printer- using after 8months idle -probs

jema_2

2 Epsom printers, trying to get to work after 8m none use,
fresh ink, many many head cleans via the pc, but cant get black to print on one, black & yell on the other, poked about with wet tissue in the cartridge carrier.... in both printers i cant get the head / carrier out its fastened to rails ...
ideas please
thx

sicker

Jema, I had this problem which after advise from Epsom I eventually cleared after head cleaning, over, and over, and over and over .............................................and over again. Don't know how many times but it did clear. Glad I was using compatible ink cartridges, would have cost a fortune in ink.
John.
ps just because mine cleared doesn't mean yours will. Best of luck.

T4i

Had a lexmark like this.....didnt use it for 5 months, now wont print black or yellow.

Just got a Brother printer/scanner memory card reader all-in-one from Tesco for £54. I'll make sure I keep using it at least once a month.

gavsto2005

Sounds like it's clogged, try another cartridge in it!

T4i

Thats what I thought with mine, so I dug deep and paid for a new black (just to try) still no ink.....

Pay for 2 new inks and you can just about buy yourself a new printer (with brand new inks included)

Loopylou_4

Have had the same problem with my canon printer too. Not used it for months, tried yesterday & wouldn't print anything highly frustrating

Rave

Canons and Epsons don't have the print head in the cartridge. Repeated head cleanings may or may not bring them back to life. Use cheap compatible inks for this otherwise it will cost a bomb!:eek: If repeated cleanings don't work, and you're at the stage where you're going to have to chuck the printer away anyway, then you could try using a cotton bud soaked in alcohol to clean the print head a bit- I tried this once, and you have to really force it under, but it did eventually bring about some improvement. As I say though, this is risky and should only be used as a last resort if the printer is not under warranty and is otherwise useless.

HPs and Lexmarks have the print head in the cartridge and so (assuming they have no other faults) they can be brought back to life just by buying a new cartridge (which however will be much more expensive than the compatible Canon/Epson carts:rolleyes: ).

jema_2

thx all, no sucess as yes, i hear the wheely bin calling !

chunter

Epson service dealers, (they're scattered all over the country) have a cure for this.
The normal method used to clean the heads is for the printer to squirt ink at the heads at high pressure. Therefore lot of ink used.
Epson dealers have a DOS-based service program which can squirt the ink at extremely high pressures to clear the heads - uses even more ink..

Price them first. It may be cheaper to buy a new printer..

jema_2

interesting experiment - last resort, alcohol didnt work, so am about to try boiling water then dry out before test - tee hee

oldrimes

Something that I've found to work:

is to fill an empty cartridge with some cleaning fluid (comes with ink refill kits), and put the printer through some cleaning cycles over the period of a day (to give any blocked nozzles a chance to be affected by the fluid).

Epson ink has a higher percentage of cleaning fluid in it anyway, because the print heads are in the printer, so using it helps keep the print heads clear.