Override print head cleaning? - Epson SC P800

[wildbluedream]

My Epson SC P800 seems to be trying to clean the print head on its own after a month of me not using the printer (was traveling). To be clear, I did not ask for it to do this or intend for it to be cleaned.

On the LED screen, it's telling me in order to do this I must replace ink cartridges that are low, although none of them have the "warning" X on top of them. I replaced 2 that were low(ish), and the 3rd is Photo Black, which I do not have on hand. I never print using Photo Blank, however I know Photo Black has been wasted each time my printer erroneously tries to switch from Matte to Photo (as a side note this seemed like it was Mac specific - the error does not occur when I'm connected to my PC).

I really need to print a matte 8x10 print today to get it to a customer on time. Is there any way to override the printer so that it does not try to clean the print head? There is no way for me to buy Photo Black today without driving 4 hours round trip.

I spent 35 minutes on the phone with Epson support but (surprise!) they were no help. Any ideas? When I hit the back button or the home button, it says the operation is invalid.

Here is a photo of what the LED screen looks like now:

 

[jpegman]

The short answer is unfortunately (for us) no!

If printer manufacturers let "us" override the print head cleaning, they would not sell as much in and in the end not good for the printer either since it must be used frequently or a terminal head clog may form and the printer becomes a doorstop.

Wow, where in "wild blue dream" do you live that you are that removed from an ink source?

Since that is an issue for you, you really need to have a complete set of spares on hand since some problems are possible requiring an unexpected cartridge replacement.

 

[just Tony]

Wow, where in "wild blue dream" do you live that you are that removed from an ink source?

Don't be fooled by those entire aisles of ink cartridges at Best Buy, WalMart, Office Max/Depot, Staples, etc. They're for low-end all-in-ones, not the specialty photo printers that we care about. We're a tiny niche market.

Even the online ordering arm of this widespread company doesn't know what the item is:







OP: Had you engaged the "don't swap automatically, ask me first" option in the printer's own menu? I don't own a Mac so I don't know if that printer driver ignores that preference.