Epson printer - won't print black?
 

My Epson printer doesn't get used much, but when i do use it i've never had any problems with it, especially using the compatible ink cartridges.

Today i'm trying to print some recipes and it's not printing black at all, it sounds and looks as though it's printing, but the paper comes out white.
The black ink cartridge is over half full, the 3 colour ones are almost completely full.

I've tried a nozzle clean check and tried re-inserting the black cartridge, but now it's saying the Cyan catridge is not compatible with the printer (it's worked fine until then) so won't continue to print any test pages or anything at all.

Very frusrating, especially now that it won't accept the cartridges at all. Any ideas on how to solve?

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

Have you tried powering down, and powering back up?

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

Check and clean the electrical contacts on the printer and the ink cartrige. This was the problem on my old Epson, can apply to other ink jet printers, anther possibility is block ink catridge.

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

I agree it sounds like a bad blockage, and cleaning the electrical contacts is also good advice if you're now getting compatibility warnings as well.

Sadly in my experience, however, once Epson printers reach a certain level of dirtiness it's virtually impossible to get them working properly again. I now have a lifetime resolution never to buy any Epson product ever again.

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

That's possibly the problem. If the black inkjet has dried out it's going to be virtually impossible to clear. Some printers with removable printheads can be soaked in warm pure water but I don't think you have that option with the Epson.

For 'occasional' printing I now tend to recommend one of the cheap colour lasers as they don't suffer from this problem.

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

try this . If your epson is supported you can just set it to clean the black

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

What a pity I cannot nominate this post..It really deserves recognition.:(

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

I think we all recognise the helpful folks anyway. It's icing on the cake, agreed but you don't have to be here long to see how many and how much is contributed.

With or without the official seal of nomination it remains a good place to hang out.

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

The .link looks perfect for what i need, but it doesn't say it supports the DX4000 :(

---------- Post added at 21:35 ---------- Previous post was at 21:34 ----------

The ink cartridge doesn't seem blocked, i took it out and had a look and it seems normal.

How would i go about cleaning the electrical contacts?

---------- Post added at 21:36 ---------- Previous post was at 21:35 ----------

To give an idea of how often i use it, i've had it for about 2.5 years, and i'm on my 4th set of cartridges. It was only about 2 weeks ago i last used it, and it worked perfectly then... :(

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

have you tried it to see?

---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:41 ----------

I myself have posted this link before as have other people it has been recognised in the past as a lot of what is nominated nowadays has been :) and it is just a posted link afterall :D

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

There are tricks with alcohol-based solvents that can sometimes work if the head is dried out.

There's a link here that talks about using a solvent pad to unblock the jets.

http://www.marrutt.com/inkjet-cleaning.php

You may be able to adapt the idea for your model of printer?

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

might be worth going through the charging process as if you were changing carts. carefully remove the black and put it back again ( not always advised but ive done it without leeks) charge it up then goto paint and just make it black and try printing it

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

If the heads are blocked through none use (in other words the ink has dried blocking the tiny holes) then one way of unblocking them is to get a long & thin piece of rag (about 10 inches by 1/4 inch), dampen it (wet then squeeze until no more water drips out) lay this in the channel where the print head runs across the paper, move the heads to the middle of the platen and then grab both ends of the rag and gentle pull each end at a time to wipe the print heads... If done carefully it does work..

Another method is a damp sponge and with something platic (like a thick cable tie gently push it under the print heads (firstly move the heads to the middle) and leave overnight, then try normal cleans...

Both methods once you have the heads int eh middle please unplug the printer from the PC and 240V...

---------- Post added at 22:43 ---------- Previous post was at 22:42 ----------

Personally though I strip them down and use an ultrasonic bath to clean them...but I used to be a component level repair tech many, many moons ago...

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

I did this. That's when it told me the inks weren't compatible, so it won't let me do anything and i don't fancy buying a new set of inks to test :disturbd:

Re: Epson printer - won't print black?
 

so the inks that worked are now not recognised? I had thins just removed them replaced them and rebooted printer. I take it they are pattern parts