How to "de-coke" Epson printer ink jets ?

I have the Epson Stylus Photo 890 printer and it has been little used for some time. I put in a new set of ink cartridges, ran the cleaning cycle several times but still it won't fire from all the jets.

Last time this happened to me was with a previous printer which was in warranty and the engineer attended and sorted out in a "few minutes" according to the person who was present, but I wasn't so didn't see how he did it / any re-aligning procedure.

Can anyone tell me how to get the ink flowing on this or a similar model ? I am sure its the bit that the cartridges sit on that has got some jets blocked.

Thanks,

Nick

Reply to
Nick
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Method #1. Windowlene Clear - not the pink stuff - put some drops in the needles in the "bit that the cartridge sits on"

Method #2. Skip the printer and spend £60 on a new Canon pixma ip4500

Prefer Method #2

Reply to
Adrian C

I never had much luck with inkjets due to irregular use and blockages, however I have just bought an ultrasonic cleaner bath and one of its suggested uses is clearing blocked inkjets.

Reply to
Harry Bloomfield

Fill old cartridges with solvent, Servisol AeroKleene50 works as well as any. Run cleaning cycle.Apply solvent diirectly to feeds. Epson jets are piezo and seperate from the cartridge.

Use deep clean option in Epson service utility

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had to junk an Epson 600 after 10 years and thousands of pages because of paper feed eventually getting erratic. Lived on a diet of comaptible carts, older Epsons like to clean their heads about every 2 miliseconds.R200 which is getting on a bit now is much less inclined to block its jets or clean so frequently.

Lot of decent deals on Epson `last weeks` models about, generally cheapest to feed on compatibles with Lexmark being at the opposite end of running cost spectrum....

Adam

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

Had this document for a while. When I found it on the net, I thought - this will be handy at some point:

The first thing a person should do if they notice a reduction in print quality (white lines or gaps) is to do a nozzle check. This can be found under Printer Utilities. This will show you exactly how many nozzles are not firing, and give you a baseline to check for improvement. Next you should try several cleaning cycles; many times this may get things flowing again.

There are 2 reasons for a print head to not give you a perfect nozzle check. The first being an actual clog, and the second being air bubbles, either in the cartridge or the print head. An old cartridge can lead to ink "thickening" and also cause problems. Of course, an empty cartridge will also cause trouble! If you are refilling cartridges and putting less than 7 cc's of ink in an empty chamber, you are not getting a "factory full" refill. This will cause the ink counter to say you still have ink when it's long gone. (See my earlier post on "The Ultimate Refill" method to see how to get "full" refills.

OK, let's say you know you have ink, and you've done 4-5 cleaning cycles and still get a bad nozzle check pattern.

Step 1: Distilled water injection into cartridge The first thing to do is try to get rid of an air bubbles. To do this I like to inject 1-2 cc's of distilled water into the colour chamber that is giving the bad nozzle check. To do this you will need a syringe and small needle (available at your local vet, or farm supply). Put the print head into the "change cartridge" position and remove the cartridge. Draw 1-2 cc's of distilled water into the syringe and poke the needle into the rear hole on the top of the cartridge. Aim for the middle of the bottom of the cartridge, about 1-1/4" in. (GENTLY...You don't want to pierce the internal filter screen). Now inject the distilled water above where the outlet port would be. Re-install the cartridge and let the printer do its "new cartridge bogie". Now LET IT SIT for 15-20 minutes! Then run a cleaning cycle and then another nozzle check. Sometimes this is all it takes. The distilled water will also help to thin ink that has become too viscous. I have run tests with ink diluted with as much as 50% distilled water and could hardly tell the difference, (ink ex tender?? :-). You may need to run a couple cleaning cycles to get everything flowing again. If this doesn't work, roll up your sleeves and proceed to STEP 2.

Step 2: Distilled water injection into print head Still clogged? Don't despair. Put the print head back into "cartridge change" position and remove the offending cartridge. Remove the needle from the syringe and draw 1cc of distilled water. Do you see the little pointed nipple that is in the hole where you pulled the cartridge from? This is the post that breaks the seal of a fresh cartridge and feeds ink to the print head. Place the plastic tip of the syringe firmly over the post. (Gently...if you break the post you're screwed). Slowly inject the distilled water into the post and remove syringe. Hopefully you just injected the distilled water into the print head, where it will displace any air bubbles and dissolve dried up ink deposits (kind a like fuel injector cleaner on a car). Let the printer sit for a good couple hours after this. The distilled water needs time to work its magic. Then reinstall cartridge and test as above. If you STILL have a problem after several cleaning cycles, it's time to get serious and remove the print head completely (STEP 3). This is not for the faint of heart and is reserved for more "technically inclined" users (it's really not that bad...I can have it out in 2-3 minutes). It may help to take a photo or video "before" shot to help you put it back together right!

Step 3: Removal and cleaning of print head

1: Move print head to "change cartridge" position and remove cartridges. 2: LEAVE POWER SWITCH ON AND UNPLUG PRINTER CORD. This will keep the print head where we want it.

