EPSON PRINTHEADS "IS THE TRUTH OUT THERE"

Hello,

I would like to understand about epson printheads.

First of all why are they expensive to purchase compared to other
manufactures?

I as a printer technican i get alot of epson inkjet to repair,
unforunatley most of the problems are printhead issues.

When i contact suppliers regarding costs of a printhead for the epson
printer it basically makes the printer economically beyond repair as
the price for a epson print head is more expensive and for the
customer it is better to buy a new printer.

For me it's as a business owner it's bad for business to not to be
able to repair printers and to make living out of it, i was wondering;

Does anyone have the same problems?
Can anyone suggest a solution to the cost of an epson printhead?
Can anyone suggest a solution??

I mean there are a lot of printers being thrown away because of
something inside so small causing all the problems.

I hope this post is more liking to this group as my last post was a
little off course in the microsoft office department.

Interested to read any replies.

Martin

Martin wrote:
Hello,

I would like to understand about epson printheads.

First of all why are they expensive to purchase compared to other
manufactures?

I as a printer technican i get alot of epson inkjet to repair,
unforunatley most of the problems are printhead issues.

When i contact suppliers regarding costs of a printhead for the epson
printer it basically makes the printer economically beyond repair as
the price for a epson print head is more expensive and for the
customer it is better to buy a new printer.

For me it's as a business owner it's bad for business to not to be
able to repair printers and to make living out of it, i was wondering;

Does anyone have the same problems?
Can anyone suggest a solution to the cost of an epson printhead?
Can anyone suggest a solution??

I mean there are a lot of printers being thrown away because of
something inside so small causing all the problems.

I hope this post is more liking to this group as my last post was a
little off course in the microsoft office department.

Interested to read any replies.

Martin


I don't see how anybody coulld make a living repairing cheap electrical
appliances.

You buy a new coffeemaker for $30. It breaks, and you get charged $10.00
for the replacement heating element and $20 to install it. So, for the
consumer, it doesn't make sense to have a small appliances repair
system, except for a $200 expensive appliance or a ship it back for a
new one type of warranty service.

The bulk of the printers today in the hands of consumers are "cheap".

There are only a few shoe repair shops around these days, much less than
in the past. It is too expensive to repair most inexpensive shoes. But,
there are expensive shoes where repair makes good sense. $30 shoes
resoled for $15 vs $150 shoes resoled for $25 is a whole different ball
game.

The piezoelectric print heads are alleged to cost more than the
thermal/bubblejet heads to produce.

So, the profits on the headless full inktank cartridge are higher than
the profits on the inktank with built in thermal/bubblejet printing head.

I really don't see the viability of expecting to make a living repairing
"Cheap" products.

Jim


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Yes, there is truth out there, and I think I might be able to shed some
light upon it.

Epson heads are indeed more costly to manufacture than some others.
They are designed as a permanent part of the printer. Epson uses a very
different design from most other consumer inkjet printers. They use a
piezo electric actuation system, which vibrates. It is based upon the
original Seiko quartz crystal used in their watches. Epson heads are
not just the piezo system however, they also contain some of the logic
electronics on a circuitboard which is attached to the head. When the
head is replaced, so is that circuitboard, since it is attached via a
flexible foil that has hundreds of individual connections on each side
of it.

Other inkjet printers use a thermal head which has a resistor for each
nozzle which is heated to boil the ink in a tube. They are much cheaper
to produce and they eventually fail, both because the tube gets etched
from the continual heat and cooling and because the resistors eventually
burn out. The newer Canon head, which is not part of the cartridge,
uses a more robust system, but they too eventually burn out, also.

Epson heads have another issue. Due to variations in the manufacturing,
they require geometric adjustments when installed, AND they require
voltage adjustments be applied in firmware to each piezo actuator to
even them out. This requires special software not available to the
general public. In many cases, the printer will "work" with a new head,
but the results will not be up to the original standard without these
adjustments.

