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  #11  
Old 10-11-2020, 05:26 AM
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gotham gotham is offline
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Just noticed you say you use 3rd party ink. That will also be a problem. I know manufacturers ink is expensive (it's where they make their money, not in the printer), but you will have less problems when using it. 3rd part ink is usually thinner and therefore can dry up even faster.
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  #12  
Old 10-11-2020, 07:05 AM
John Wagenseil John Wagenseil is offline
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Epson printers have become less tolerant of 3rd party cartridges.
If you are willing to take the gamble start your printer with Epson cartridges, and if it starts, then try switching to re manufactured cartridges.
Otherwise bite the bullet and consider getting a new printer. Five years is a good run for a printer, and a new printer only costs a little bit more than a full set of new ink cartridges.
To keep your printer operating, you should print a test page every few weeks to keep the ink nozzles from drying up.
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  #13  
Old 10-11-2020, 08:37 AM
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SCEtoAUX SCEtoAUX is offline
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If you did an Epson firmware update it probably disabled the non-OEM ink cartridges.
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  #14  
Old 10-11-2020, 04:40 PM
SteveB SteveB is offline
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Older printers were a lot more user friendly. My first inkjet was an Epson 640 (I think!) which ran for years, was pretty much bulletproof and gave brilliant results. It was also very practical. If, for example, you just wanted to print some rough notes off and the black ink had run out, you could just use blue or even red.

When a replacement PC didn't have a serial port, I bought an Epson 4400 (or something like that). The prints are ok, but if any one of the cartridges runs out you're stuffed - it refuses to print anything at all until it's replaced. And a full set of OEM cartridges actually costs more than the printer did!
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  #15  
Old 10-12-2020, 09:29 AM
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Damraska Damraska is offline
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Never give up. Never surrender.

So, last night, I discovered two additional problems that can plague inkjet printers using refillable cartridges.

First, the outlet port on a refillable cartridge can clog. I was under the impression clogs always occurred at the print head. Factory ink cartridges almost never suffer this problem since they arrive vacuum sealed, the printer head punctures the outlet port membrane exactly once, and then the whole thing gets tossed when the ink runs out. Since refillable cartridges get pulled and put back many times, dried pigment ink will eventually build up around the membrane and produce a clog.

Second, refillable cartridges invariably fall over and get tossed around during a refill operation. That often introduces air into the cartridge. Nozzle cleaning usually fixes this problem. However, in a very bad case, air can get trapped in the passage leading to the outlet port, causing an 'air lock' on the cartridge. In this state, it will not print at all.

A cotton swab and some cleaning solution can pretty much deal with an outlet port issue. Removing an 'air lock' requires more work. I ended up sticking all four refillable cartridges in a plastic bag and then using a vacuum to suck all the air out for about 60 seconds. I then blew as hard as I could into the top air port to force the ink down through the vertical channel to the outlet port. That brought back three colors. A second round brought back the black.

At this point the printer works well enough for office use but streaking makes it unsuitable for card models. I will let it sit for a day and go for round 6 (7?) tomorrow.

Anyway, I am leaving this information here in case anyone else ever suffers this problem. In summary, something I did this morning resulted in a significant improvement and I still hate Epson printers.

PS: I have close to $400 invested in this piece of ... equipment. It prints wide format and was specifically purchased for card models. It has never printed anything else. To date, I have completed exactly two card models printed on this thing, and it has produced perhaps 100 usable pages in 4 years. It is my Moby Dick. Oh, hey. Someone should make a card model of him.
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  #16  
Old 10-12-2020, 10:50 AM
John Wagenseil John Wagenseil is offline
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The big box Office supply stores used to have sales where you got a significant discount on a new printer if you brought in your old printer for recycling.
If they offer another sale like that in the near future, you can take advantage of it to get a replacement printer.
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  #17  
Old 10-12-2020, 11:03 AM
John Wagenseil John Wagenseil is offline
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PS: I use my Epson Work Force more as a scanner with ADF, than I do as a printer.

It produces good prints but it is an ink hog, I do most of my day to day printing on an ancient Epson C88 which still works fine after many years.
This is my 2nd Epson WF, fortunately the first one died while it was still within the warantee period.

I learned long ago, that you have to print the built in test page every week or so in order to keep the print head from drying up.
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