Epson 740i symptoms (Grinding noise with flashing lights)

[news.rcn.com]

Any one recognise these symptoms on starting up an Epson 740i?

The colour ink light (the lower one) goes on. The carriage moves along to
the left then right, it goes click whirr whirr GRIND (sometimes GRIND GRIND
without moving the carriage) The the two cartridge lights stay on and the
paper light starts flashing regularly

I haven't used this printer for about 6 months as the new cartridges I put
in wouldnt work at all and the colour cartridge light started flashing
incessantly with a full cart: I suspected that this printer was more trouble
than it was worth (in fact I decided that Epson who wouldnt support what I
classified as their dying printers weren't worth the bother)

But it occurred to me that I have about five spare cartridges and if I can
get them to work and use them up regularly and relatively wquickly I woudl
nt feel so bad about tossing this printer away

Am I kidding myself? Is this printer just dead? And with completely clogged
up heads which cannot really be unclogged all that easily?

 

[Kevin]

Try putting some lubricant on the piece of rail the carriage rides on. A
high quality grease of some sort will do. This could be the problem in a
printer which has not been used for some time.

 

[news.rcn.com]

Try putting some lubricant on the piece of rail the carriage rides on. A
high quality grease of some sort will do.

No, that didn't do it: With the upper cover up or down, the ink tray goes a
few inches to the left, thinks about it for a second or so and then goes all
the way to the right and gives the grinding noise which is more 5 or 6 very
quick pushes against the right hand 'station' during some form of cycling.
It is the sort of sound printers make when you leave the ink cart out and
turn on the printer with the cartridge cover in the open position.

What could be stuck where? I tried moving the lever at the right but I
thought that lever was only for use of thick paper?

 

[tomcas]

No, that didn't do it: With the upper cover up or down, the ink tray goes a
few inches to the left, thinks about it for a second or so and then goes all
the way to the right and gives the grinding noise which is more 5 or 6 very
quick pushes against the right hand 'station' during some form of cycling.
It is the sort of sound printers make when you leave the ink cart out and
turn on the printer with the cartridge cover in the open position.

What could be stuck where? I tried moving the lever at the right but I
thought that lever was only for use of thick paper?

If the carriage is now sliding smoothly after wiping and lubing the bar
with a small amount of light machine oil then the only thing I could
recommend is to do an Eprom reset.
Per Jan Alter, the 740 guru -
To perform a Master EPROM Reset:

1. Turn the printer off.
2. Disconnect the cable that connects from the computer to the printer.
3. With the printer turned off, hold down both the Paper and the Cleaning
Buttons at the same time.
4. Continue to hold the buttons and turn the printer on.
5. When the Paper Light begins to flash, release both the Paper and
Cleaning Buttons.
6. Immediately press the Paper Button once (All the lights will flash and
the printer will begin to charge).
7. When the Power light becomes steady, print.

 

[Tony]

No, that didn't do it: With the upper cover up or down, the ink tray goes a
few inches to the left, thinks about it for a second or so and then goes all
the way to the right and gives the grinding noise which is more 5 or 6 very
quick pushes against the right hand 'station' during some form of cycling.
It is the sort of sound printers make when you leave the ink cart out and
turn on the printer with the cartridge cover in the open position.

What could be stuck where? I tried moving the lever at the right but I
thought that lever was only for use of thick paper?

I don't have the manual for this printer but the error lights indicate (I
think) a fatal error.
The following applies to several Epson printers.
Sometimes after a paper jam is removed from the paper feed area (pulling the
paper backwards) the paper feed mechanism can be forced into incorrect
alignment. I'm not saying this has happened here but what happens is the
carriage stop which prevents the carriage from moving when it is in the home
position will be permanently in the way of the carriage causing carriage
movement problems and an error. Best way to fix this, if it is the case, is to
rotate the paper feed roller by hand, a little force is needed until it locks
into position. This will retract the stop and allow free carriage movement.
Unlikely you will do any damage if you try to rotate the paper roller both ways
but some force is required. Worst that can happen is that the printer remains
unusable!!!!!
Not sure this is the problem but it is reasonably common with some Epson
printers.
Tony

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I agree with Kevin, use a bit of lightweight oil like 3in1 or sewing
machine and slightly dampen the bushing point where the head carriage
ends and connects to the guide rod.

That usually doe sit.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I misread your original post, in that I thought you wrote that the head
carriage went ot the left and stayed there.

It is sounding like the cleaning station is out of position. It's a bit
hard to explanation the fix by this method. Sometimes one of the lower
springs gets sprung, or become out of position, or the whole cleaning
station gets off kilter.

Art

 

[Jan Alter]

Hi,

I'd also go along with Art that the cleaning station may have been
sprung and needs re-placement, but it also smacks of a dry guide rail, which
is one of the commonest maladies of the 740. In order to lube the rail one
should turn the printer on. As soon as the print head moves a little to the
left pull the plug from the outlet. This allows the head to be moved by hand
farther to the left. Using a little (I said a little) light weight oil on a
lintless rag lube the rail, trying to get all over, even to the rear and
especially to the right side, but avoid letting any oil get on the
rubberized belt that pulls the head back and forth. Move the head back
towards the right and re-plug the the cord into the outlet. If this was the
problem then head will go through a cleaning cycle.
Also carefully inspect the insides for anything that looks out of place
or may have come undone.
The 740 was one of the better printers from Epson, and although the
model is seven years old at this point one can get some fairly decent
printing from them at high quality resolution for exceptionally low ink
costs using decent third party cartridges.