Now, why are the heads almost the cost of the printer? Well, why are
ink cartridges almost the cost of the printer, when the printer comes
with ink cartridges included on purchase? Epson and other manufacturers
have decided to use a specific business model, which involves basically
giving away the printer and getting the profit on the ink and
consumables. Lexmark is the king of this approach. Here in Canada, and
I assume at least in the US as well, hardly anyone actually pays for a
Lexmark printer. Buy a digital camera, get a free printer after rebate.
Buy a new computer, get a free printer or all in one after rebate, buy
anything that generates printable pictures, or text, and get a free
printer. Now, obviously, Lexmark printers, regardless of what you might
personally think of their quality, do not get manufactured and shipped
out here for free, so how can they afford to give them away? The
retailer gets to keep their profit, in most cases, and the rebate comes
from a fulfillment company that gets paid extra. Well, the secret is
the ink cartridges. Lexmark, probably more than any of the other inkjet
manufacturer spends a fortune in lawyers protecting their patents so 3rd
party ink cartridges don't stay on the market. They lost the last
battle, but I'm expecting they'll be back. So, you now have a free
printer, and when you need ink, you basically are stuck buying Lexmark
cartridges. The profit margin on them is huge.

Getting back to Epson printer heads, the printers used to be sold with
profit built into them. My original Epson Color Stylus cost $1000 CAN
back in 1995 or so. It came with a huge set of cartridges which lasted
about a year of pretty substantial use, and cost about $35 CAN to
replace the color. Over the years, the cartridges have become smaller
and smaller and smaller, and the cost has gone up and up and up. Each
inkjet company has worked on methods to make them more difficult to
refill, and some have chips in them that program to "empty" so you
require a special reprogrammer to get them to even be acknowledged in
the printer if you refill them.

The same game is now being played with laser printers, photocopiers, and
especially color laser printers, which now sell for about the price of
one replacement cycle of consumables.

It's a nasty business which is bad for the environment, because it means
people will replace the printer rather than having a new head or waste
inkpad put in. In some cases, people toss a printer once it needs new
ink or toner. You can't blame them if all they are considering is cost.

Quite honestly, I believe the only thing that will change this "road to
he*l" is for legislation to force printer manufacturers to change their
business model. The EU has already done so, and other countries are
moving toward that as well. It will probably mean more expensive
printers to come, but cheaper ink and more options in terms of
consumables. If the printer cost $1000, a $100 replacement head would
seem like a bargain.

Art


Martin wrote:

Hello,

I would like to understand about epson printheads.

First of all why are they expensive to purchase compared to other
manufactures?

I as a printer technican i get alot of epson inkjet to repair,
unforunatley most of the problems are printhead issues.

When i contact suppliers regarding costs of a printhead for the epson
printer it basically makes the printer economically beyond repair as
the price for a epson print head is more expensive and for the
customer it is better to buy a new printer.

For me it's as a business owner it's bad for business to not to be
able to repair printers and to make living out of it, i was wondering;

Does anyone have the same problems?
Can anyone suggest a solution to the cost of an epson printhead?
Can anyone suggest a solution??

I mean there are a lot of printers being thrown away because of
something inside so small causing all the problems.

I hope this post is more liking to this group as my last post was a
little off course in the microsoft office department.

Interested to read any replies.

Martin

I won't assume anything about the original poster one way or the other,
but, I should have mentioned in my posting something more about the heads.

Epson ink heads are considered permanent. The number one issue with
them when it occurs, is clogging. And as Mr. Bell states, it is
reversible in almost every case. I have documented proof of that from
years of helping people to do just that.

Many printer repair services will not bother to take the time to service
the head to unclog it, in spite of the simplicity of doing so in most
cases. They would much prefer to charge you for a new head. It is a do
it yourself process and most people are successful doing it.

Some Epson printers will develop a head failure. Under warranty the fix
is free. Afterward, however, is a battle of another sort. Some models
appear to be more prone to this failure than others. To my knowledge,
Epson doesn't acknowledge this, or even the nature of the failure when
it occurs.

The nature of this defect usually manifests as a "stuck" nozzle. One,
often the cyan or magenta, occasionally the black, will start
intermittently stay on, printing ink. Over time, it becomes more common
and will print one nozzle thick lines right across the image and into
the margins. It doesn't typically manifest in 720 dpi modes or lower.
It tends to get worse, eventually involving more than one nozzle.

I have yet to find a fix for this. If anyone has one please contact me
in private mail.

Art

William Bell wrote:

On 27 Nov 2004 07:37:31 -0800, (Martin) wrote:


Hello,

I would like to understand about epson printheads.

First of all why are they expensive to purchase compared to other
manufactures?

I as a printer technican i get alot of epson inkjet to repair,
unforunatley most of the problems are printhead issues.

When i contact suppliers regarding costs of a printhead for the epson
printer it basically makes the printer economically beyond repair as
the price for a epson print head is more expensive and for the
customer it is better to buy a new printer.

