If you're in the U.S. it will be under warranty for a year and you can call
Epson for a replacement.
I have worked a lot with the C-84 model that uses the same inks and have
been unable to clear partial or full clogs on more than five of them
(C-84) in the past two years. I have worked extensively with Epson's 600,
740 and 880 series (we have more than 60 of these machines at our school)
and over the past 5 years have only had perhaps 8 of these machines bite the
dust. Any machine that was lost was due to either an electronics failure or
mechanical paper feed malfunction, not a clog, and we've been using 3rd
party inks on all of them, eventually.
More clogging problems occured with the C-80, and C-82 models, yet I
have still been able to keep the six of those models running. However, the
problem became pronounced when we started using the C-84, and with the
exception of one machine (the teacher uses it everyday except weekends) the
other 5 have either partial or full clogs at this point. At home we had two
C-84's for my two kids. One clogged horribly after having it a year (my 10
year old unfortunately never used it) and my other daughter has a partial
black clog, with one jet that simply refuses to clear, despite using the
cleaning cycles, intravenous injection of official Epson cleaning fluid, and
cleanings underneath with a rag soaked in solution.
For some readers who are long time followers of this NG you may have
heard my rant before, but I feel it's worth repeating every now and again
for newbies to hear so more folks become aware of this situation with Epsons
Durabrite ink models.
I have written to Epson at this point to ask for assistance and
additional support, as I have ten C-84 printers in unopened boxes in my room
at school, almost two years old, and now out of warranty, even though
they're brand spanking new. The idea of the purchase was that two years ago
we had the money available, and I was not certain of the longevity of the
aging 740 and 880 machines. I thought it reasonable to invest in additional
Epsons, since the earlier models were doing us so well. There's another
lesson here somewhere.
I can't fathom with the numerous clogging problems that the Durabrite inks
are causing why Epson has not revamped its ink and come out with another
formulation that would ameliorate this situation.
It is reminiscent of the new VW Rabbit that I bought in '78 and it used
a quart of oil every 500 miles after I had had it for 10,000 miles. VW told
me it was "normal". At 50,000 miles it was a quart every 300 miles, and when
I received notice of the class action lawsuit brought by the FTC against VW
for their failure to correct a widespread problem for their use of
substandard material in the valve stem seals in their Rabbits, VW reimbursed
every owner who had to have a valve job $125 for the repair that could have
been avoided if VW had spent $8 more to use the accepted silicon valve stem
seals that all other automakers were currently using at the time.
Maybe I should be sending this to the Consumer Reports NG. lemon printers.
