that the problem is with the LC as the zone 3 patch has minimal banding compared to the zone 7. The scan is a cyan patch with a zone 7,5,3 densities. I will include a scanned pattern of banding. With that, I have done all the recommended cleaning flushing, nesting and squeege elements as well as a C元 cleaning cycle with no change to the banding in the LC. I am familiar with the 9800 but can’t find it in any schedule of the 9890.

Altho I have yet to find the path to perform a MANUAL nozzle check pattern on a 9890.

Hi Brian, Thanks for the info on nozzle pattern checking.

Inkjet test pattern