Second bleeding Epson printer

[PaulDalex]

I have had a 750 EX. It started bleeding in a couple years and I had to dispose it. I then bought a 1290S and, fool that I am, also an extended warranty. As soon as it expired, the printer started bleeding massively. Before you ask, I add that I always used original inks.
That's the end of Epson printers for me.
Any similar experience?
The next printer will be a Canon or an HP. I want now an A2 printer.
For me printing is very important. My output are prints only. Photos shown on a video do not suit taste. I often like a lot the photos posted in this forum, but I would much more enjoy to see them in print.
Cheers,
Paul

 

[Steveh]

I'm having nightmares with my Epson R2400 at the moment - I've been flushing ammonia cleaning solution through the black print nozzles for the last two days but I just can't get it to unblock, and the amount of ink a cleaning cycle uses is just a joke, particularly at £70 for a set of cartridges in the UK. I'm going to buy some cheap compatibles to make a final attempt, but I understand Epson printheads aren't replaceable, so if they don't work then the printer could be headed for the landfill, which is pretty frustrating to say the least. The quality of the black and white prints from the R2400 is awesome but I never want to have to deal with this again - Canon or HP for me next time.

 

[hth]

I have final fighting with my Epson 2100 at the moment. I have CFS system with the matte black tube dried out, which I replaced, but ended up with two loose tubes separated from the band of tubes. They are causing trouble as they get caught and jam the printhead. I have tried various ways to bolt the tubes together, no go. In the weekend I will replace all tubes and get a solid band again.

But the matte black is acting up again with unreliable nozzles. After replacing its tube previously I know it is hard to get all ink out. Then when I create the vacuum it sucks the small amount of remaining ink back towards the vacuum suction thingie, and I do not want ink into it. Yikes! So I have to stop before I want to.

Sigh, I have little hope that I will have a success with this.

Never Epson again, the printers are expensive, the ink even more expensive and it clogs, wasting expensive ink. I do not want to waste my money this way, constant frustrations.

I think I might go for an HP next time, but I fear I feel a bit put off by ink jets. So I doubt. Worse, I do not think that I can afford this at all, so I do not know what to do.

 

[PaulDalex]

Thank you all very much for the the interesting information and advice.
It looks like I did not get two lemons in a row. There are real troubles with their technology.
I will wait for Photokina (just in case there is some novelty), and then decide. Canon looks attractive in terms of price and your positive comments.
All the best
Paul

 

[Steveh]

One trick I had to use on the 1280 (seemingly every freakin' time I wanted to print something) was to cut a piece of paper towel in about a 1/2" strip. Spritz it with Windex and lay it in the channel under the print head. With the printer off and the printhead released (there's a little tab that unlocks it from park), run the head back and forth over the paper towel. You might need to repeat once or twice. But that *should* clear the printhead, possibly requiring one last cleaning cycle and a test print to ensure all's good.

Yeah, I'm done with Epson. Can ya tell? 😉

Yes - good tip! This was what finally got my printer's head clean after my struggles with it over the last couple of weeks - it's now working fine again, but it took me way too much googling to work out what I was supposed to be doing, and of course you won't find that trick in the manual. I still think the Epson ink-guzzling nozzle clean routines are a bad joke, but I'm going to persevere with the R2400 because it does give great results, particularly in Black and White.