Epson Printer color problem

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I have an Epson 880. I have been refilling the cartridges for over a year. With the last color color refill, now only the yellow prints. I have tried the clean/nozzle check cycle several times, over a period of a few days. This particular cartridge is on its third refill. I think the cartridge is only a supply for permanent jets in the carrier. Any ideas what might kick the blue and magenta loose?

BTW, Black works well, even through seven or eight refills.

Errol

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I don’t know about the Epson, but I have used an alcohol wipe to gently wipe the nozzels.

Another trick I remember techs using on older inkjets was to spray very lightly with a light oil, I wouldn’t try this myself except out of sheer desperation.

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You could of course, buy a Epson cartridge, perhaps?!

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Just a relative note & caveat when buying new Epson ink cartridges:

Bogus Ink Stink

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I’m thinking John is on the right track….those cartridges do wear out after a few uses, right around 7 or 8 in my experience.

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I wouldn’t mind manually cleaning the nozzles, except they are permanent and remain in the cartridge carrier. The cartridge does not have nozzles, just a large (3mm) hole where the ink flows out the bottom. As for buying a new one, yes, I do every so often. But the economics goes this way: $23 gets you a new cartridge, that works for, say three weeks around here. OR, $24 gets you 16 oz. of black ink, which lasts two years.

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Well, what are the economics of having to spring for a new printer because the refill ink has gummed up the jets? I really do appreciate the frustration you feel about the costs involved here, but I’m one who looked into, and decided against, refilling my own cartridges. I soothe myself by realizing what the costs would be of going to a print shop every time I wanted a color print, if I didn’t have a working color printer (with really amazing quality, when you think about what we can do with a home computer these days).

Hope you can get it ungummed, but unfortunately this may be the price you pay for using a cheap alternative (sorry to say)

kip

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Kip,
Thanks for the comments. I know the ink jets in the 880 (at least) are permanent, built into the printer. I realized later the problem is in the seal between the cartridge and the print head. I plopped in a new cartridge and the output is fine. So, ink jets remain unclogged.

I just need to toss the old cartridges sooner than I wanted. Even refilling them once keeps me ahead.

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Glad to hear my tales of gloom and doom were unfounded. I was just recently reading about a lawsuit in (I think) the Netherlands where a brand of printer has an automatic shutdown when the cartridge gets low, so as not to harm the print heads. Problem is, tests are showing the cartridges to be as much as 30% full when this auto shutdown occurs. Of course now I can’t find the story. I remember one quoted factoid; that some cartridge ink is more expensive per ounce than ’85 Dom Perignon (and it leaves those ugly black stains on your teeth!)

kip

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See the thread starting at post 272117 in Scuttlebutt.

A Dutch consumer organization has accused Epson of employing a chip in their ink cartridges that deliberately shuts off ink flow long before the cartridge is empty, and advises consumers not to buy Epson ink jet printers until this has been remedied. See Epson, we have a problem.

Epson argues that the chip is necessary to avoid damage to the print heads, and that the consumer doesn’t pay for the unused ink. It has started a law suit against the consumer organization and launched an advertising campaign to present its side of the argument to the public.

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It’s funny when they say the consumer isn’t paying for the unused ink.

For example, I buy the cartridge for $20 (or any other currency for that matter). The last 30% is left in the cartridge… I’m not using it, and no one else is using it, so I have to pay $20 for another cartridge. If I’m not paying for the leftover, shouldn’t my second (and so on) cartridge be $17 ????

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Nope. $14 by my reckoning

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oops…. was it late when I wrote that?

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Probably
Actually, I suspect the manufacturers’ argument would be that it is the packaging that costs $20 and the ink is free, thus you are not paying for any unused ink . . .

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Sorry to have opened the can of worms, but the argument is still valid, it seems, if you have to buy new packaging at a 30% faster clip than you would if you were allowed to use all that free ink…….

kip

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Update: the Dutch consumer organization has withdrawn all its accusations against Epson. They state that Epson has convinced them that the piezo technology used by Epson ink jet printers requires some ink to stay in the cartridge.

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Hans,
Epson’s later printers do have the “kill chip” in the cartridge. (And of course, you can buy software and other accoutrements to reset those things.) My model (880) does NOT use the chip. As I mentioned, the problems seems to be in the connection between the cartridge and the carrier (that has the ink jets). Looks like I’ll be getting three or four uses per cartridge, using ALL the ink I load it with.

Bruce, you’re right, counterfeit ANYTHING is bad news. The counterfeiters are just ripping the buyer off. However, many places sell ink, either in off-brand cartridges, or bulk ink. I usually buy from http://www.inkgirl.com (it’s really a guy). The proprietor has some opinions & it’s kind of fun. But I believe he knows his ink.

Errol

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It seems pretty clear that the printer is a loss leader for the ink cartridges, whose prices are truly ink-credible! And there’s been some discussion in the HP groups about the expiry dates on ink cartridges; I don’t know whether Epson do this too?

So not only do cartridges cost a fortune, they are also time-limited!

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The guy who runs inkgirl.com says the ink (at least what he sells) should last 3-4 years. I’ve never noticed an expiration date on an Epson cartridge or its box.

As for pricing, bulk ink, no matter where you get it, costs so much less. .5 Liter of ink might go for $25. That makes about 150 refills, depending on your cartridge. Need I say more?

Errol

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