I have an Epson C82 (I don't invest much in my printer, and it's mostly for the kids) that just up and quit. I clean and clean the heads, but nothing comes out, not a drop. I run the test pattern thing, and it comes out completely blank. Over and over.

Any idea if this is fixable? I doubt it's worth taking in for repairs, just buy a new one, right? But is there something I can do besides invoking the clean command?

And if I need to break down and buy a new printer I want an inexpensive one. Suggestions?

Originally Posted by DavidTO I have an Epson C82 (I don't invest much in my printer, and it's mostly for the kids) that just up and quit. I clean and clean the heads, but nothing comes out, not a drop. I run the test pattern thing, and it comes out completely blank. Over and over. Any idea if this is fixable? I doubt it's worth taking in for repairs, just buy a new one, right? But is there something I can do besides invoking the clean command? And if I need to break down and buy a new printer I want an inexpensive one. Suggestions?

i use for quickie proofs, and everyday doc printing, an hp photosmart inkjet - it's small, cheap and for two years now, reliable. i suspect that the current models will be the same. there are a dizzying array of choices in the inexpensive printer market!

I'm sorry that this comes after the fact, but in my experience (I've killed a very nice Epson photo printer in the past): a non printer should not get an Epson. Epson heads are not replaced when a new inktank is inserted, and the ink will eventually clog up the print nozzles. If you regularly print, this is less of an issue, since the continuous flow of ink will print it from clogging up. Getting a new print head installed is usually more expensive than getting a new printer. How do you mean, we're a consumer-based society? At the time, when I tried all kinds of remedy to no avail, I tried applying alcohol drenched pads to the print head, letting it soak up the alcohol, and then retry printing. It helped, but it didn't work 100%.

As a cure I went for a HP Photosmart in the end as well. Cheap, fast, good enough prints to hand out to people, and if you replace the ink, the head will be replaced as well (which adds to the ink price, but keeps my printer in the running). The paper path is curved, which is a disadvantage. ESp. if you have your printer in a moist area, and your paper will get moist, you should not put too much in the tray at the same time. And when you insert paper, make sure to shake the bundle lose in the air, straighten it, and place it in the tray. This prevents multiple sheets going through the paper path at the same time.

I'd have to say that marlof's advice is probably right. I've owned a couple of Epson photo printers and I have always been frustrated by the heads getting clogged due to the lack of frequent printing.

Also, I recently did a dumb thing and had an Epson Stylus Photo 870 repaired (really just cleaned and serviced). Cost me $60. Take a look at the price of a newer printer, like the Epson R200, and you'll see that this probably made no sense (except that I did still have several ink cartridges left which I would have had to throw out if I had bought a new printer).

Good luck... in my experience it always seems like dealing with printers is a no-win situation.

Originally Posted by DavidTO I have an Epson C82 (I don't invest much in my printer, and it's mostly for the kids) that just up and quit. I clean and clean the heads, but nothing comes out, not a drop. I run the test pattern thing, and it comes out completely blank. Over and over.

Sounds fairly dead... :-(

I've seen this before on an old Epson. It was actually a failure of the control electronics. Somewhat rare problem that one though...

Any idea if this is fixable? I doubt it's worth taking in for repairs, just buy a new one, right? But is there something I can do besides invoking the clean command?

There isn't a great deal you can do. HP printers have a particular flaw where they tend to accumulate ink in the wells at the right hand side of the printer. This then grows until it blocks the printer cartridge movement and distributes blank gunk all over the cartridges. Clearning involes removing this 'stump' with tweezers and methanol. It's horrid. Epson might suffer the same, I don't know, I've never used one for an extended period.

And if I need to break down and buy a new printer I want an inexpensive one. Suggestions?

Printers are something of a pet hate of mine. Generally I use HP printers for cheap+quick printing. The new ones seem to be reasonably designed, but the Windows drivers are foul, this may well not apply to Mac ;) and there is the 'stump' problem.

I use an 1120C for non-photo A3 printing and have a PSC 2355 for general use. Nice, fast, tolerably cheap... Shame about the software.

I use a B&W HP laser for the majority of my work.

So in conclusion, you'll be fine with an HP Inkjet, they're no worse than anyone else and better than some.

I've had very bad experiences with cheap Lexmark (Dell branded) inkjets and with a very cheap Epson injet that I tried to fix for someone else.

Hope this helps,

Luke

Add me to the list of unhappy Epson owners. My C80 decided to blow a gasket (literally) one night, and the black ink sprayed everywhere, including outside the printer. Wasn't worth cleaning or fixing. Cheap printers for me never ever again. Inkjet type printers for me never ever again. Went through three of them from various mfgr's with very disappointing results.

If I ever again purchase a color printer for the home, it would be a color laser design, although not for photo prints. For photo prints, I leave that up to the commercial printers on the net (EZprints.com [which Smugmug uses], etc.). Let them break and wear out their expensive equipment. I can wait a day or two for my work to arrive.

Thanks for all the replies.

Yesterday I walked across the street from work to Staples (convenient, eh?).

Anyway, after looking around, I picked up an HP PSC 1510. It's a printer, scanner and copier (hence PSC). It was $100. The cheapest HP was $80 and the next up was the same price as this. It's mostly for the family, so the convenience of being able to make copies, scan, print mostly homework and also print photos (special cartridge for photos, apparently) works out pretty well.

The Epson, BTW, lasted almost 4 years, so I'm not really complaining.

Thanks again for all the help!