Defeating the evil Epson empire

[Ron]

Hi folks

Today has been quite the day! Remember my quest to find a decently priced CIS system? So far, after numerous inquiries to the orient, It seem the best bang for the buck is still the first one I mentioned. It comes fully charged with aprox. 700ml of ink for a 4-6 cartridge system. Thats almost a litre! It will probably have to sell in the neighborhood of 150.00 US but it is the equivalent of 15 full cartridge changes (all colors). If any of you are interested, let me know so I can start getting the ball rolling.

The reason for digging up this CIS stuff was that my cartridges were empty again. I made the mistake of letting them sit for a few days and what do you know? the print heads decided to dry up and clog. Epson is notorious for their heads drying and then clogging as they are part of the printer and not part of the cartridge like HP.

If you run into this problem, here are a couple methods that will more than likely help you out.

1. Try the head cleaning utility. Chances are, it wont work the first time. Try it 2 more times maximum in one sitting. The reason for this is that the newer Epson printers keep track of cleanings. The cleaning routine becomes more aggressive after the first and then more again after the 2nd. If it doesn't unclog the printer, it sucks air hence making it dangerous
for the wellbeing of your printer. Let it sit a couple of hours turned off and then try again. Another reason to avoid too many cleanings is that there is a sponge below the print heads where the heads park when the printer is not in use or doing the cleaning cycle. Believe it or not, the Epson demon will keep track of the level of waste ink! After a certain amount of time or cleanings (I don't know how they get their numbers) the printer will shut off telling you it's time to have the printer serviced. Thankfully there is this great utility that will help us with this problem. It's called the SSC Service Utility and will work with almost all desktop Epson printers. Get it here http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml . Once installed, select 'Reset Protection Counter' . Keep in mind that you should carefully dab out the foam pads when the heads are in the exchange position with paper towel and a bit of warm water. The SSC utility will also give you the option
of doing many other neat things like cleaning just the color or just the black print heads

2. Anyways...back to the problem at hand The head cleaning utility did not work for me. And the frustration is beginning to build! I got to searching on the web for a solution as I just won't pay another dime for something like this. As it turns out, Windex ( your average cheap, blue window cleaning solution) is our best friend. The Epson printer I use, uses 4 individual cartridges. When inserted, the cartridges become impaled on a small protruding spike that is actually the passageway for the ink down to the heads. Get hold of a 12cc syringe. These are the same syringes that come wit your standard refill kits. The next item in demand is some clear flexible tubing with what is called a luer lock on the end of it. These you can get at any medical supply store for very little money. The pic below is just your common 12cc syringe. I wish I could remember the diameter
of the tubing.



Here's the tubing with the luer lock. The tubing should be able to fit tightly over the spike


Attach the tubing to the syringe (about 10-12 inches of tubing) and suck up about 3 to 4 cc's of Windex. Press the plunger on the syringe until there are no air bubbles in the tubing. Press the ink button on the printer to bring the cartridges into 'cartridge exchange position'. Pull the plug on your printer and move it into a good working space. Flip the cartridge cover open and remove the cartridge where the plugged head is and one beside it for room to work.



Carefully slide the Windex filled tubing over the spike being cautious not to bend it. If the spike breaks off, the printer is toast. They're pretty strong so don't be all that paranoid about it. Slowly and forcefully, while holding the tubing on the spike, press the plunger on the syringe. The chance are, nothing will go in so pull back on the syringe a bit and you will see a small amount of ink being sucked up. Detach the tubing and bleed the air out once again and put the tube back on the spike. Repeat the process until you manage to get some Windex through that head.. You'll see the bubbles in the Windex move down the tubing. After you're confidant the fluid is moving, remove the tubing and syringe and clean up the bit of Windex that might have spilled inside your printer.
Replace the cartridges and use the SSC utility to run through the cleaning cycles a few times. If luck is on yoiur side, after a few cleanings, all will be well!!

That SSC ustility I was talking about also has a few more useful functions. It will freeze your levels on your cartridges so that you can refill them as needed without having to use a chip re-setter. The multiple strength cleaning utility is great as is the ability to clean just the black or just the color heads. It's definitely a good tool if you're an Epson owner.

I hope this helps someone in ressurecting their printer

All my best!

Ron

[Leif Oh]

Thank you!!!

These instructions, and the images, were most useful. The Epson utility unfortunately doesn't work on a Mac - I would have loved to have that - but the tip about cleaning was great.

Many thanks again.

Leif

[Ron]

You're welcome Leif

I'll post some more pictures when I get home tonight. I wanted to take some
of the assembled syringe/tubing and the tube slid over the intake spikes.
The method really helped me out as I thought the printer was dead. Even the other day I was talking to Rick and cursing like no tomorrow. Somthing along the lines of the blue ink begining to make me look like a damn smurf!

Back later tonight!
Ron

[57townsman]

Ron,

Thanks for the cleaning tips! I could have used that about 6 months ago, I tossed a 6XX series printer due to dried and clogged heads

Unfortunately, I then had to upgrade

Steve

[IndiQa]

WELLL....This has to be one of the most helpful posts I have seen yet. On any of the many forums I subscribe to.

My Photo 1270 thanks you and I thank you Ron,

I would say this needs to be made "sticky" so It stays available and easy to find for everyone.

