Epson ecotank L4160 not printing colors after color cartridges left empty for 1 year

Discussion in 'hardware' started by aigle, Dec 5, 2020.

  1. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    I moved from middle east to uk a year back and all color cartridges became empty just after moving. I did not have colored ink so I started to print as grey scale only as I still had black ink with me. Got a bit busy and did not buy colored ink until few days back. I filled the colored ink but now it will not print any color. Tried nozzle check and head cleaning so many times, power wash once but no success. In color mode it prints only black and leaves the rest of colors unprinted. Any solutions pls? I guess the colored inks have dried somewhere and blocked some parts of it. Am I right? Thanks
     
  2. Marcelo

    Marcelo Registered Member

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    Most probably. If it's not the head it's somewhere in the ink path to the head. Check with a local authorized repair shop but it may be cheaper to just buy a new one.
     
  3. aigle

    aigle Registered Member

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    Hmmm... I thought there must be a way to fix it myself. :-(
     
  4. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    The problem with Epson printers. The ink dries in the heads and clogs up. The most common fix I have seen (and have never actually tried) is to remove the heads and soak in alcohol to remove the dried ink. I'd probably just buy a new printer, which is what I did last time.
     
  5. imdb

    imdb Registered Member

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    i'd do the same. :thumb:
     
  6. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    Not only Epson printers. I had the same issue with my Canon printer, some years ago. I did all the head cleaning routines, also soaked and rinsed the head with alcohol and demineralized water, but nothing really helped. I replaced my printer for a cheap HP printer, even though ink is costly for cheap printers, but that is not too bad as I hardly print.
     
  7. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    Not sure if it is still true but HP always had the print heads in the ink cartridges. New ink would come with new print heads so problem solved there. Epson and Canon have print heads in the printer so the same problem as each other. Not sure about other brands. It might be worth looking into before buying a printer. I'm not a huge HP fan though, so if I were to buy something today I would have to do a lot of research first.
     
  8. Stupendous Man

    Stupendous Man Registered Member

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    You may be right, perhaps it is a brand difference, I am not sure.
    I thought it was a price and quality thing for all or most brands - with cheap printers having medium quality print heads included in the ink cartridges, more expensive printers having separate high dpi print heads. But I may be wrong about that.
    I liked my high dpi Canon photo printer, but after the clog up disaster, I settled for a cheap HP alternative with medium quality print heads included in the ink cartridges, so that each ink refill comes with new print heads.
     
  9. MisterB

    MisterB Registered Member

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    Epson printers have non-removable print heads and are a pain to fix. In many cases they can't be fixed. Canon print heads are mostly removable and can usually be unclogged by soaking and draining in distilled water. Worst case scenario is having to buy a new printhead which is usually just as much as a new printer. I keep getting getting free Canon photo printers offered to me and I've had to unclog a couple of printheads. HP consumer printers do have the printhead on the ink cartridge but not the higher end HP printers which have separate printheads and cartridges. These days, I print mostly with laser printers which have much better print quality and much lower per page costs, like less than a penny per page so you end up paying more for the paper than the toner. That's the way it should be.

    You never want to run an inkjet without ink in the cartridges. That heats the printhead and bakes and hardens any ink left in the printhead.
     
  10. The Hammer

    The Hammer Registered Member

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    A laser? Something to look into perhaps when or if my Epson Artisan 810 kicks the bucket.
     
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