Need help: major problems with Epson 875dc

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 22, 2002

Hi,
hopefully, someone here has similar experience or can help me.

A little less than a year ago I bought this printer (Epson 875dc)... it was a great printer until the black ink ran out. Problems started here. I decided to purchase generic ink from Ebay... got it from A&A Importers... it was made I think by J&C inc. in Taiwan... sealed and packaged professionaly. Ordered 2 cartridges: I tried the first one and it didn't work at all.. Then I tried the second one... printed about 5 lines of text and died also. I contacted the seller and he immediately sent me two new replacement cartridges. As soon as I got them, I tried them in... and to my surprize it worked.... I printed about 25 pages of black text (ink indicator was still at 90% full, when the ink "ran out")... it seemed like it just ran out, I would gradually see blanks in black... and after a few paragraphs the black disappeared. So, I tried the second replacement cart - and it didn't print at all... Anyway, to cut the long story short... I returned them, figured they were really bad and ordered more cartridges from megatoners.com. Some one recommended that place and said inks from them always work great.

I got the carts a few days ago... plugged one in... and it printed beautifully for about 10 pages... after that... same thing... seems like it ran out of ink again (gradually).... now... I am at a loss...

Is it my printer? Cartridge still seems to be full (it's pretty heavy and the little hole on the bottom of the cart seems to be very wet with fresh ink... so ink is not thick..). What could be wrong? I am pretty sure my printhead is not clogged, because all the nozzles seem to be stopping printing at the same time. Could it be cracked and leaking air? I don't know what to think... but it's kind of suspicious, when I tried 5 different cartridges and none of them seem to work properly (and sellers and other users swear by them, especially megatoners). Also, as soon as I put a new ink cart, it starts printing... I don't need to do a cleaning cycle or anything at all... it seems to work right away... but then a few pages later it just stops.

Maybe someone had similar experience? What did you do? You think Epson might replace the printer by the warranty? or the warranty void as soon as I use non-Epson ink?

Thanks for all your help,

Dmitriy

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 22, 2002

One more question: is the printhead in these printers replaceable?

Wilson Aquino · Jul 22, 2002

Dmitriy said:
One more question: is the printhead in these printers replaceable?

I have an 870 and one of the contact pin for the black ink broke and a replacement printhead will cost $145.00 + $65 for labor. I got the printer on a clearance sale from Staples for $80.00, and no way in #$#%#$ will I spend $210 to replace a broken contact pin. I wind up getting a refurb for $119.00 delivered.

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 22, 2002

Does anyone have experience with Epson warranty? Will they just replace the printer under warranty or will they ask me to send it in, then they will analyze the problem and let me know if it's covered or not, and how much will it cost?

Rick K · Jul 23, 2002

I do not want to insult your intelligence or ability to install cartriges. . . . . but I remember someone else on the forum a long time ago having a similar problem and it was due to not removing the tape from the top of the cartrige when they installed it. This caused a vacuum to build up in the cartrige as you use it, and after a while it just stopped working, they removed the tape and it started working.

Good luck
Rick

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 23, 2002

No, I took the tape off... I am a pretty technical guy.... but this just puzzles the hell out of me.

Thanks,
Dmitriy

Rick K said:
I do not want to insult your intelligence or ability to install
cartriges. . . . . but I remember someone else on the forum a long
time ago having a similar problem and it was due to not removing
the tape from the top of the cartrige when they installed it. This
caused a vacuum to build up in the cartrige as you use it, and
after a while it just stopped working, they removed the tape and it
started working.

Good luck
Rick

Bruce Kolber · Jul 23, 2002

Is the color cartridge still working correctly?

I know they are expensive but I would try an Epson (the real deal) cartridge before doing anything else .... I have never had a problem with an Epson cartridge but have had some very odd problems with 3rd party ink.

Dmitriy said:
Thanks,
Dmitriy

Rick K said:

I do not want to insult your intelligence or ability to install
cartriges. . . . . but I remember someone else on the forum a long
time ago having a similar problem and it was due to not removing
the tape from the top of the cartrige when they installed it. This
caused a vacuum to build up in the cartrige as you use it, and
after a while it just stopped working, they removed the tape and it
started working.

Good luck
Rick

Click to expand...

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 23, 2002

Yep, color ink still works fine.

The thing with Epson original ink... is that I don't want to waste $25 just to try something... it seems highly unlikely that after 5 generic ink carts (and the one from megatoners, while everyone says they work great), Epson ink would work. I paid $80 for the printer with ink carts included, and now I feel wrong paying $25 for one more ink cartridge.

