Printer Problems

[tmscrapbook]

Hi, Everyone,

I've never posted a question before, so here goes.

I live in Washington state 7 months of the year (April - Nov) and Arizona the other 5 months )Nov - April). I don't worry about my Epson inkjet printer in WA when we leave as it is the cold months and the ink doesn't dry out - even from lack of use. However, we set our home in AZ at 88°F when we leave and the temps there can reach 115°F. I have always removed the ink cartridges from my printer in AZ and then replaced them with new cartridges when we arrive.

Here's the problem. I bought a new printer last year - Epson XP-7100 (because it prints on CDs and DVDs) - replaced the cartridges upon arrival, but did not get a good test page or nozzle print page when I tested it. I cleaned the heads 3 time (using up ink in the process), but the problem did not clear up. I emailed Epson report and they asked me a lot of questions, which I answered, and said that I couldn't use remanufactured ink in the printer. They said it would ruin the print head. I have always used remanufactured ink in my Epson printers because it's much, much cheaper.

Anyway, I bought new Epson ink (to the tune of $80), but the problem was not resolved. I would get a pattern for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Photo Black but not Black. Epson support said it was a hardware problem so I need to contact an Epson technician. Upon doing this (over the phone not in person because he was 80 miles away), he said that I should NOT have removed the ink cartridges as that allowed the air to get to the print heads and thus dry the remaining ink and clog them. He would soak the heads in a solution for 24 hours - test it, if still not printing well - soak the heads for another 24 hours and test it again. If it still didn't print, then I needed a new printer. So, it would cost me $50 for a service call, 2 round trips to the technician and I might still have to buy a new printer.

I know this has been long-winded, but I felt like you needed to have all the details in order to give me some advice. Do I leave the ink cartridges in the printer when we leave in April or remove them? I'm very interested in hearing if anyone else has had this problem or knows what to do.

Thanks in advance,
Pam (tmscrapbook)

[sauron]

I rarely do any printing anymore but I have never removed the cartridges from the printer even if I don’t use my printer for a long time, I think the last time I used my printer other than today would probably have been before lockdown so well over 7 or 8 months and when I printed today it printed fine.

I also have an Epson printer but it’s only a cheap one, the WF-2510 using non-genuine ink cartridges.

[tmscrapbook]

Thanks for the reply, sauron

[bazzah]

Wow, you have had problems. I would only be guessing here, but it sounds like it would benefit you to leave the cartridges in and to keep using the remanufactured ones. That way you aren't clogging up the heads, and if the cartridges dry up they are not too expensive to replace.

[tmscrapbook]

Thanks for your thoughts, Bazzah

[joelazza]

What bazzah said,leave them in.

[M0vieM0nster]

I'd leave them in as Baz has suggested, I also have an epson and only every use the cheaper ink that being said i have been experiencing some issues with mine... i don't take the ink out but hardly use it and somehow over the many months i'm presuming i might have a similar problem to you as in when i have printed of late it's not looking so great and apart from cleaning the nozzles i'm not sure what else to try... maybe the cheaper ink has a way of drying out faster than it should?

[tmscrapbook]

Thanks for the input MOvieMOnster. Here's a message that I received from a friend. It might help you. Unfortunately, I had gone out and bought a new printer begore I received this, but I'll renenber it if it happens again,

" I've only ever had Epson inkjet printers. The remanufactured ink is fine to use. Of course Epson will tell you otherwise. They want you to buy their ink.

Epson is one of the few printers that uses a seperate printhead on consumer model printers. Other brands build the printhead into the ink cart. To access the printhead you will need to go to the maintenance screen and select replace ink carts. That should move the whole assembly to the left side/middle. Once it is moved just unplug the printer.

Remove the ink carts and set them aside. The part that the ink carts are installed in is the printhead. Now that you have the printer unplugged you should be able to move the whole assembly left and right with ease. If it doesn't move with just a little effort stop. Something may be causing it to be stuck. Reinstall the carts and power on the printer then try again. If it is easy to move then you can proceed with placing the paper towel under the whole assembly.

Start by cutting pieces of paper towel about 1.5 times the with of the assembly and about the same depth. If your paper towel curls then try a napkins. You want it to lay flat. Next place one of the cut sheets down inside the printer on the platen. The platen is the part the paper runs across. Now slowly slide the assembly over the paper towel. If it doesn't start to move the towel great. Move it back to the right and put a second piece in then try moving the assembly back over. Do this until you have as many layers as you get without the assembly pushing them.

Now take all the layers out and mist them with the Windex. You don't need them to be sopping wet just damp. Then place them back on the platen and sled the assembly over them so you can see a little on the left and right side. Now you wait. Keep checking on the towels and give them a little spritz once in a while. The power here is the ammonia. If you let the towels dry out too much then there isn't any ammonia left to break down the ink in the nozzles.

While you are waiting you can clean out around the area where the ink carts sit. Do not clean the middle where there is a little oval area. That is the back side of the nozzle and you can damage it if you rub on it. Just clean around those and any of the black plastic areas. Use the rubbing alcohol for this part. You can also clean the area on the right side where the printhead assembly sits during normal operation. This area is likely very dirty especially if you have run a few cleaning cycles. Just use q-tips and rubbing alcohol to clean around all the bits there. It's not easy since it is partly under the cover. You should see some little rubber bits that stick up. Those are the nozzle wipers. Make sure you get those really well.

It all sounds pretty complicated but it will all make sense once you are looking at the printer. Just take your time and be sure that the paper towels don't hit the print head. You will likely see some color on the paper towel after a little while. That is a sign that it is working not that it is on the printhead."

Let me know if you try this

[RRJR84]

hi tms, im avid epson user myself and i have never ever had ink dry out and i rarely print anymore. i used to be a big user of re-manufactured ink myself however i found that in recent years epson printers have become very temperamental. i have an epson xp-440 and i can only use retail ink. its more expensive and it sucks. i tried several brands of re-manufactured ink and still no luck.

another think could be the head alignment isn't set up right which ive run into in the past especially with switching between re-manufactured ink and retail epson ink