timw128
Printing Apprentice
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2015
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 15
- Printer Model
- Epson Artisan 810
I have owned my Artisan 810 for a little over 4 yrs. I purchased it new, and after it ate through the Epson Claria cartridges in quick fashion, I decided to install a CISS. I went with a unit from inkproducts.com in Florida. It has served me flawlessly for 4 yrs.
Last year, I was gone for about 6-8 mos. and didn't use the printer. When I got home, I used it and it worked fine, other than being a bit low on ink. I ordered some more and refilled it. Still worked fine.
About 2 wks. ago, it started printing poorly, and I noticed the external CIS tanks were below the refill level. So, last week I ordered some more ink and filled the tanks. Still it printed very poorly. Tried several cleaning cycles and couldn't get a good pattern.
OK, I disassembled the print head and soaked it really good in both the inkproducts.com solution and some quality window cleaner- separately, of course. They supplied me with a syringe that has a little suction cup on it and I was able to get those tiny ports running clear, so it seemed.
I took the little white hose block off the print head and flushed the internal lines with a syringe through the spikes in the ink well. Next, I cleaned the cap station really well with Windex, and let it set a bit before drawing the ink residue off with a syringe. Stuck my hand in there with some clean paper towel dampened with Windex and cleaned it up good.
To reassemble, I purged and primed the ink cartridges, installed them in the ink well, and then elevated the tanks to prime and fill the internal lines. When I was sure that all the air was out, I closed the vents on the tanks, cleaned the hose block off real good that attaches to the print head, and reconnected to the print head.
After I got it back together and running, I ran a nozzle check and I get no pattern for the cyan and lt. magenta colors. I can't get a good reading for aligning the print head either. To make matters worse, I got the 'end of life for the waste ink pads' message, so I scrambled and bought the WIC Reset Key from a guy who sells CIS stuff. Made my own little waste ink tank, and it works fine. After I reset the counters, I got another error indicating on the maintenance page little red 'X's on the cartridges. After playing with that for a bit and hitting the reset button a few times on the cartridge block, it seems to function, just not printing the above mentioned colors, and the sharpness is terrible on color prints, and I get white horizontal lines if I print a page a solid color.
I love this printer and it has been very faithful. I don't want to buy a new one and feel confident that there is someone here that can help me get it back up and running again.
I am a retired engineer, build and repair computers and other technical things. I just haven't encountered anything like the gremlins I am experiencing.
Thanks for any input and help that anyone may afford me.
Cheers!
Tim
Last year, I was gone for about 6-8 mos. and didn't use the printer. When I got home, I used it and it worked fine, other than being a bit low on ink. I ordered some more and refilled it. Still worked fine.
About 2 wks. ago, it started printing poorly, and I noticed the external CIS tanks were below the refill level. So, last week I ordered some more ink and filled the tanks. Still it printed very poorly. Tried several cleaning cycles and couldn't get a good pattern.
OK, I disassembled the print head and soaked it really good in both the inkproducts.com solution and some quality window cleaner- separately, of course. They supplied me with a syringe that has a little suction cup on it and I was able to get those tiny ports running clear, so it seemed.
I took the little white hose block off the print head and flushed the internal lines with a syringe through the spikes in the ink well. Next, I cleaned the cap station really well with Windex, and let it set a bit before drawing the ink residue off with a syringe. Stuck my hand in there with some clean paper towel dampened with Windex and cleaned it up good.
To reassemble, I purged and primed the ink cartridges, installed them in the ink well, and then elevated the tanks to prime and fill the internal lines. When I was sure that all the air was out, I closed the vents on the tanks, cleaned the hose block off real good that attaches to the print head, and reconnected to the print head.
After I got it back together and running, I ran a nozzle check and I get no pattern for the cyan and lt. magenta colors. I can't get a good reading for aligning the print head either. To make matters worse, I got the 'end of life for the waste ink pads' message, so I scrambled and bought the WIC Reset Key from a guy who sells CIS stuff. Made my own little waste ink tank, and it works fine. After I reset the counters, I got another error indicating on the maintenance page little red 'X's on the cartridges. After playing with that for a bit and hitting the reset button a few times on the cartridge block, it seems to function, just not printing the above mentioned colors, and the sharpness is terrible on color prints, and I get white horizontal lines if I print a page a solid color.
I love this printer and it has been very faithful. I don't want to buy a new one and feel confident that there is someone here that can help me get it back up and running again.
I am a retired engineer, build and repair computers and other technical things. I just haven't encountered anything like the gremlins I am experiencing.
Thanks for any input and help that anyone may afford me.
Cheers!
Tim
