Clogged Heads Epson Stylus Color 850

I am writing this because I read an email from user Jimkelly about
cleaning printheads on the Epson printer and he gave very good
instructions for cleaning a photostylus. Unfortunately, I have a
Color Stylus 850 - bought from Costco so some of you may have one at
home :-)

FYI - I am not responsible for any damages from any Id10T errors. I
don't claim to be a tech or practice as one. But I am damn good
product marketing manager looking for a good dot.com :-)

In any case this is the procedure I took to clean the clogged heads,
etc.

Press the paper advance button on the front control panel under the
housing cover. Allow the printer cartridge containers to advance and
then power down. (this will allow you to freely move the containers
later on)

Go to back panel and remove small "applique" back panel, remove set
aside and know where those screws are

Remove remaining screws to back panel. Extreme left and right
recessed screws do NOT need to be removed. Remove back panel and view
aluminum "heat shield." Remove two screws that secure heat shield to
PCB housing and set aside. Remove heat shield

Turn printer to front lift up front panel flap and remove screws in
lower left and right of paper output tray. Goto back of printer to
left and right of paper input tray and remove recessed screws. Set
aside screws. Remove housing.
NOTE: you will see when you remove the housing there is a SIMM cable
that seemed to have popped out of nowhere. IF you look in the back
panel when you had removed the heat shield you will notice that the
SIMM cable sits in the small connector in line to the left side screw
on the PCB on the left side of the PCB. The SIMM cable will need to
be replaced there at the end for power purposes. Remember placement
and which side is which as far as front and back of the SIMM cable.
It shouldn't be a problem but sometimes the cable may get twisted

You now have complete access to the printer and can see the rollers,
cartridge housing etc. Take out black ink cartridge, take out color
ink cartridge out of ink housings.

Move ink housing to left and view sponge/ink assembly. Notice small
feed hoses to sponge blots and note which hose feeds which blot
sponge. The sponge blot assembly is attached to the spring base by
two round plastic stubs that fit into the spring assembly. You can
snap the assembly out and remove the sponge/ink blot assembly. Do so.
Remove sponge blots and clean under water. Clean in and around
housing with Q-tip soaked in Windex. let air dry clean. Spray air
can in and around spring assembly area and in the PCB housing just to
get the dust out as well.

Now move the ink housing assembly to the far right. You can now
access the printheads. These print heads are small, look
metallic/glass-like and odds are will need to be cleaned. Do so with
a Q-tips or cotton swabs soaked in Windex. If need be bend the Q-tip
to get access to the printheads UNDERNEATH the housing. Try to remove
as much gunk as possible and swab the print head areas clean of ink.
This will take ... forever. Odds are you will never get a totally
clean Q-tip but after awhile it will seem that the Q-tip head will not
be as a saturated. This is as close to clean as you can get. Also
clean inside the ink housing area with windex Q-tips. Air spray area.
General clean up of inked areas with Q tips is good as well.

Replace black and color ink cartridge to ink housings.

Replace sponge blot assembly to spring base - this is tricky because
it has to be swing freely and not be off kilter make sure the two
pinch arms are in position to recieve the plastic stubs. Check and
test spring swing of complete sub assembly.

Put Front Case housing on top - replace SIMM cable in correct
position. Check for all flush areas to be correctly placed. Replace
heat shield. Screw. Replace rear panel plates.

Test.

Odds are you will have to trick the printer into thinking there is a
new ink pad so remove have empty cartrides and replace them again.
Printer will think there is a new cartridge. It takes a lot of ink to
refill the sponges.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Mr. Kelly for the original input. Your email was an
inspiration to try this and allow it to work.

It is gracious of you to provide these instructions.

If I might suggest, however, I have been sending out instructions on
cleaning Epson heads for several years now (I send out 5-10 copies a day
at no fee), and there is a much simpler method to clean the heads on
most Epson printers, and in particular the 850 and ones of that vintage.

It is not necessary to remove the top case to clean under the heads, and
even cleaning the ink station usually does not require case removal,
unless you need to dismantle it to remove a clog of the air valve hoses.

It is also not even necessary on the 850 to put the unit into change
cartridge mode to get the heads unlocked.

Anyone who needs the instructions (which actually covers most Epson
inkjet printers) for a less "invasive" approach, please email me.

Art


popsievaz wrote:

I am writing this because I read an email from user Jimkelly about
cleaning printheads on the Epson printer and he gave very good
instructions for cleaning a photostylus. Unfortunately, I have a
Color Stylus 850 - bought from Costco so some of you may have one at
home :-)

FYI - I am not responsible for any damages from any Id10T errors. I
don't claim to be a tech or practice as one. But I am damn good
product marketing manager looking for a good dot.com :-)

In any case this is the procedure I took to clean the clogged heads,
etc.

Press the paper advance button on the front control panel under the
housing cover. Allow the printer cartridge containers to advance and
then power down. (this will allow you to freely move the containers
later on)

Go to back panel and remove small "applique" back panel, remove set
aside and know where those screws are

Remove remaining screws to back panel. Extreme left and right
recessed screws do NOT need to be removed. Remove back panel and view
aluminum "heat shield." Remove two screws that secure heat shield to
PCB housing and set aside. Remove heat shield

Turn printer to front lift up front panel flap and remove screws in
lower left and right of paper output tray. Goto back of printer to
left and right of paper input tray and remove recessed screws. Set
aside screws. Remove housing.

cut

Hey,

I would be really grateful if i could receive those instructions. I have the
epson 850 inkjet as well as an old laser, and I really am having trouble
with my inkjet.

