Archived from groups: comp.sys.hp.hardware,comp.periphs.printers,misc.consumers (
More info?)
"Curtis CCR" <curtisccr@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:c678797a.0409031336.146eb341@posting.google.com...
> Shawn Hearn <srhi@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:<srhi-94769B.09030029082004@news-40.giganews.com>...
> > In article <22986a60.0408281027.24d8037@posting.google.com>,
> > tree01@inreach.com (Felix Oscar) wrote:
> >
> > > I have to use or clean my HP inkjet color cartridge every two weeks or
> > > it will put white lines through the image. Is this just true of all
> > > inkjet printers or what?
> > >
> > > Why does the clogging produce the white lines which would imply
> > > exactly one area on the head is clogged?
> >
> > I have never had to do that with any of the Epson ink jet printers
> > I have owned. I clean them only once in a blue moon when I notice
> > the print quality is diminished.
>
> I just had a C82 Stylus go bad on me. I don't think it was clogged
> print heads, but after going online to get tips on what the problem
> might, I found a lot of people complaining about clogged heads on
> Epsons. But even among those complaints, it appeared the biggest
> cause of trouble was third party cartridges. Epson touts their
> pigment based "Dura Brite" ink, and many say that the nozzles don't
> tolerate substitutes well.
>
> Inkjet nozzles, regardless of brand, will be prone to drying up and
> possibly clogging after extended periods of non-use. And a couple of
> weeks may be considered an "extended period" for some printers. But
> hell, they can clog with regular use too - The C82 we had, and the C86
> we have now will briefly pause printing to touch up the heads in the
> middle of print jobs.
Maybe this can help EPSON users. It's not mine. I copied it off the
internet, but it has good pointers.....
First you have to realize that any Non-Epson Ink or Ink Cartridges is not
the same ink formulation as the ink in the Epson Cartridges. Epson Ink Jet
Style Printers are one of the few printers on the market that seem to have
so many problems with non-manufactors inks. Epson Printers use a completely
different printhead inking system than most other brands of printers. Epsons
"Micro Piezo Ink Jet Technology" and the ultrafine 4-picoliter ink droplets
used in most of the Epson Ink Jet Style Printers, just don't always work
well with Non-Epson Inks. Most, if not all of the other manufactors, use
thermal or bubble jetprint heads and because the other brands use a totally
different system, they don't seem to have as many problems using refilled
inks or non-manufactor's ink cartridges. No matter what anyone says, all
blacks and colors are not the same. Printer manufacters do not make
available their ink formulation and in most cases, the formulation is
patented. Any difference in the ink formulation can clog the small printhead
nozzles or damage other critical components. One individual printhead nozzle
is so tiny, that it will not accept a human hair, so you can see why they
can get clogged so easily, or even why the nozzles can be so easily damaged.
Epson has many different formulas just for its black ink, for all the
different Epson Printers, let alone for their colored inks. Generally if you
are using Non-Epson Ink Cartridges, or refilling your old cartridges, you
are using the wrong ink for your printer and sooner or later you will have
some type of problems, almost everyone does. You are taking your chances by
using Third-Party or Generic ink cartridges, or even by refilling your old
cartridges. I understand the differences in the costs of the Non-Epson Ink
and Ink Cartridges, compared to the Epson Ink Cartridges and the choice is
always yours to make. It really does not matter to me what type of ink
cartridges you decide to use in your Epson Printer...You need to run a
Nozzle Test and see how that pattern looks. If there are "Void Lines" or
"White Lines" thru the blocks of colors then you need to do the Print Head
Cleaning Cycle and then the Nozzle Test again, to try and clean out the
print heads. You may have to run several sets of these tests to try and get
rid of those void lines. If after 5 or 6 sets of tests those lines are not
gone, then you might have a bad cartridge, or a possibly clogged print head
assembly, theres no way to really know. It's possible that you may even have
an actual HARDWARE PROBLEM [parts problem], but normally the most common
problem is clogging of the print head nozzles. You might want to try using
the Epson Stylus Head Cleaning Solution, available through the home page on
"fixyourownprinter.com", at " http://fixyourownprinter.com/ ". When it
opens, click-on Epson, under PRINTER REPAIR KITS. Then click-on "Epson
Stylus Head Cleaning Solution" and that page should then open correctly. The
Epson Solution sells for around $10.00 plus shipping. It includes a syringe
and some Epson Printhead Cleaning Solution, which is designed to dissolve
most clogs, especially if you were using Epson inks. This is the same
chemical used by Epson in their service department. You can try it if you
want to and see if you can get the printhead nozzles to open up again. If
you want to see what's involved in print head cleaning, Wes has supplied a
link that might help:
http://www.epsonhelp.web1000.com/printhead.html and he
also suggests trying the SSC service utility form here
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml...ON THE OTHER HAND: If that Nozzle test
comes out looking ok, then that indicates that your printer is normally
working ok. You have to realize that your printer simply receives DATA from
your Computer System, which tells it what to print. Usually, what you see on
your Monitors Screen, is close to the image that is printed out by your
printer. That image cannot always be matched exactly thru the Software Data
sent to your printer. Its possible that settings may not be correct in your
computers software, or possibly even corrupted Printer Drivers. You can
delete your old drivers and download the latest available drivers from the
Epson Home Page at
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/index.jsp . As drivers
are FREE, I usually recommend trying those first if you have a communication
problem. Bad or corrupted drivers can cause many problems. "DEINSTALL"
[remove] your old drivers/printer first and then go to the "EPSON.COM"
web-site. Look under "DRIVERS AND SUPPORT" and then click-on "DRIVERS AND
DOWNLOADS". Look under the "Ink Jet Printers" for your "Epson Stylus Photo
820" and click-on it. Once the "DOWNLOAD PAGE" opens, read the INFORMATION
to locate your particular SYSTEM [Win's 95,98,ME,2000.etc.] and then
click-on it. Follow the directions and read all the available information
concerning your systems driver downloads. Finally at the bottom of the page,
click-on "Printer Software Installation for Windows ___ [Epson Printers]",
or the "Download" option button. After the downloading utility opens, read
the download information available, make your choices and complete the
installation...Good Luck! Denny Conway...P.S. Check for an e-mail from me,
with some additional information on the print head cleaning solution, in
case you need to use it.
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