Artisan 1430 black streaks

I don't use printer often now (inks price). I've been getting this black streaks on yellow purge prints. What is the problem?
Where is the problem?

Looks like cross contamination from the Black ink cartridge.

I do not have the 1430, but this image purports to be that model printer:



If this is image correct, you can see the Yellow and Black are side by side. Your posted image appears to result from leakage of the Black into the Yellow.

There also appears to be horizontal bars of missing yellow ink. This may represent an irreparable electronic failure. The Epson experts on the forum should be able to advise further. (I'm a Canon man)

Are you using OEM cartridges or aftermarket cartridges? Do you refill and if so how is it done? Would be good to post an image of the aftermarket cartridges used, better yet a link to the seller's web page for that cartridge, for us to see.

What do you see when you remove the Black and Yellow cartridges? Any leaked ink about the cartridges or print head? Might be advised to remove and look at all the cartridges and inside the print head and printer where ink may leak onto.

Clean up any leaked ink. The simplest solution may be to obtain new Black and Yellow cartridges. Will know better once you answer these questions.

For now, print a nozzle check, scan, crop and post here. Do not print anything else until your issue is resolved.

The forum's Epson experts will probably join in shortly to help you. Many of them are on European time, so it may be a few hours before they read your post.

Thank You for your input. I will be back with You soon.

Sorry to report that this a failure mode of the 1430 and all its predecssors and narrower width relatives. These will include
SP1400, Artisan 50, Stylus Photo R280, R260, and their "Claria" 6 channel dating all the way back to the late 2000's.

The problem is that the printhead has an internal leak between the black and yellow channel. This is unavoidable with use no matter even with OEM ink. It is a design/fabrication weakness where the printhead delaminates or cracks at a weak spot that fatigues. It is usually between the yellow and black, so it is spot on.

Initially a head clean or purge pattern will remove the leaking of the black into the yellow. and the printer remains usable until it sits idle for a period of time. This period keeps getting shorter as the leakage increases even when at rest.

For the time being just print and consume more yellow ink with purge printing of the yellow only. When this becomes bad, the printer simply turns into a functional text printer as long as yellow is not involved.

Had personal experience with this issue with several.

Sad news !
Thank You. Do You think there is a chance Epson replace printhead or printer. This is their fault selling faulty product.

To put things in perspective.

Will an automotive dealer replace cars when they are worn out due to a consistent weakness in a part in a given old model?
Even top of the line Rolls Royce and Mercedes BMWs and Lexuses also break down....during their warranty, they will cover it, beyond that? . Even during their warranty period, normal wear and tear items are not covered. One can argue that a printhead is a normal wear and tear item depending on terms of use.

ALL products will fail at some point during their lifetime. All products will have a weakness when all things are considered. Engineering design and fabrication of products is a series of compromises. Should all products be replaced when they fail?

The warranty period is over and you got more use beyond the warranty period. I would not expect nor should it be a reasonable request.

I'm not sure that this is a "faulty" product. The printhead is a weak point. If it was not the printhead, the paper handling mechanism would have likely failed next. These are all failure modes known about these printers. EVERY product eventually has a failure mode. Even humans!!!!!

I understand that but...You buy a new car and drive 500 miles and it breaks.
My question is "is there a way to find out how many prints has been made?"