My trusty 4 year old Epson 1280, which has cranked out probably thousands
of, to me, absolutely stunning prints (the print quality is stellar, my
images may not be) is now plagued with a clogging problem that yields blue
lines at the beginning of prints. Umpteen cleaning cycles and a change of
cartridges will only temporarily clear the problem. I am planning to get an
R1800 but I would like to still be able to use the 1280. Has anyone tried
the aftermarked cleaning cartridges? I see several brands out there . . .

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 15:57:40 GMT, in comp.periphs.printers "bmoag"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>My trusty 4 year old Epson 1280, which has cranked out probably thousands
>of, to me, absolutely stunning prints (the print quality is stellar, my
>images may not be) is now plagued with a clogging problem that yields blue
>lines at the beginning of prints. Umpteen cleaning cycles and a change of
>cartridges will only temporarily clear the problem. I am planning to get an
>R1800 but I would like to still be able to use the 1280. Has anyone tried
>the aftermarked cleaning cartridges? I see several brands out there . . .

Another way is to remove the top cover. to give you access to the head
parking station. Then power up the printer and move the print head
over to the left as you would to change a cartridge. Over on the right
is the parking station. The cap has white foam in it that will be
black with ink from use. Gently wick out the ink with some paper
towel, being careful not to knock the cap out of alignment. Use some
windex to help dilute the ink and wick it out with paper towel.
Alternate until the foam pad is clean (white). Next get the pad moist
with windex and then park the head back on it. Leave for an hour or
so. Repeat this cleaning cycle until no more ink comes off the bottom
of the head. Then put the top cover back on.

Please email me with a scan of the problem (a section about 2" x 2"
square or equivalent) jpegged to high quality at 300 dpi.

I have a suspicion I know what your are describing but I want to be sure
before commenting further.

I can be reached at:

e-printerhelp(at)mvps(dot)org

(at) = @
(dot) = .

Art

bmoag wrote:

> My trusty 4 year old Epson 1280, which has cranked out probably thousands
> of, to me, absolutely stunning prints (the print quality is stellar, my
> images may not be) is now plagued with a clogging problem that yields blue
> lines at the beginning of prints. Umpteen cleaning cycles and a change of
> cartridges will only temporarily clear the problem. I am planning to get an
> R1800 but I would like to still be able to use the 1280. Has anyone tried
> the aftermarked cleaning cartridges? I see several brands out there . . .
>
>