Printer not printing properly!

geek84

Hi Folks

I have had an Epson SX415 printer for over a year now. Recently, I changed one or two cartridges (because the previous ones became empty!) and since then, it is not been printing properly. For example, If I print a letter, the characters come out all smugged and the colour yellow also appears in some parts of the characters. Also, the printer seems to print half of the characters - sometimes the top half is missing and vice Versa!

I did buy these new cartridges from a website - they were a lot cheaper than the local retailers. Although, before buying, I did make sure that they were compatible with the printer, do you think I bought a cheaper version of the cartridges and that has caused the problems?

Can you advice how I can solve the problem? I have cleaned the printing head etc, but that doesn't seem to make a difference.
If it is a problem which will cost to sort out, do you think I should just get rid of this printer and buy a new one?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

santer_2

Did you print the nozzle check, if so, were all the colour bars complete

Did you pay less than £2:99 for the set of cartridges, do you have the make of them?

david39

The problem will probably lie with one of the following:

Air has entered the pipe connecting the ink cartridge with the print head and is effectively blocking it - do a proper clean to purge the airlock.

While the printer has been idle (especially with an empty cartridge) the ink inside the pipes has solidified and is blocking them - again, a major purge of the lines by doing several cleaning routines.

With Epson printers, it is essential that you switch them off at the switch on the panel on the printer and not by just switching off at the wall switch - by doing it properly, the tubes containing ink are sealed so that they do not dry out, switching off at the wall does not do this.

Also - do not leave the printer switched on for hours without using it - effectively, the same thing happens.

http://www.mwords.co.uk/catalog/info-articles-printer-maintenance-c-15_128.html

Read the various pages on the above web site for loads of hints and tips on Epson printers - even about how to clean out a completley bunged up one. Isopropyl alcohol referred to in it is available from Maplins.