Help on cleaning print heads?

J

johnaec

Registered
I've got an older Epson Stylus 440 Color printer that I let sit for a few months, and apparently the black print head has dried up. I've put a new cartridge in and run through the cleaning cycle at least a dozen times, but it still appears to be plugged. The color print heads are fine. I've even tried a second new cartridge to be sure one wasn't bad, but still no go.

'Anyone have any other suggestions on what I might try to get the print head opened up? I already tried q-tips with rubbing alcohol and spraying canned air into the little pin hole where the ink goes in, all to no avail.

It's not that the printer is worth much, but with two new cartridges sitting here, I have as much in them as it would cost to get another cheap printer...and these cartridges don't fit any current models.

Thanks for any suggestions.

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

break down and buy a laser.

Believe me, you will save money on toner and it will pay for itself.
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

they are expensive, but I ahve an hp color laser and it works

G R E A T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

Put some hot water into the bathroom basin. Place the head of the print cartridge into the water very carefully. You do not want to put the electronic part of the head into the water. You should see the ink begin to break up around the head. let it set like this for about a minute. Take bathroom tissue and dry the head carefully. Place back into the printer and see what happens. It worked on my cannon heads before I bought a laser. Now I have two lasers and would never again invest money into a stupid Bubble jet. I buy toner once every three years as opposed to Ink every two months. Not to mention when I have a lull in activity, the toner still works.
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

I have had a laser for years, way cheeper to operate per page. Once the injets dry up they are hard to clean, you may have get new ones.
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

Well, the problem with this Epson is that the print heads are part of the printer itself and not removable. The ink cartridges pop into place, and a little "tube" coming out of the print head pops up into the cartridge. It's this little "tube" that I'm sure is clogged. The hole into it is so small you can't get any more than just the point of a straight pin into it.

If I went to all the trouble to pull the printer apart and see if I could get the head out, I might then be able to soak it. But that's more trouble than it would probably be worth - I just may find someone to give these new cartridges to and toss the printer.

A color laser would be nice, but I do so little color printing that it wouldn't be worth it, especially since you can get new color inkjets all day long for under $60, at least around here...

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

I recently bought one of those 3 in one machines and so far it has been great for my needs, it even prints beautiful photos. It's already paid for itself with the convenience of being able to make copies quickly...and I only paid $99 for it.

I still have an EPSON 640 that I use to print out misc BS, or one of those 500+ page pdfs. I spend about $30 a year on ink for my EPSON and I beat the crap out of it as a result. You're not going to believe this but the last crop of cartridges I bought, I paid $1.19 for black, and $2-$3 for color. If you get your 440 working, and need ink, gimme a holler and I'll pick some up for you. I have some 740 color cartridges laying aorund that are brand new too...

Kale
 
RE: Help on cleaning print heads?

Well, after about 2 dozen cleaning passes, I started to get some of the black lines to appear under nozzle check. So I kept going, and it kept getting better. But when about 90% of the black test lines had come back, the printer ran out of ink!!! That was about 50 cleaning passes! I didn't realize the head cleaning procedure used so much ink - 50 passes to empty both the black and color cartridges!

So I popped in another set of cartridges, and after about 5 more passes, it's finally printing normally again. But what a waste! Almost $50 in cartridges just to get back to normal, when I could have bought a brand new Epson C64 for $59! Live and learn... And I WILL be looking for those cheap cartridges from here on...

John
http://mark8.org/users/johnaec/Mark_VIII_s.jpg
'97 Mark VIII LSC
'96 T-Bird 4.6L
 
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