Epson 1400 General Error / "head ambient temperature abnormal"

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I bought a "barely used" 1400 that had been sitting in someone's attic without ink carts for several years (it's in the old white and blue box). I have a refill damper kit (not CIS, just the refillable dampers) and reset chip with button rather than manual/auto reset chips. Since it hadn't been used in so long, I decided not to even bother refilling it without cleaning it thoroughly, so I bought a set of blank dampers to use with cleaning fluid. The first few times I turned it on, it would allow me to run head cleanings, but if I tried to print it would go to "General error". I thought, great, the thing has been used until the waste counter filled up. I double checked everything and the carts were reading "unknown" so the chip may not have been seated properly. I redid it, the carts showed up as "Epson", but it still kept zapping back to "General error".

I left it overnight (I'm working on it where I work and not at home) and when I got back it started up and I was able to get it to print after completely deleting the print spool. I ran several head cleanings and purge pages... and then it went back to General Error when I tried to run another head cleaning after letting it sit for half an hour. I turned it off and it wouldn't turn back on, I unplugged it for 10 minutes and it came back to life. So I downloaded the WICReset tool from OctoInkjet to check the counter to make sure it hadn't been run into the ground. It came back as only 17% full... they used it more than they said they did but still barely enough to make a difference (and now I'm not worried about the waste pads overflowing). I ran the advanced diagnosis part of it and I saw the "head ambient temperature abnormal". Huh. Maybe it's still got dried ink in it and I should just keep running cleaning fluid through it for the rest of the day. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[websnail]

Not heard of abnormal head temps before but my guess is that the chips are more likely the problem than anything..

Worth checking for burrs of plastic or similar that may be catching wires, pushing the chip holder back or something along those lines..

Another thing to check for is loose ribbon cable running into the printhead but beyond that not sure what to suggest... but if you need the AdjProg to get a bit more diagnostic info' then PM me with an email and I'll dig up a copy from somewhere.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I got the printhead out (this is more annoying than it should be) and found the ribbon cables to the printhead were covered with ink. They were badly corroded as well. I cleaned them off and soaked the printhead overnight, then put everything back together.

I put the chip bar and cleaning carts in it and it worked fine for awhile. Then I told it to do a head cleaning and it immediately changed all carts to "unknown", solid red ink button. I am using refillable dampers with a CIS-style reset button. Nothing could bring back the carts. I even tried a different chip. So much for a good deal. I knew I should have tested it there but they had it boxed up and ready to go. I've brought back dead printers before, Epsons tend to recover pretty well, but I guess this one is done for. I don't think they lied about its' usage, but if it was stored in an attic in FL for 4 years other things inside probably corroded as well.

I set up the second (brand new) 1400 with the same chip bar and it's working fine, though I'm still working on completely getting rid of the banding. I used pigment inks in it, I was going to set up the old one with dye.

Now to decide whether to get a refurbished 1400 direct from Epson or a 1430 in-store. If you buy a refurb, do you get brand new sealed up carts or are they already in the machine? I plan to try to re-sell them... not that I'm having luck selling my WF 1100 carts for $10 each. My refill supplier said that the chips should be 1430 compatible.

I may mess with the broken one a little more once I'm less annoyed with it. Direct-To-Garment modification resellers tend to have odd Epson parts like ribbon cables and purge unit ("capping station"... why have I never heard that term until recently?) so maybe I just need to replace the ribbon cables.