Epson Stylus Photo 1290 Head Replacement

[brian_mk]

I've owned my Epson Stylus Photo 1290 for about 14 years and it has worked pretty well for general use and colour photo printing. I've had the usual ink blockages over the years but have always managed to clear them. The waste ink pad became full a while back, so I reset the software and fitted an external waste ink tank. The printer just kept on going and working perfectly.

A few weeks ago several cyan nozzles became blocked. I tried all the usual head cleaning tricks - injecting warm cleaning solutions made from isopropyl alcohol + ammonia + window cleaner using a syringe etc. This time nothing worked.

Eventually I removed the head assembly to allow me to see and clean underneath the head. With the head removed, I could see that when injecting fluid with a syringe, no nozzels appear blocked. By taking a photograph of the jets using a macro lens, I can see fluid squirting from all 48 jets. I concluded that some of the internal piezo elements in the head must have failed.

I have the service manual and the service adjustment program required to change the print head and enter the head id / piezo voltage calibration info etc. However, I can't find anywhere that sells replacement heads in the UK. (Part No: F083000). All I can find are a few dodgy looking websites in China which I would not want to trust with my credit card number.

Anyone know where I can get a replacement print head in the UK at a reasonable price (i.e. cheaper than buying a new printer?)

 

[brian_mk]

From the printer test pattern, it's easy to tell which of the 48 jets are working and which are not.
The failed jets are shown in red, the working ones are shown in cyan.
If there were any true blockages, it would be quite easy to spot them when injecting fluid with the head removed.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

you can find parts here https://www.gedat-spareparts.com/in...search=Suchen&model=STYLUS+PHOTO+1290&search=
the printhead is item 700, but only upon request, probably because of the age of the model, or they know other printer models with the same type of printhead, but it may be worth to contact them.

The age would not count so much but how much did you print with that model ? You could find data in the status report generated with the WicReset utility. An Epson printhead may fail after heavy usage with crystal fatigue that the nozzles don't eject ink anymore, that can happen.

 

[brian_mk]

Thanks - I will contact them for a price and availability quote.
In view of the age, unless a new head can be obtained cheaply, I will probably end up buying a new printer.

If it were a problem with crystal fatigue, is it likely that 19 out of the 48 jets would all fail at about the same time? All the jets for the other colours (black, magenta, light magenta, light cyan, yellow) still work fine.

After I removed the head and gave it a really thorough clean (including dunking in a shallow bath of cleaning solution), exactly the same cyan jets fail to operate as before. Cleaning doesn't seem to make any difference. Maybe something else is going on?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

the usage varies between colors. It remotely may as well be a problem with a decoder chip addressing the individual nozzles or a range of those but that would not be replaceable easily. Or you may get another old printer and cannibalize that one for the printhead. You may look up other printers which use the same cartridge type , some ink suppliers provide information which printers use a particular cartridge, and check in the Gedat database whether they have a printhead for such other model.

 

[brian_mk]

Out of interest, here is a macro image of the cyan jets spraying deionised water from a syringe.
It's not a perfect photo, but it clearly shows all 48 jets are open and not blocked with ink.

 

[brian_mk]

I would have expected black to get far more usage than cyan.

Something that did cross my mind is the EEPROM that holds the head info. My understanding is that the data includes the voltages required to drive the piezo elements. It may be unlikely, but if the data for the cyan channel were to become corrupt, it may result in lower than normal voltages and hence the nozzel outs. I guess I could use the service and adjustment software to read the head ID and check that it matches the numbers on the head itself.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

your picture would make an interesting POW - picture of the week. The maintenance software or WicReset would probably give you the number of cartridge replacements as an indication of actual ink usage. But at the end you would need a new printhead or a new printer regardless...

 

[cls]

regardles if the nozzle are blocked or not
if any dedicated nozzle is mechanical defective it wont fire again any you wont have a clean nozzle check

 

[brian_mk]

Yes I realise that.