Epson stylus photo 1290 printing black splodges

remove the ink clean the ports for the ink then put them back

You can check the print quality and paper type, these two settings are very important to get an sharp and nice printing

what you want is not possible. the Epson Stylus Photo 1290 does not use sublimation ink. it is strongly advised to only use genuine Epson ink to keep the print quality of your print head as high as possible.

are u using refils????

Unfortunately, Epson printers demand that both black and colour cartridges are OK before the printer will work at all. Now, if you are really sure that you only want to print black, the most cost-effective solution for you is to buy an Epson Chip resetter on E-Bay. This will reset your empty colour cartridge to "full", as far as the printer is concerned. You can then happily continue with your black-only printing.

Have the printer to perform the ink nozzles. If you have a continuos ink system place it at the same level than the printer.
Good luck and merry christmas.
Emilio

I have had these issues before (that's why I never use refill carts anymore: false economy) You'll just have to keep running the clean cycle until it goes through. This may take several tries, and will waste tons of ink - hence the false economy of refills!

Download Software maintenance and adjustment EPSON 12000 series Here

This is a maintenance request. Basically the internal counter has hit it's limit and now requires that the counter is reset and the ink pads are replaced or cleaned.

Ask at http://www.TheServiceManualShop.com if they do a Rescue Kit for your machine. This should include all the goodies you need to get running again. If they have no kit for machine, let me know as I may have an alternative.

Did u clean the print nozzle's as well? If that does not solve your problem, you should try and replace the cartridge. (Colour in case of blue lines and black in case of black lines)