Epson CX3200 with blocked nozzle?

[Xmas]

I've got an Epson CX3200 which seems to have a blocked nozzle. No
colours except blue are printing, despite several cycles of nozzle
cleaning, 'cartridge changing', and (out of desperation) head alignment.

I took out the cartridges and put a cloth covered in alcohol in their
place for five minutes. After that some of the colours came back but
black is still not working.

Rather pissed off really, as you can imagine after an hour and a half of
futzing with this bloody thing!

Any other suggestions for a non hardware-techie sort? How do I get to
the print head so I can try putting alcohol on that?

Cheers

 

[Larry]

I've got an Epson CX3200 which seems to have a blocked nozzle. No
colours except blue are printing, despite several cycles of nozzle
cleaning, 'cartridge changing', and (out of desperation) head alignment.

I took out the cartridges and put a cloth covered in alcohol in their
place for five minutes. After that some of the colours came back but
black is still not working.

Rather pissed off really, as you can imagine after an hour and a half of
futzing with this bloody thing!

Any other suggestions for a non hardware-techie sort? How do I get to
the print head so I can try putting alcohol on that?

Cheers

Try here www.fixyourownprinter.com . I had the CX5400, Saw it a few
problems with it. Hope this helps.

Larry

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Please contact me off line for a manual explaining how to resolve this
and other Epson related issues.

I can be reached at:

e-printerhelp(at)mvps(dot)org

(at) = @
(dot) = .

No cost, no spam involved.

Art

 

[Davy]

Email Art (Arthur Entlich) request his free cleaning instructions,
you'll see his postings up and down these pages.

e-printerhelp(@)mvps(.)org
remove the brackets leaving no spaces

Davy

 

[djdf1]

hi just to ask have you solved problem i have given up i did get email
back off arthur but to no avail I have used8 black and colour inks and
a flush and bought a syringe set to clean but still only prints black
and blue there must be some way to clean regards dave

 

[Davy]

Thats a point, I've not seen Art posting's for a while now.... I know
he's usually busy but never fails in replying.... Where art thou
Art..?

The only thing I could suggest could prove costly if it don't work,
that is to get some cleaning carts. give them a couple of flushes and
leave them overnight in the printer....

... then the next day, do same again a couple of flushes and then with
new ink carts. do a couple of flushes of new ink and then try....

... now if that ain't gonna work, then what is ?

Davy

 

[Arthur Entlich]

In general, and especially with the C and CX printers you are better off
not trying to clear the heads with the ink, since the Durabrite ink is
the culprit in the first place. It also wastes ink unnecessarily.

The C and CX (Durabrite) ink printers are a bit of a dilemma, because
they use the chipped cartridges which are both difficult to refill, and
when empty, require a chip resetter to use again. I do provide a link
for instructions on how to refill the cartridges within the manual I
provide.

The Durabrite inks require a highly alkaline cleaner to dissolve the
resin base within the ink particularly once it dries. I find the
cheapest source, for those who can get it, (depends upon the country you
live in) is ammonia based window cleaner. This stuff usually has about
1% ammonia in it. You can make your own with a household ammonia, which
is usually 5% ammonia, diluted down with clean water and add some
isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). I don't suggest going over about
2-3% ammonia.

Not all "Windex" or its substitutes contain ammonia, BTU. Some use none,
other use vinegar as the grease cutter and that is the wrong way to go
with Durabrite inks, so be careful.

It can take several days to do it's job, and if the printer has sat a
long time, it can take longer still, or in rare cases you may have to
move to more drastic measures. Someone has suggested a product called
Simple Green, but I have yet to test it well enough to see if it is
safe. In Europe someone suggest "Mr. Muscle" glass cleaner as a Windex
like liquid.

Anyway, I can't promise 100% success, but most people have been able to
resolve the issues with these basic instructions, plus those within the
manual I provide.

As a last resort, there is a surfactant sold which is the same one Epson
uses. It is a reddish dyed liquid called sufrynol, as I recall, and it
is very gently injected into the heads and left there for at least 2
hours. Not even that works all the time.


Art