Epson Inkjet printers - useless once clogged?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I've bought two of these in the past two years, a C82, and an R200. They performed flawlessly until I didn't use them for awhile, and then each one clogged and won't print worth a damn, even in B&W. I'm beginning to think that these printers are just plain old junk. When I email Epson tech support, they only say "try the head cleaning utility". Duh, but it still doesn't help. Are these things just really, REALLY poorly designed, or am I missing something?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    Never been a fan of Epson myself. I use Canon printers and scanners all the way.
  • Reply 2 of 10
    webmailwebmail Posts: 639member
    Yes they clog easy do the the ink type. All Epson printers currently have the same poor printhead design. Just junk it. I used to be a fanatic for Epsons printers. Finally tried out canon ip8500 and I'm NEVER going to use epson ever again.



    You won't either. Canon actually cares about how the inside functions unlike epson.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chris Fitzgerald

    ... and then each one clogged and won't print worth a damn, even in B&W....



    B&W is not a real test. With color printers, the so-called B&W output is a mix of all colors, not just the black cartridge. That's why you most certainly will get color shifts with B&W prints from a color printer as different colors fade differently.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    cakecake Posts: 1,010member
    Here's a little how-to regarding unclogging Epson printheads.

    Kind of involved, but worth it if you don't want to buy another printer.



    And I used to be like webmail - Loved Epson printers! I've owned five of them, then bought a cheapie C62 and it sucked, recently bought a big, badass R800 so that I could print in DVD's, but it refuses to work. It prints documents and photos great, but I wanted DVD printing.



    I'm going Canon for my next printer.
  • Reply 5 of 10
    when I had an epson and it clogged the easiest way to unclog it was to use windex... yes windex...



    Pull out the cartridges, put a couple drops of windex (with ammonia) on each of the print head "sticks." Leave it to soak for about a minute, put the cartridges in and wait about half an hour. Then run the clean print head utility a couple times and it should be good as new. If not... repeat..



    Ammonia does wonders at breaking up dried ink.



    And that's why when my epson bit the dust I immediately went Canon... although the lack of printer sharing between mac/windows sucks
  • Reply 6 of 10
    aquamacaquamac Posts: 585member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by baranovich

    Never been a fan of Epson myself. I use Canon printers and scanners all the way.



    Amen!

    Stylus color 777i Ink was more expensive then a new Canon i560 with colour ink. It's much faster, better print quality, cheaper ink/needs less frequent replacement, much quieter and has a replacable print head.

    Why stick with the Epson?
  • Reply 7 of 10
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by drumsticks

    B&W is not a real test. With color printers, the so-called B&W output is a mix of all colors, not just the black cartridge. That's why you most certainly will get color shifts with B&W prints from a color printer as different colors fade differently.



    It hasn't been since the Deskjet 540 that this was the case. Pretty much every color inkjet printer has a separate black and color cartridge and printhead. Perhaps some mega-cheap printers still do this, but anything over US$60 seems to have dual nozzles.
  • Reply 8 of 10
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Splinemodel

    It hasn't been since the Deskjet 540 that this was the case. Pretty much every color inkjet printer has a separate black and color cartridge and printhead. Perhaps some mega-cheap printers still do this, but anything over US$60 seems to have dual nozzles.



    Yes, I know there's a separate black hence cmyK (emphasis on K). Higher end printers would have photo versions of some colors, and may include green and red as well. But printing a B/W output still uses all colors (or at least most) as it would not be possible to get a good range of greys with just the black.



    To proof this to yourself, purposely uncalibrate your printer by selecting alignment options that are way off. Then print a B/W image. You'll see the colors!
  • Reply 9 of 10
    pbg4 dudepbg4 dude Posts: 1,611member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by AquaMac

    Amen!

    Stylus color 777i Ink was more expensive then a new Canon i560 with colour ink. It's much faster, better print quality, cheaper ink/needs less frequent replacement, much quieter and has a replacable print head.

    Why stick with the Epson?




    I go through tons of ink on my 777i because I rarely print. Then once I actually decide to print something, I have to run the head cleaning utility which wastes tons of ink. Maybe once I'm out of ink again I'll go looking for another printer since it'll cost $50 for replacement ink anyway.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by drumsticks

    Yes, I know there's a separate black hence cmyK (emphasis on K). Higher end printers would have photo versions of some colors, and may include green and red as well. But printing a B/W output still uses all colors (or at least most) as it would not be possible to get a good range of greys with just the black.



    To proof this to yourself, purposely uncalibrate your printer by selecting alignment options that are way off. Then print a B/W image. You'll see the colors!




    I believe you, it's just that in normal text files it's mostly just black. Anyway, I just bought a Ricoh CL2000. . . what am I doing here.
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