Bruce Kolber said:
Dmitriy said:

Thanks,
Dmitriy

Rick K said:

I do not want to insult your intelligence or ability to install
cartriges. . . . . but I remember someone else on the forum a long
time ago having a similar problem and it was due to not removing
the tape from the top of the cartrige when they installed it. This
caused a vacuum to build up in the cartrige as you use it, and
after a while it just stopped working, they removed the tape and it
started working.

Good luck
Rick

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 23, 2002

I also noticed that the little piece of foam (where the head parks) is soaked with ink. Those who have the same printer, do you experience the same thing? Maybe nozzles are leaking and ink becomes thick or something... any ideas?

Rick K · Jul 23, 2002

Dmitriy said:
I also noticed that the little piece of foam (where the head parks)
is soaked with ink. Those who have the same printer, do you
experience the same thing? Maybe nozzles are leaking and ink
becomes thick or something... any ideas?

Yes, mine does that as well (Epson 870), and then it smears ink on the bottom of the print head, and onto the paper. I put my printer into cartrige change mode and use tissue to blot up the extra ink in the foam. I was quite supprised by the amount that comes out. My printer stops smearing after I do this. Most of mine comes from cleaning cycles.

Rick

Bryan Lin · Jul 23, 2002

I have an 875, I also get the foam/gunk/smearing problem and also have to blot around inside the printer to clean it. As for the feed problem, make sure it's not clogged (that's my biggest problem). After that, try using a pin or something on the vent hole. It's possible that even after you take off the tape, there's some adhesive left over, etc...just make sure it's open. If you want, you can try making your own vent hole, just to make sure. If you have a syringe, you can try sucking some ink out of the bottom, just to make sure things are actually flowing (I refill, so I have syringe/adapter). Good luck!

--Bryan Lin

Dmitriy107869 · Jul 23, 2002

Yes, I did make sure that the vent hole is well open... i tried to put a pin trhrough it... it went fine. Also, at the bottom of the cartridge there are ink accumlations, and they are very fresh and liquid... so everything is flowing ok I think... except maybe the ink gets too thick... maybe the ink dries out somehow?

Bryan Lin said:
I have an 875, I also get the foam/gunk/smearing problem and also
have to blot around inside the printer to clean it. As for the feed
problem, make sure it's not clogged (that's my biggest problem).
After that, try using a pin or something on the vent hole. It's
possible that even after you take off the tape, there's some
adhesive left over, etc...just make sure it's open. If you want,
you can try making your own vent hole, just to make sure. If you
have a syringe, you can try sucking some ink out of the bottom,
just to make sure things are actually flowing (I refill, so I have
syringe/adapter). Good luck!

--Bryan Lin

Zero · Jul 24, 2002

and use Epson cartridges.

Dmitriy said:
Hi,
hopefully, someone here has similar experience or can help me.
A little less than a year ago I bought this printer (Epson
875dc)... it was a great printer until the black ink ran out.
Problems started here. I decided to purchase generic ink from
Ebay... got it from A&A Importers... it was made I think by J&C
inc. in Taiwan... sealed and packaged professionaly. Ordered 2
cartridges: I tried the first one and it didn't work at all..
Then I tried the second one... printed about 5 lines of text and
died also. I contacted the seller and he immediately sent me two
new replacement cartridges. As soon as I got them, I tried them
in... and to my surprize it worked.... I printed about 25 pages of
black text (ink indicator was still at 90% full, when the ink "ran
out")... it seemed like it just ran out, I would gradually see
blanks in black... and after a few paragraphs the black
disappeared. So, I tried the second replacement cart - and it
didn't print at all... Anyway, to cut the long story short... I
returned them, figured they were really bad and ordered more
cartridges from megatoners.com. Some one recommended that place
and said inks from them always work great.

I got the carts a few days ago... plugged one in... and it printed
beautifully for about 10 pages... after that... same thing... seems
like it ran out of ink again (gradually).... now... I am at a
loss...

Is it my printer? Cartridge still seems to be full (it's pretty
heavy and the little hole on the bottom of the cart seems to be
very wet with fresh ink... so ink is not thick..). What could be
wrong? I am pretty sure my printhead is not clogged, because all
the nozzles seem to be stopping printing at the same time. Could
it be cracked and leaking air? I don't know what to think... but
it's kind of suspicious, when I tried 5 different cartridges and
none of them seem to work properly (and sellers and other users
swear by them, especially megatoners). Also, as soon as I put a
new ink cart, it starts printing... I don't need to do a cleaning
cycle or anything at all... it seems to work right away... but then
a few pages later it just stops.

Maybe someone had similar experience? What did you do? You think
Epson might replace the printer by the warranty? or the warranty
void as soon as I use non-Epson ink?

Thanks for all your help,

Dmitriy

--
Zero my hero

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Need help: major problems with Epson 875dc

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