I can scan in a photo I have printed if it is any help, might explain better
than I can in words.. but basically for a while now when i print at
720/1440dpi colour photos I get this black banding across the top of the
document. Random horizontal black lines that are perfectly straight but
completely random and dont take up the whole width of the page. It is really
irritating me. I have taken the printer to pieces and cleaned it all
thoroughly, I have used cleaning cartridges to clean the print heads... all
to no avail. I cant afford to replace this printer so need some idea.

Help?!

Thanks,

Laurent


"Arthur Entlich" wrote in message
. ca...
It is gracious of you to provide these instructions.

If I might suggest, however, I have been sending out instructions on
cleaning Epson heads for several years now (I send out 5-10 copies a day
at no fee), and there is a much simpler method to clean the heads on
most Epson printers, and in particular the 850 and ones of that vintage.

It is not necessary to remove the top case to clean under the heads, and
even cleaning the ink station usually does not require case removal,
unless you need to dismantle it to remove a clog of the air valve hoses.

It is also not even necessary on the 850 to put the unit into change
cartridge mode to get the heads unlocked.

Anyone who needs the instructions (which actually covers most Epson
inkjet printers) for a less "invasive" approach, please email me.

Art


popsievaz wrote:

I am writing this because I read an email from user Jimkelly about
cleaning printheads on the Epson printer and he gave very good
instructions for cleaning a photostylus. Unfortunately, I have a
Color Stylus 850 - bought from Costco so some of you may have one at
home :-)

FYI - I am not responsible for any damages from any Id10T errors. I
don't claim to be a tech or practice as one. But I am damn good
product marketing manager looking for a good dot.com :-)

In any case this is the procedure I took to clean the clogged heads,
etc.

Press the paper advance button on the front control panel under the
housing cover. Allow the printer cartridge containers to advance and
then power down. (this will allow you to freely move the containers
later on)

Go to back panel and remove small "applique" back panel, remove set
aside and know where those screws are

Remove remaining screws to back panel. Extreme left and right
recessed screws do NOT need to be removed. Remove back panel and view
aluminum "heat shield." Remove two screws that secure heat shield to
PCB housing and set aside. Remove heat shield

Turn printer to front lift up front panel flap and remove screws in
lower left and right of paper output tray. Goto back of printer to
left and right of paper input tray and remove recessed screws. Set
aside screws. Remove housing.

cut

It is an electronic failure, which I'd call hardware. It starts out
intermittent, and slowly gets worse- at some point it happens all the time.

The head controller IC or other component is failing.

When this occurs under warranty, the printer is exchanged. The fix is a
replacement of the full head assembly, inclusive of the head and
controller circuits.

Art

L wrote:

I have tried with different operating systems and drivers to no avail.
Thanks for the idea though.

I agree with you, that I am unsure whether it is a software or hardware
fault or both, even though I have reinstalled drivers. The lines appear too
neat and randomly placed to be some kind of leak.

Laurent

"Francis Knight" wrote in message
.ukZ...

L wrote:


I can scan in a photo I have printed if it is any help, might explain

better

than I can in words.. but basically for a while now when i print at
720/1440dpi colour photos I get this black banding across the top of the
document. Random horizontal black lines that are perfectly straight but
completely random and dont take up the whole width of the page.


I have a similar problem from time to time, though on a
SC580. A perfect print will be ruined by a couple of
black hairlines. These can't be ink drips, being so
neat. I reckon this is a driver problem, holding a black
nozzle on for a complete carriage scan. If you read an
Epson service manual, you'll realise that firing a nozzle
isn't due to a straightforward DC signal, so it doesn't
look like a driver line latching improperly either.

Do you have a different type of computer you could try
to print from, to see if the problem goes away?

HTH
Cheers,
Francis K.
--
[Remove Trailing'Z' from mail address to reply.]

What is the guarantee time for an Epson 850?

I take it that its way gone?

I must say although my epson has given me a good long life I am slightly
annoyed because the problem went away for a week and I just bought a lot
more ink and then it has come back. All cleaning methods have cleared it for
about one or 1/2 a print then the black lines come back. I can do normal
prints just at high resolutions it happens

Really cant afford a new printer right now so I will have to be stuck with
it

Thanks for the advice

L

"Arthur Entlich" wrote in message
. ca...
It is an electronic failure, which I'd call hardware. It starts out
intermittent, and slowly gets worse- at some point it happens all the
time.

The head controller IC or other component is failing.

When this occurs under warranty, the printer is exchanged. The fix is a
replacement of the full head assembly, inclusive of the head and
controller circuits.

Art

The warranty was one year, I'm pretty sure.

You can use it at 720 dpi and that should avoid the problem , but limits
your resolution, but maybe that way you can use up the ink.

Art

L wrote:

What is the guarantee time for an Epson 850?

I take it that its way gone?

I must say although my epson has given me a good long life I am slightly
annoyed because the problem went away for a week and I just bought a lot
more ink and then it has come back. All cleaning methods have cleared it for
about one or 1/2 a print then the black lines come back. I can do normal
prints just at high resolutions it happens

Really cant afford a new printer right now so I will have to be stuck with
it

Thanks for the advice

L

"Arthur Entlich" wrote in message
. ca...

It is an electronic failure, which I'd call hardware. It starts out
intermittent, and slowly gets worse- at some point it happens all the

time.

The head controller IC or other component is failing.

When this occurs under warranty, the printer is exchanged. The fix is a
replacement of the full head assembly, inclusive of the head and
controller circuits.

Art