I have just changed my black ink cartridge however still patchy

Hi,

Most likely this could be because of Faulty Printhead/Cartridges in your printer.

If you have replaced Black and still find printing Quality issue, the Printheads need to be cleaned.

My suggestion is to click on the link below and the website is helpful in dealing with all type of Epson printer issues.

Click here -> Printer Issue Troubleshooting

Regards,
Suhail

It sounds to me like your cartridge nozzles are clogged. That's more common with recycled or refilled cartridges, but it can also happen with new cartridges if they are older. If you just purchased the cartridge you could try to return it. Otherwise, I would try to continue deep cleaning and nozzle checks until it starts to print. It takes a lot of ink, but sometimes that's the only way to get it to print. Usually it will work eventually. Do a nozzle check in between each cleaning and deep cleaning.

Hello,
The issue is the printhead clogged.
You tried to do an cleaning head from the printer menu ?

I have excatly the same problem. I have cleaned the nozzles mutiple times and replaced the blck cartridge twice but I still have patchy printing in the black portion of the test print and horizontal banding in word documents

Hello,

Please try to do a printer head cleaning. You can do it by getting a small earbud and soak it with a small amount of water. Or try to adjust it by doing an alignment. Usually, the printers have this functionality. Please refer to the user manual.

You can try to remove the print head and ink cartridges.
Soak the head in an ammonia10-20% solution with warm water for 30-45 min.
Dry the head completely and re-install.Now run your grid patter,
It sonds like(from the grid reference)that only the black is clogging.This is a pigmented ink and tend to dry if not used for months at a time.

see the manual & what your printer model no

Use only original cartridges and not generic/refilled ones. I think that is the source and answer to your problem ;)

GOOD

The printer is not reading the cartridge properly. You may have clogged nozzles/printhead. Do a claen (deep or other) that is in your printers maintenace area. Then try to print. No luck, then remove cartridges, do a thorough manual clean by using proper cleaning solution and cotton buds(q-tips). If the cartridge has its own printhead (gold areas) wipe the gold area that goes against the printer carriage, ie the one the ink comes out of, be careful, do not wipe any other gold areas, only the one the ink comes out of. Press the cartridges firmly one by one on a folded wipe and hold a moment, when you lift off, you should be left with a clear vertical line of three colours, and the black one should be same but black. The marks should be dark and bright (ink) not patchy or missing colour etc. (i use unscented baby wipes-huggies!!! don't laugh they work great, i have never had printer problems apart from usual things like a toddler jamming it with toy!!!) Put cartridges back. Try reprinting. Good luck!!!