Epson Printer problems...

BertieUK

As I said in an earlier post I sent an email to Epson re my problems and today I received a reply and I would like to share with you part of their response...

Quote:-Epson recommend the use of genuine Epson cartridges only in their machines as the genuine cartridges contain an anti-congealment fluid which helps prevent and clear blockages from the print head and nozzles. Also we recommend that cartridges are changed after 6 months of when they are inserted in the machine as after this time the quality of the ink inside can deteriorate in quality.

As a further measure to prevent blockages we do recommend to switch the printer on once a week and allow it to complete its startup procedure if the printer has not been used for printing. This start up procedure expels the old ink from the print head and nozzles and replaces it with fresh ink. Please note this will use a nominal amount of ink and will work out more cost effective than head cleaning. Unquote.

I thought that the start up proceedure was an interesting point as hope you do also.

Kind regards
Bob

andy2004

wow, to epson response.
they recommend you change cartridges after 6months after being inserted.
of course, means you end up buying to full sets a year minimum if your a low user. good way of ripping their customers off, sorry them making money .
The inks I bought from ink-power coming upto 3years now and it still works perfectly, 2 year shelf life according to the company, but still print perfectly, never had a blockage or needed to run a nozzle clean.
Print quality is as good as epsons originals considering I only paid £10.99 for a set of 14 cartridges, and i still have 1 full set remaining.
price has dropped since.
May i ask which 2 suppliers you ordered from?

BertieUK

andy2004 Thanks for your input.
Yes a response from Epson allbeit in their favour I felt that they were giving a good response to my problems and as we are well aware compatable ink prices cannot be ignored.

I have the feeling that the last three printers that I have purchased have been close to cost, with very little profit to the company and their hope is that I would purchase ink like their was no tomorrow and that is where their profits would come from

This has been my first attempt at buying on Ebay so I can only say that I am pleased with the purchase price, it only remains to be seen whether the product can 'blow me away'

The two companies that I chose to provide me with cartridges for the SX415 and the DX4000 are on Ebay under the following item numbers. 150461544333 and 290762031599. I give you these numbers as I am not sure how to copy their email address, being a pensioner I am not to bright with computers

kind regards
Bob

PS I had wondered what type of fluid I could purchase to clean the printers heads, as I thought that it might be a good idea to, say every couple of weeks of occasional use, to put a kitchen towel folded under the printer head treated with cleaning fluid and remove before printing, just a thought.

santer_2

Now that using compatibles will reduce the running costs you could see how the printer gets on with being switched off and on as per the advice from Epson, even if it does use a nominal amount of ink

I'm just wondering what the first couple of prints will be like if there is any head cleaner left on the print head.

If you do need head cleaner, this is one option, though google for better prices

http://www.refreshcartridges.co.uk/cartridge-flush-250ml-bottle-available-p-26601.html

BertieUK

santer Many thanks for your input and info.

Now that I understand more about printers I intend to afix a seperate container on the rear of my printer(s) to collect the cleaning / ink fluids into, instead of the pad that is fitted, getting soaked. This way it will give me an insight just as to the volume that is used by the cleaning operations carried out by the printer, this exercise could be interesting.

Kind regards
Bob

santer_2

If you scroll down and click download WIC Reset Utility here

http://www.epsonreset.com/

Unzip and install that, then run it and click read waste ink counters just before you run a head clean, make a note of the figures. Run the head clean then click read waste ink counters to give you the new figures and how much of the waste ink counters were used.

Reading the counters is free

Fitting a waste tank will be useful but the printer will still show a parts inside your printer need a service etc, when it reaches the figure set by the internal software.

If you do see this message, post back as free resetters are becoming available, the WIC buy a key will cost around £5 so avoid using that if you can

BertieUK

santer Many thanks for your input

Many thanks for the WIC Reset Utility and all the relevant information that you have kindly provided this will certainly be an invaluable piece of software.

Also the info' on the Cartridge Flush that you provided.

Kind regards
Bob

BertieUK

santer Yesterday my supplies of ink arrived and you previously asked the following ....

Quote Genuine usually may have 6.5ml of ink and compatibles vary between 13ml and 19ml

I looked at the ebay link and didn't see how much those have so if you order any of those, I would be interested to know about the ink content...Unquote

Where on the cartridge can be found the ink content? or do they not want to disclose this?

The only figures that it might be, is beside the 'chip' which is V6.0

Kind regards
Bob

santer_2

Possibly on the box

If they didn't come in the box, maybe on the wrapper

No problem if it isn't easy to find, I can e-mail them before getting any

I would think they will have at least double the genuine ones.

Hope the quality of the printing is good

BertieUK

Santer I have checked all of those places with no luck. One supplier send boxed the other all contained in one box with wrappers..

Cheers...

Regards
Bob