BRAVO! BRAVO!! ENCORE ENCORE....oh wait this isn't the opera board...

Curt

[rowiac]

Ron,
I don't mean to burst your bubble or anything, but for US$150.00 you might want to consider buying a whole new printer rather than setting up a CIS for it, depending on the age of your printer. I looked into CIS for my old clog-prone Epson Photo 750, but decided against it when I saw how much faster/quieter/better the new printers are.

I settled on a Canon i960 (US$160.00), but there are cheaper Canons that should be just as good for card modeling. I print photos in addition to card models, so I wanted the ability to use the printer for both. Anyway, the Canon has much larger tanks than the old Epson and they are individually replaceable.

I was always dealing with clogs on the Epson and the cleaning utility used a ton of ink. Just when I got it going good, one of the colors would run dry. Usually the clogging would happen if the printer sat for a couple of weeks. On some of the newer Epsons, the manual recommends that you turn the printer on once a week or so to prime the print head and avoid clogs, so this is a known problem.

I used to refill the ink tanks myself on the Epson, but for the Canon I can get generic tanks for about $3.00 each, making it not worth the hassle of refilling. I've had the Canon since March and have printed a whole bunch of models with it and I still haven't run out of ink in any of the tanks. I haven't had any clogs either. The Epson would have gone through at least two sets of color cartridges in the same amount of time. Not to mention that the Canon is way faster than the old Epson.

FWIW,

Roger

[Ron]

May I second this post - recently junked my Epson Photo 700 because of exactly the problems described.

I now use a Canon i560 and have been delighted with it - fast, great print quality, doesn't get blocked nozzles, etc.

Regards,

Charlie

[Ron]

Hi Charlie and Roger

My printer is only a year old. It's a cheap one and probably does need an upgrade. I like the idea of never having to replace a cartridge *and* 3/4 of a litre of ink. For some reason, Canadian retailers won't give away a cartridge for 3 or 4 bucks. It's more like 12.50 for 15ml of ink. Times that by 4 and it's 50.00 for print-rite generic cartridges. You see my point? I'm just happy that the bugger is living once again! Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to push the idea of a CIS, just excited and have an itch to scratch. Kinda like defeating the evil Cable empire or Satellite empire

I'm stuck finishing off a job moving an electrical service in a house and a whack of other things. When I get some time, I'll post those extra pics I was talking about. It's neat watching the printer get a Windex IV push.

Talk soon

Ron

[rowiac]

Hi Ron,

I suppose if you can get the CIS to last the equivalent of 3 sets of cartridges then you're past the break-even point.

On the other hand, you could try this site for inexpensive generic ink cartridges:

http://store.yahoo.com/cartridgequeen/index.html

The cartridges for my Canon are US$2.27 each (it uses 6). The Epson compatible cartridges seem to be equally inexpensive, assuming they have one that will fit your printer.

Which reminds me of another gripe I have against Epson -- they are always changing the cartridges with each new model line. Canon has been using the BCI-3 and BCI-6 cartridges for a while on many models, so production volume can bring the cost down and make it worthwhile for generic cartridges to be produced.

One other thing to keep in mind is that the CIS will probably not solve the clogging problem on your Epson. You will probably still need to do the Windex cleaning thing periodically (like I did). This was the major reason I went away from Epson.

Regards,
Roger

[weisswurst]

I think I'm with the guy who thinks this is too much work. My Epson Photo died from this very cause. After trying to clean it I just bought the Cannon i560 for $50 US. It is a much better printer than my old Epson (it was a ink hog and alway clogged) and the ink is much cheaper. Unless the Epson is one of the very expense models, I just don't think it would be worth the trouble unless you have all the materials aready on hand. We live in a throw away society, I just pitched the Epson.

[DrBill]

I'm using a Canon Pixma iP4200 that I got for Christmas last year (about $100). It does a fantastic job on both models and photos, especially if you use the appropriate color management settings. Good speed, and 5 cartridges (CMYK and black) that can be replaced individually (at about $11-$12) when needed.

[paper warrior]

Originally Posted by Leif Oh

Thank you!!!

These instructions, and the images, were most useful. The Epson utility unfortunately doesn't work on a Mac - I would have loved to have that - but the tip about cleaning was great.

Many thanks again.

Leif

you could make it a dual boot system and just get a copy of winduhs on there

[john wagenseil]

I have gone through a couple of Epsons due to clogged jets. I was never able to unclog jets even using syringe and tubing method.
I like the relatively straight paper path, and it used to be that Epson was only printer on market with durable pigments, but I am now fed up with recurrent print head clogging which seems to be a built in weakness of Epson technology.
This last time I bought replacement warrantee with my most recent Epson printer and taped it to printer bottom. This time when printer clogs (often after using non OEM cartridges to avoid epson high prices) I will put the used epson cartridges back in and take the printer back for a replacement.
My next ink jet printer purchase will not be an Epson. I am fed up with having to unk entire printer when print head goes belly up.

[RINGMASTER]

I recently receaved a letter from Epson offering all 4600 owers $25.00 if they would agree not to sue Epson for selling that piece of crap.

[NULLMOON]

i switched to cannon after a long line of epsons they never lasted longer than a year usally after getting trown out a second story window after crapping itself for the 100th time