3: Remove top cover of printer (4 screws.2 in front, 2 in back).

4: Carefully remove ribbon cable going into top of print head assembly.

5: Remove screw holding the metal arm at the bottom of the cartridge holder, remove metal arm.

6: There is a small plastic tab in front of where the ribbon cable plugs in; this is all that is left holding the print head.

7: Lift the tab over the protrusion of the print head and slide the print head assembly forward and up to remove.

Scary, huh? It's easier than it sounds. Now that you have that bugger out, it's time for a serious distilled water soak. Put enough distilled water into a cup to cover the whole thing (don't worry, it won't hurt anything). Now let it sit overnight. The distilled water will work its way in and do wonders while you sleep. The next morning, rinse the assembly with clean distilled water, shake off excess and let dry. Now we're ready for the real "nozzle test"! Get a foot of small bore plastic tubing that will fit onto the plastic tip of the syringe. I use a 1/16" I.D. tube that I soften with a lighter and widen the opening with a Bic pen so that it will slip onto the syringe. Now draw in 5-6 cc's of distilled water through the tubing into the syringe. Place the open end of the tubing over the feed post of the clogged colour. Now firmly inject the distilled water. If the head is clear, you will see 32 (colour) or 64 (black) very, very fine streams of distilled water spraying out of the nozzle plate on the bottom of the print head. If some are crooked or not spraying, we need to back flush that colour. VERY GENTLY clamp the print head (bottom side-nozzle plate- up) into a small vice or holding fixture of some kind. You will need both hands free. Now take your distilled water -syringe-tube combo and hold the tubing firmly over the micro-sized nozzle holes on the nozzle plate (a magnifying glass will help). While holding the tube firmly in place, force some distilled water into the nozzle holes (you know it's going in if it drips out the feed post). Keep moving and repeat until you go over ALL the nozzle holes. What this is doing is back flushing each jet in the print head and dislodging any foreign objects (dust, etc...) out of the print head. If a head has a rock in the pipes (dust, etc...) and you only flush from the top...you're just pushing it to the spray nozzle and it's still going to be clogged. A back flush like this is the only way to clear this type of clog, unless you replace the print head. Now you can slap it back together, run a couple cleaning cycles, and get back to printing.

I have not met a clog that I couldn't clear with the above methods. I recently had a 500 in the shop that someone had let the black run bone dry.

4 WEEKS LATER, they installed a new cartridge and ......"chaaaaaa.....know what???? unh-unh!!!" Clog city. No amount of cleaning cycles or distilled water injection would clear that gooey up print head. EVERY SINGLE NOZZLE WAS CLOGGED. This was a candidate for the old Epson "replace the print head" routine. So I figured what the hell! Let's pull the print head and test the "procedure". After a "Step 3" full boogie removal and back flush, I ran ONE cleaning cycle and......PERFECT.

Remember, this head was so clogged that I couldn't get even 1 nozzle to spray! I know it's kind of involved, but for us techies out there or for a printer out of warranty......it's the only way to go. Feel free to post questions to the Epson-Inkjet list or e-mail me direct. Good Luck!

Addendum: Added by Jim Liddil on the Epson-Inkjet list.

For just such an occurrence keep a clean empty cartridge on hand. Fill it with distilled water. Use a syringe and make sure it is full. Easy to do since you won't get ink everywhere. Put this cartridge in place of the other one. Let is sit and run cleaning cycles. You can let it go overnight if you have patience. If this fails then you can try the approach of putting a piece of tubing on a syringe that is just big enough to fit snug on the post where the cartridge plugs in. Then GENTLY try to force water or 70% isopropyl alcohol through the head. Put the water cartridge back in and run cleaning cycles. If all this fails it's time to send it to Epson or pull the heads yourself and clean them. My techniques are slight modifications of those presented by Steve Chlupsa.

Reply to
SantaUK

For those inkjets where the nozzle is integral to the cartridge, I've had some success by standing them up, nozzle down, in a bowl of boiling hot water. In some cases I've used a metal can and applied some heat underneath to bring the water up to boiling point to good effect.

Regards,

Reply to
Stephen Howard

Welcome to the wonderful world of Epson clogged heads. Epson printers are the worst pile of s**te that's ever been made for head clogging problems. I had one that did it continuously if you left it more than a few days without using it. I eventually got so frustrated with it using about a pint of ink out of each cartridge every time it was put through a clean cycle, that I eventually binned it and went to PC World to get a new all-in-one. Foolishly, I allowed the salesman to talk me into a different Epson Model, on the grounds that they couldn't make more than one model that was total crap. Wrong ... The replacement was as bad if not worse than the previous one for clogging. Try looking at this on the 'net. You will find that they are well known for it.

