Dividing printer spits into bursts

A printer comprising:

• a printhead assembly comprising a plurality of nozzles to eject fluid drops, the plurality of nozzles divided into at least a first group and a second group, the first group assigned a first burst drop count and a first post-burst delay and the second group assigned a second burst drop count and a second post-burst delay;
• a service station assembly to receive fluid ejected from the plurality of nozzles during spits;
• and
• a controller to control the printhead assembly during a spit by repeatedly ejecting fluid from the nozzles of the first group for the first burst drop count followed by the first post-burst delay, followed by ejecting fluid from the nozzles of the second group for the second burst drop count followed by the second post-burst delay until a target drop count for the spit is reached.

A method for maintaining a printer, the method comprising:

• dividing nozzles of a printhead assembly into at least two groups;
• assigning each group a burst drop count, a post-burst delay, and a burst order;
• and
• controlling a spit of the printhead assembly by ejecting fluid from the nozzles of each group based on the burst drop count, the post-burst delay, and the burst order of each group until a target drop count for the spit is reached.