For me it's as a business owner it's bad for business to not to be
able to repair printers and to make living out of it, i was wondering;

Does anyone have the same problems?
Can anyone suggest a solution to the cost of an epson printhead?
Can anyone suggest a solution??

I mean there are a lot of printers being thrown away because of
something inside so small causing all the problems.

I hope this post is more liking to this group as my last post was a
little off course in the microsoft office department.

Interested to read any replies.

Martin




No just clean the Print head, it is as simple as that, you will recover more
than 90%

Epson print heads (Piezo Electric) are not the same as all the other Bubble
Crap, that burn out after a short while.



I for one do not think you are in the Printer Service business, as you would
not ask such a stupid question..

Seems this is more like a Troll or you work for Canon..


So **** off..

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 10:59:32 GMT, EPSON PRINTHEADS "IS THE
TRUTH OUT THERE" Arthur Entlich wrote:

Many printer repair services will not bother to take the time to service
the head to unclog it, in spite of the simplicity of doing so in most
cases.

How do you unclog the head?

--
To reply to me directly, remove the XXX characters from my email address.

On 2004-11-28, Arthur Entlich wrote:

[snip lotsa interesting info]

....consumables. If the printer cost $1000, a $100 replacement head would
seem like a bargain.

Thanks for that, Art. You brought up an environmental issue I hadn't fully
considered.

I've already taken about the only step available to me. I refuse to buy
another color printer. If I need a print made I go to someplace that has a
DIY pay-for printer. Some of the bigger stores with photo departments
have these machines. They typically accept several kinds of storage media
and a pretty good print can be had for less than a dollar. I imagine they
will get better as more people realize the printer rip-off and go the same
route.

Besides, I don't see the need for all these photo quality printers, anyway.
Since my Epson turned into a doorstop, I get along quite nicely without it,
prefering to view/send jpg files instead. If someone wants to see them, let
them get a computer or dedicated viewing device. I refuse to feed the
greed.

nb

Jim,

Thank you for your comments.

I would just like to say that i repair designjets, laserjets (mono &
color) and dot matrix printers, my business does not focus on cheap
inkjet printers and your reasons spell that out perfectly.

Also not all inkjet printers are cheap to buy and repairing them seems
more feasible than to buy another, also i think it depends where you
are living in the world regarding the cost of repairing, as prices
vary from very expensive to very reasonable.

I was thinking that it was a waste to see inkjet printers sold so
cheaply and thrown away so quickly, that their must be ways to sustain
repairing these types of printers, or basically these machines will
litter the rubbish tips around the world, as far as i'm aware inkjet
printers are not being recycled in a big way.

I personally would like to see a program introduced by manufactures to
have a facility to break down broken inkjet printers but to do this
they could have a leaflet inside the box when the customer is buying
the printer in the first place, telling them if the printer breaks
after warranty runs out where to send the printer, freepost obviously
and to recycle them into new printers.

That's really what i would like to say.

All the Best

Martin

If you would like a copy of my Epson Cleaning Manual which explains the
process, please email me privately (at the address this has been issued
from) and request the manual. I will provide you a copy at no cost.

I do not sell any Epson or printer materials and do not spam.

Please indicate which Epson printer you are using, as some require a bit
of additional information. If you have a specific problem, you may wish
to include that as well.

Art

Vic Dura wrote:

On Sun, 28 Nov 2004 10:59:32 GMT, EPSON PRINTHEADS "IS THE
TRUTH OUT THERE" Arthur Entlich wrote:


Many printer repair services will not bother to take the time to service
the head to unclog it, in spite of the simplicity of doing so in most
cases.


How do you unclog the head?

I have my Old Epson C80 sitting in a box account of clogged print heads and
now I am using the Canon I560 and so far it is working OK

Don
"Martin" wrote in message
om...
Hello,

I would like to understand about epson printheads.

First of all why are they expensive to purchase compared to other
manufactures?

I as a printer technican i get alot of epson inkjet to repair,
unforunatley most of the problems are printhead issues.

When i contact suppliers regarding costs of a printhead for the epson
printer it basically makes the printer economically beyond repair as
the price for a epson print head is more expensive and for the
customer it is better to buy a new printer.

For me it's as a business owner it's bad for business to not to be
able to repair printers and to make living out of it, i was wondering;

Does anyone have the same problems?
Can anyone suggest a solution to the cost of an epson printhead?
Can anyone suggest a solution??

I mean there are a lot of printers being thrown away because of
something inside so small causing all the problems.

I hope this post is more liking to this group as my last post was a
little off course in the microsoft office department.

Interested to read any replies.

Martin