We've been getting some pretty ugly printouts lately and finally realized that it is all caused by just one color on the color ink cartridge. We've done several cleanings (so many that our color ink went out fast) and replaced the ink cartridge twice and it still looks exactly the same when we do a test page print out. The magenta box on the bottom has visible lines with white line spaces and some lines even extending outside the box (and the same goes for any colors that involve the magenta color, like the orange box and the purple text). I'm wondering if anyone knows any other way to clean the print heads besides running through the cleaning cycle or if there is any other way to solve this problem. I'm feeling pretty frustrated because we spent over $60 in ink cartridges just trying to figure out and fix this problem and I feel that if we spend any more money to have it repaired we could've just used that money to purchase a new, improved version. I'm really hoping we can at least fix this enough on our own to get some decent Christmas cards printed out... but we're running out of time! Any suggestions out there?

-- Sharon Carroll (marc_alley@sprynet.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

A few possibilities come to mind. 1. uninstall the software and drivers. and reinstall 2. the documentation with the printer should tell you how to do a printer self test[not connected to the PC] (something to do with holding one or more buttons down while turning on the printer. If you get the bleeding from the test page that would rule out software. 3. the printer might need to be physically cleaned. You would have to take it to an authorized service center. 4. a mechanical problem. Again the Authorized Epson Service Center. It SOUNDS like a clogged print head.

dave

-- David Erskine (davide@netquest.com), December 20, 1999.

Thanks for the response. I'm pretty certain it's either a clogged printhead or the printhead is ruined, but it would cost a minimum of $60 to have the printhead cleaned and there's no guarantee that will do the trick. At that point I'd just as soon get a new printer rather than risk throwing good money after bad. I was just hoping to find some last ditch effort I could make at home before writing off the printer. We took it apart but couldn't figure out how to remove the print heads. I tried using an eye dropper and forcing alcohol through the top of the print head to clean it (I'm willing to try anything at this point!) but that had no effect at all. I also tried sticking a cloth soaked in alcohol under the printheads and passing it over back and forth, but it's hard to say I actually made contact with the red printhead since it's in the hardest to reach position. I'm starting to think that maybe the HP way of having the printheads part of the cartridge is a good idea. I've got a lot of use out of this printer, but still it seems a shame to just have to throw it away or invest so much more money (if the printhead is damaged it would cost more than a new printer to replace it!).

-- Sharon Carroll (marc_alley@sprynet.com), December 21, 1999.

Check out www.missupply.com. They have a faq regarding cleaning clogged printer heads on epson printers. One thing to remember about these printers is that if you are not using them for a while that the printer is turned off. when the printer is turned off, the heads are capped and the ink in the heads don't dry out.

-- Jonathan Ratzlaff (jonathanr@clrtech.bc.ca), December 23, 1999.

I worked on a 600 Stylus. I went into ADVANCED, selected MAIN tab, and adjusted the colors. Blue and yellow are all the way down and magenta is all the way up. Prints are still not the greatest but I can now tolerate looking at them. You can save your settings and give it a title. I think the problem is that the blue and yellow are partially clogged. Too many people have had a lot of trouble trying to clean out the clogs. Personally, HP has the right idea of having the print head as part of the ink cartridge. My HP 812 makes beautiful prints. I'm staying with HP. Thank you. Dave

-- Dave Peterlin (phredpete@yahoo.com), May 30, 2003.