Advice on a faulty Epson 1160?

[jjsocha]

I have recently purchased a used Epson Stylus Color 1160 with the
intention of converting it to a B&W printer with MIS Ultratone
inks. I installed the cartridges and it prints a test page just
fine, but the printer is choking on all other printouts. For a
simple page of text, it stops after printing about 1/4 of the page,
and for a simple grayscale wedge printed from Photoshop, it stops
after a few lines. In both cases the ink indicators light red, and
the paper feed and on/off buttons blink. Is there any way to
diagnose if this is a mechanical or software related issue, and if
so, how to fix it? I’m using a Mac G4 laptop running OS 10.3.7.
Thanks.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

This indicates a "fatal error".

Here are the possible causes, according to Epson:

(I'm guessing "encorder" is supposed to read encoder)

1. The CR Encorder FFC has come off from the CR Encorder Sensor board.
The CR Encorder sensor is not mounted in the CR Assy.
2. The CR liner scale has come off. The CR liner scale is not placed
through the encoder located at the back of the carriage.
3. The ASF sensor has come off. The connector for the ASF sensor is not
disconnected.
4. The ASF sensor is defective or dose not detect the ASF HP position
caused by any factor.
5. The PF or CR Encorder Sensor is defective or does not detect the
slite pattern on the each scale.
6. The coil for the CR motor has burnt.
7. The coil for the PF motor has burnt.
8. Coil for the ASF/Pump motor has burnt
9. ASF Gear 32 is disengaged to the Combination Gear 14,28 which is
assembled in the DE unit.
10. Torsion Spring 0.618 comes off from the DE Lock Lever and the hook
of DE unit.


However, there is another possible cause not listed and worth making
sure is not the cause, as it is a general maintenance and easy to do,
and is common with printers left in storage.

Clean the cylindrical bar the head carriage bushings run on with
alcohol, Clean it till the bar is clean and no residue comes off. Then
distribute a few drops of lightweight machine oil (like sewing machine
or 3in1) on the bar, and a drop in front of the bushings of the head
carriage. If you know how to unlock the head carriage, then do so, and
move the carriage back and forth a few times, and return it to the
cleaning station on the right side. Make sure the bushings in the head
carriage are set properly in the head carriage unit. They should be
relatively flush to the plastic. If they have pulled out gently reset them.

If that doesn't help, look over the list above.

 

[jjsocha]

Art--

Thanks for the reply--I appreciate it. I'll first try the simple
maintenance steps you suggested. Is the service manual required to
unlock the head carriage, or is that something that I could figure
out?

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Well, I can't say if you can figure it out or not..., but if you send
the head carriage over to the left on some assignment or other, and then
unplug the printer from the AC via the power plug, and the head will be
sitting unlocked in mid-stride and unlocked.

Art

 

[jjsocha]

Your simple solution worked! I am a bit surprised, because the rail
did not seem to be that dirty. Many thanks--I was about to sell the
printer for parts. Now it's printing beautiful B&W.

Incidentally, the OS 9 driver seems to work much better for this
printer than does the OS X version. The workflow provided by Paul
Roark at http://www.inksupply.com/index.cfm?source=html/ut1160.html
is very helpful.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

I'm please to hear it.

Another printer saved from the landfill... no wonder Epson doesn't
acknowledge me... I don't know if they realize most people don't buy
another Epson when they die on them...

or maybe they do! ;-)

The 1160 is getting a bit "old" in terms of OS's and drivers. Epson
tends to be a little weak in their upgrading support on drivers when new
OS's come out.

Art