Epson Printer Unclogging Print Heads

First, let’s try eliminating banding on Epson printers.
This tip is somewhat generic, it is recommended for Epson printers but works on all the printers.
DO NOT run more than 3 back-to-back cleaning cycles, it just makes things worse!

Epson printers have 3 durations of cleaning: short, medium and long. The short cleaning cycle occurs on the 1st and 4th cleaning cycle and on every one after that, until a print is made. This short cleaning cycle can eventually damage all the nozzles. In otherwords, if you do a bunch of cleaning cycles (8 or 10) with out making a print, you may damage your printhead. After 3 cleaning cycles, print a test pattern.

Side Note: To make a test pattern, I use Microsoft’s Paint program that comes installed on the computer. Click on Start, Programs (or All Programs), Accessories and choose the Paint program. Draw four separate squares about four inches each. Fill one with black, one with red, one with blue and one with yellow. Name the file something like TestPattern and save it. End Side Note.

When printing these “Test Patterns”, set your printer for hi-resolution or “photo quality” printing. That will cause ALL of the nozzles to be used. If you let the printer default to “letter quality”, only a few of the nozzles will even try to work. Make at least one print. It may not be perfect, but this will reset the firmware in the printer so you can get the short, medium and long cleaning cycles again. It is the medium and long cleaning cycles that may get your printer back up and running again.

If you have done 6 cleaning cycles, two groups of 3 (with test pattern in between), and the nozzles are not getting any better, give the printer a rest for at least 2 hours. This rest period will allow the small air bubbles in the ink to rise to the surface and get out of the nozzles.

After the rest period, try a few more cleaning cycles. If you are seeing the same exact nozzles missing each time, you probably have dried ink in the print head. Instead of giving up and throwing it out the window, try using our Epson cleaning solution kit. It’s a much cheaper alternative to having it cleaned by a printer repair tech, which typically costs $40-$50 or more!

Note: The newer Epson printers, like the C80/C82/C84 are sensitive to too many cleaning cycles. For these printers only do 3 cleanings, then give them a 2 hour rest. If you run too many cleaning cycles, you may never get a good nozzle pattern.

Attention: If are having problems with sudden lack of inkflow after replacing one or more cartridges when using the Epson C and especially the CX all-in-one printers, we have been made aware of a design issue on these printers which may cause this problem.

Some of these Epson printers have a design flaw which causes the ink purge tube under the cleaning station to come apart during cartridge replacement. If this occurs, the printer is no longer transferring the vacuum from the purge pump to the printhead. In other words, no ink will be moved through the printhead onto the paper.

You need to look under the cleaning station and determine if the pump/vacuum tube has come off, and if so, reinstall it.

NEVER leave your Epson printer without an installed cartridge, even an empty one, for more than half an hour. The ink will begin to gel in the built-in print head to the consistency of honey! It will require multiple head cleaning routines to clear (if it does).

The type of ink a printer requires is based on several things, among them:

-the technology the printer was built on
-the type of print head the printer has (piezioelectric like Epson’s, for instance)
-the way the printer lays the ink on the paper
-the type of cartridge or ink tank used

Ink characteristics are specific to EACH printer manufacturer and within their different printer models. The inks are formulated specifically for them. They are based in part on ink viscosity (thickness), PH (acid or base), drying times, UV (lightfastness), etc.

This is why we offer only products that are produced as close to the OEM specifications as the law allows. They are guaranteed to perform to your satisfaction!