My Epson Stylus All-In-One printer, uses four ink cartridges one each for cyan, magenta, yellow & one for black ink. The black ink recently started to fade & now does not print at all. Whilst the three colours are printing perfectly.
The level of ink shown for the black ink cartridge does not show an empty ink cartridge. I installed a brand new black ink cartridge, and the printer is still failing to print black text etc. I have tried head cleaning to no avail.
I do indeed use compatible inks rather than originals (to supposedly help save money). Someone told me that the print head is blocked due to using these compatible inks, because the ink tends to be of a lower quality.
My printer is out of warranty, so there is no point using Epson Technical Support, and apparently even if it was in warranty, Epson would not help, because I have not used their branded ink cartridges.
Is their indeed a correlation between print heads becoming blocked (I am assuming that is what has happened) and the use of compatible cartridges rather than branded originals. How easy is it to unblock or flush the black ink cartridge system, either by myself or for example if I took it to my local PC store
Best Answer
Having worked at an Epson and HP warranty shop for over 10 years, I can say many "compatible" cartridges cause significant issues. Blocked print heads is one. I have not worked for that shop for several years and have no interest in ink sales :-)
Epson cartridges normally have a very fine screen at the bottom of the cartridge above where it goes into the print head. This screen keeps dried ink particles from entering the print head. As the ink level goes down, ink dries on the sides of the cartridge and then movement allows it to drop into the tank. Many compatible cartridges do not have this screen. We cut many open to check this.
If the printer has not been turned off properly, it will also cause clogged print heads. It is important to turn off with the power button and allow the printer to properly cap the printhead/cartridge. Turning off with a power bar will assure issues like plugged heads/nozzles.
A good technician may be able to clean the printhead with a solution from Epson( or others) but it takes some time and patience. Given the cost of printers today, most will skip this due to cost.
There are some "kits" offered that have the cleaning solution and a syringe. One is here I also see some videos on the process online. The Epson fluid was red but I belive that was for easy visibility when cleaning. I would certainly check your local repair shops and see if they will give an estimate for a proper cleaning.
Also note there are absorbant pads under the print head rest position that can become saturated and must be replaced or you will have ink smeared across the paper.
As a side note, we tried two different compatible inks in an Epson printer and then printed the same image on the same high quality paper. The difference in quaility was clear to anyone who looked at the image. Epson ink was much better.