Eventually, I gave up on it, and drop-kicked it down the garden. I went straight to Staples, and bought an HP, as I should have done in the first place. This gives stirling service, as the first ever one that I had did, and never ever clogs. Even if you manage to unclog your Epson this time, before realising that you've just rinsed about 30 quids-worth of ink in the attempt, it *will* clog again next week, and the week after. Take my advice, ditch it now, and put your money to a nice new HP. You'll never regret it.

Arfa

Reply to
Arfa Daily

I will second that I have a HP C6280 all in one and I have never had to clean the heads and it always prints 100%, I used to have a Epson and a Lexmark both used to clog on a weekly basis

Reply to
Kevin

I threw mine out of the first-floor study window. It flew about as well as it printed.

Reply to
Huge

You only get so much time per life, and I've spent too much time unclogging inkjets. Dont waste any more time, get a lazer. Theyre cheap now.

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Mines just the same, right PITA. It doesn't get much use just for the occasional photo print but nearly every time(*) I want to use it it need= s multiple nozzle checks and cleaning cycles.

Ink for it seem to be getting hard to find and I've only ever had decent= photo results on Epson paper. Some Kodak paper I have produces decidedly= red tinged images, same settings but on Epson paper are fine.

If the monochome laser, that does most printing work, packs in I'll be looking very hard at a colour laser but not sure how well the the =A3150= to =A3200 ones do at the colour printing I require. IE. photographs on heav= y glossy paper.

(*) Just occasionally it won't but that is very rare. I have to pick my =

self back up off the floor...

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

Ditto, i've only ever had 2 HPs - the second I still use (5150), the first (870Cxi) I gave away on freecycle still in perfect working condition a few months ago - despite not having been used for about 3 years, it worked first time.

Reply to
Colin Wilson

lasers not cheap to run if you want colour and not very good for photos

Reply to
Kevin

I thought colour lasers were cheaper to run than inkjets. Lasers much happier with cheaper paper than inkjets. Quality acceptable for home use; if I want professional photo prints I get them done online. But to be honest once they're behind glass and hanging on the other side of the room I can't really tell the difference.

Owain

Reply to
Owain

Samsung mono laser seems to be around =A340 from couple of vendors, cheap enough to refill and laser dosen`t clog with only occasional use. Got a HP2600, really rebadged older Canon mech, its not bad at photos but no where near 6 colour inkjet quality. Don`t put inkjet glossy paper through a laser printer, the coating might melt on to the fuser drum.

Adam

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

Well, thanks guys - seems like I can clean it if I have time to spare but it won't last long - Yes I have run nearly a whole catridge through on cleaning cycles and no real difference, so I'll try the stage three clean on one of the above and start looking for a new HP. Any recommendations for current HPs ? Budget around £75 for a colour inkjet only ( don't need / want scanner / copier built in, as have those devices - really only for occasional photos and it would be good if it ran on non-original ink but not really bothered as used so little.

Thanks,

Nick

Reply to
Nick

I guess that depends on what you feed your inkjet on. Makers branded cartridges or no name compatibles and if the printer has individually replaceable colours or just a black one and multiple colour one. All the colour laser printers I've looked at have seperate colour and black toners.

A set of Epson 890 cartridges cost not a great deal different to a toner cartridge. But with all the cleaning and messing about I only get less than 100 pages (some 6x4 photos, other colour prints) total from a colour cartridge. I'd expect to get >1000 pages from a laser.

And produce much sharper denser text and are quicker than an inkjet for letters etc

That is certainly a good option these days.

Reply to
Dave Liquorice

You've run nothing at all as no ink came out. At work and personally I have used dozens of Epson inkjet printers with compatible cartridges only. When the printers clog, the 100% working solution is to use household ammonia (available in all hardware stores for a pound or two depending on size of bottle and profit margin of store) + water.

1 volume ammonia + 4 volumes of water Remove cartridges, squirt ammonia solution in the holes in the printer where the ink goes. Put cartridges back, wait an hour, do a cleaning run and it works.

PS - Ignore the twits whose only unclogging advice is that you shouldn't have an Epson!

Reply to
Emil Tiades

I still use my B&W laserjet for the grunt work (quite cheap to run with ebay cartridges) and a colour one for (reserve) B&W and colour. It works out considerably cheaper[6] than inkjets, more reliable and it isn't easy to tell teh difference compared with the inkjet (except when inkjet heads get bocked, or the print gets wet.

[6] Capital cost of toner set high, but lasts a very long time. Might change printer when next one runs out in a couple of years.
Reply to
<me9

It can just take a lot of cleaning cycles to get an Epson that has been left standing going again. If that doesn't work, take the covers off, make sure the cartridge carrier is unlocked and the printer is switched off, feed a piece of strong absorbent paper or cotton cloth under the heads, dose liberally with head cleaning solvent e.g.:

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move the carriage back and forth over the moist cloth / paper. You may need a few changes of paper / cloth, but it should eventually get the head clear. Once the printer is working properly, a regime of turning it on and letting it run a start-up cleaning cycle at least once a week should avoid the problem recurring.

Colin Bignell

Reply to
nightjar

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