Print head in cartridge printers?

[Muggins]

My old Epson has finally died after more than a decade of service, so I need to think about a new printer. It'll be used for general printing as well as the few photos I do inkjet prints of, so I'm not planning to spending big money on a specialist photo printer, but I'd still appreciate some advice.

As I used it intermittently, the Epson was very prone to having one or more print head clog, and I'd end up getting through a bucketful of ink cleaning it before all four were clean. What sort of level do printers start at with the heads on the cartridge rather than on the printer? Or can anyone recommend an alternative way of not burning half your cartridge just cleaning the damn heads?

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Godfrey]

Simplest thing to do is to print at least two full page color images a week.

 

[Bob Michaels]

My 10+ year old Epsons were prone to clogs when not used very often. I will say I have never (as in NEVER) had a clog in my Epson 2400s even after not using them for 6 weeks. I gave up even bothering doing nozzle checks about 5 years ago.

 

[Muggins]

Simplest thing to do is to print at least two full page color images a week.

If only I had that amount of discipline...😱

(and yes, I did mean to post this in printers - not sure why it's in scanners!)

Adrian

 

[Bob Michaels]

Adrian: MIS Associates (inksupply.com) has a free program that you can set so it automatically prints one purge or test sheet as whatever interval you set. This was necessary for the printers designed over 10 years ago to prevent clogs. Totally unnecessary with the Epson's built in the last 8 years or so as they simply do not clog.

 

[jtm6]

Totally unnecessary with the Epson's built in the last 8 years or so as they simply do not clog.

Is that because of different ink/pigment formulations? Two things that are keeping me from getting new printer are sitting right next to me. One is probably clogged, the fourth in a series of printers that kept clogging but were cheap enough and worth it at the time to replace. The other is a freebie do-everything-ok-but-not-one-thing-well combo WorkForce. If they really do stop clogging, I might invest in a good printer again.