sb67 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Not sure if this is in the right place but I have a kodak all in one printer and there's plenty of ink in the cartridges but I tried to print some scalescene sheets out and the colours were horrendous. I think it's because I dont use it much and wonder if the ink dries in the cartridge? Has anyone else had this or no how to deal with it? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catweasel Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 First thing you should try is to run a cleaning programme on it. Should be one in the software. Also check the settings for your colours. Should be RGB for best results. Another thing is to select best quality on the printer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 The printheads tend to clog, especially if not used much - a replacement is a ridiculous price*. Various people on the net offer cleaning solvents, but I wouldn't like to say if they work. You could try the head cleaning routine - accessible from the 'maintenance' section in the printer menu** and check using the 'test page' option. Cleaning the cartridge nozzles and printhead manually might help, but again I can't guarantee anything * I had to write off an excellent Canon printer for this - the head cost more than I paid for the printer! Needless to say the model was no longer available and I made the mistake of replacing it with a Kodak. The first had to be replaced under guarantee and the replacement has clogged its printhead.... A third (second hand) one is refusing to print even in black and white, because the colour ink is empty. I am not surprised that Kodak no longer supply printers. ** On the printer display on mine, or else from the computer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have an Epson photoprinter. Reccomendation is to use it at least once a fortnight otherwise the printheads get blocked. For "early" blockages, the clean routine (built in) usually suffices, maybe needing 2/3 attempts though. For much longer non-use, I obtained a set of cleaning cartridges from ebay, which replaces the ink with cleaning fluid, to enable the system to clean through. They have worked ok 4/5 times for me. However the printer is once again blocked, through lack of use (I rarely use it nowadays, leta lone once a fortnight). This time round I shall probably replace it. Comparitve costs make this the viable option. New printer £90-120 for the quality I want. (And it seems I can get the same photoprinter cheaper as a 3-in-1 machine than a stand alone printer, odd as I already have a decent quality scanner anyway!). Epson cartridges around £30-35 each, but there are 6 to buy. Compatible cartridges from computer fair, £8-10 for a complete set of 6. Never found any problem with these. It does make me wonder about manufacturers' pricing, when a set of ink cartridges cost more to replace than a new printer (which already includes the cartridges!). Stewart Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 It's like DVD players, they give away the unit to sell the (exorbitant) ink or DVDs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Walters Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have an Epson photoprinter. Reccomendation is to use it at least once a fortnight otherwise the printheads get blocked. For "early" blockages, the clean routine (built in) usually suffices, maybe needing 2/3 attempts though. For much longer non-use, I obtained a set of cleaning cartridges from ebay, which replaces the ink with cleaning fluid, to enable the system to clean through. They have worked ok 4/5 times for me. However the printer is once again blocked, through lack of use (I rarely use it nowadays, leta lone once a fortnight). This time round I shall probably replace it. Comparitve costs make this the viable option. New printer £90-120 for the quality I want. (And it seems I can get the same photoprinter cheaper as a 3-in-1 machine than a stand alone printer, odd as I already have a decent quality scanner anyway!). Epson cartridges around £30-35 each, but there are 6 to buy. Compatible cartridges from computer fair, £8-10 for a complete set of 6. Never found any problem with these. It does make me wonder about manufacturers' pricing, when a set of ink cartridges cost more to replace than a new printer (which already includes the cartridges!). Stewart I would never buy an Epson, purely because of the replacement ink costs, and the cartridges supplied with a new printer only contain about the half the amount of ink a new cartridge does. I bought a Brother printer, has a self cleaning routine it goes through once a day, only has five cartridges, which can be filled again and again, had it for about four years now, and never a problem, which is stopping me buying one with WiFi, so that I don't have to keep plugging my laptop into it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debs. Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Many printers also have a dirty little secret; they have an auto-clean cycle (to address the head-drying problem), which regularly and quietly dumps one`s very expensive ink supplies into a sponge under the cartridge parking area. After years of being ripped-off for OEM cartridges, I bought and fitted a CiSS continuous-ink system for my printer.......refill liquid inks can then be bought in bulk as the cartridge-head isn`t changed upon each refilling. *I`ve no connection with the City Ink company; I just like the product. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sb67 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Thanks for the advice, I think the main problem is I dont use it enough so the ink or heads must dry up. Dont know how to get round that short of find something to print every week! Unless someone knows different? Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
delticman Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Hello Steve, I have an old Epson printer which still gives excellent results but I wont buy new cartridges, instead I have them refilled at Cartridge World only £7.50 per cartridge ( maybe I should post this in Bargain Hunters!). If the printer is not used for a while one or two jets get bunged up with dried out ink, so you just print a nozzle check sheet to find out which colours are not responding then take out the offending ones and clean the ink nozzles on the cartridges with a cotton bud generously soaked in Isopropyl Alcohol. When you re fit the cartridges this has the effect of diluting the ink in the jets just enough to free them up. It works every time! Regards, Geoff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Steve, You can reduce the ink evaporating from the nozzles by increasing the local relative humidity. Some folk place a tray of water under the printer, and cover printer with a plastic sheet when not being used. I'm not familiar with your printer, but you may be able to place a wet pad where the head parks when not being used. All solutions are a bit of a faff. Sometimes, it is not ink going solid (not so likely in dye type ink used in the sort of printer you're using), but an air lock in the system. Many units, (hp for example) have the head in the cartridge, so changing the cartridge should solve the problem. Most, if not all, Epsons have a separate head, which if blocked, a cartridge change will not solve. There is plenty of info on the web, with folk in the USA using 'Windex' to clean the heads. In the UK, you can use a similar clear glass cleaner (NOT Windolene the pink opaque stuff) - I've used a cheap W5 glass cleaner from Aldi on my Epsons, and had deliberately left a printer unused for nearly a year - but that took a three day soaking to free up (pigment ink). Modern 'photo printers' have finer nozzles than the earlier ink jets, and will give more problems. For intermittent use, a cheap colour laser printer is far more reliable, and the prints are less likely to fade. Best wishes, Ray Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.