Epson 4000 gone bad

[chriscor]

I'm printing with an Epson 4000 and recently it's gone haywire.  the prints look like one of the nozzles is clogged or that I've printed on the wrong side of the paper.  The nozzles look fine when I run the nozzle test and I'm printing on the correct side of the paper.  There's also  heavy posterization in the blacks.  The image looks similar to a bad color Xerox.
I'm printing with profiles and color management turned off when I use the Epson driver.
Since I print mainly with Image Print I originally thought that it was a problem with IP.  But when I tried printing through the Epson driver the problem was just as bad if not worse.  Because of this I'm wondering if it's a hardware problem as opposed to a software problem.
Any ideas?  Could I be using bad ink?

Thanks
Chris

[alainbriot]

Sounds like there is something wrong with the printer itself.  It could be the firmware, so try to reinstall it yourself first.  Then reset the printer with the reset button on top of the control panel.  Finally, reinstall the driver in your computer as well.  

If none of that does the job call Epson tech support. There's not much more you can do at that point, unless you are able to work on the printer yourself.

[chriscor]

Sounds like there is something wrong with the printer itself.  It could be the firmware, so try to reinstall it yourself first.  Then reset the printer with the reset button on top of the control panel.  Finally, reinstall the driver in your computer as well. 

If none of that does the job call Epson tech support. There's not much more you can do at that point, unless you are able to work on the printer yourself.
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Thanks for the suggestions Alain.  
This problem came on slowly and proceeded to get worse and then suddenly disappeared.  Now everything is back to normal and the prints look fine.
A poster on Inkjetart.com suggested removing the ink carts, shaking them and then returning them to the printer.  I'll keep both suggestions in mind should this happen again.

Chris