Epson Stylus Color 400=Help

A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed replacing and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair


It's such an ancient printer that it will probably cost more to repair than
to purchase a new one.
--
Cari (MS-MVP)
Printing & Imaging

As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may be a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

Blair

If you feel confident enough strip down the tray that holds the ink
cartridges to the point where the print head can be removed, then immerse
the head in approx 1/4" 'HOT' not boiling water for a short time. Using
kitchen roll after the soak press the head onto the tissue and repeat the
process until there is little or no ink on the tissue. I've still got a 600
Epson running as well as the day it was bought.

If you need further and I'm assuming the 400 is similar to the 600 I will
try and talk you through the process of getting the print head out.

Regards

"Blair" wrote in message
...
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may be
a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it
will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which
was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed
replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after
cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

Blair

If you feel confident enough strip down the tray that holds the ink
cartridges to the point where the print head can be removed, then immerse
the head in approx 1/4" 'HOT' not boiling water for a short time. Using
kitchen roll after the soak press the head onto the tissue and repeat the
process until there is little or no ink on the tissue. I've still got a 600
Epson running as well as the day it was bought.

If you need further and I'm assuming the 400 is similar to the 600 I will
try and talk you through the process of getting the print head out.

Regards

Scratch my back to reply............................................. .

"Blair" wrote in message
...
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may be
a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it
will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which
was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed
replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after
cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

Doing what others have advised with the printhead may be worthwhile, but your
red light "may" be caused by the protection counter.
Try http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml and use the utility to reset the
protection counter, if you are fortunate you will then be able to purge.
Be warned however that the waste ink pad may be getting close to full and you
may in the near future need to replace or clean it to avoid overflow.
Tony


"Blair" wrote:
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may be a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

Thanks to everyone who replied. Early this morning I decided to try and
release the black cartridge temporarily and reinstall it. The red light went
out I am back using the 400 again.!
I was afraid that the cartridge would be useless after reinstalling it but
all seems well.
I hate throwing devices on the scrap heap!
Blair

Tony wrote in message news
Doing what others have advised with the printhead may be worthwhile, but
your
red light "may" be caused by the protection counter.
Try http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml and use the utility to reset the
protection counter, if you are fortunate you will then be able to purge.
Be warned however that the waste ink pad may be getting close to full and
you
may in the near future need to replace or clean it to avoid overflow.
Tony


"Blair" wrote:
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may
be a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it
will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400 which
was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed
replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after
cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used colour
we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I
noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still
shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

I service a customers 600 from time to time and he is always removing and
replacing his carts after first use and has never had a problem.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
Thanks to everyone who replied. Early this morning I decided to try and
release the black cartridge temporarily and reinstall it. The red light
went
out I am back using the 400 again.!
I was afraid that the cartridge would be useless after reinstalling it but
all seems well.
I hate throwing devices on the scrap heap!
Blair

Tony wrote in message news
Doing what others have advised with the printhead may be worthwhile, but
your
red light "may" be caused by the protection counter.
Try http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml and use the utility to reset the
protection counter, if you are fortunate you will then be able to purge.
Be warned however that the waste ink pad may be getting close to full
and
you
may in the near future need to replace or clean it to avoid overflow.
Tony


"Blair" wrote:
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may
be a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it
will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy
to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and
down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then
print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400
which
was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed
replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several
cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed
only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after
cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used
colour
we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I
noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried
to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought
the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still
shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair

I spoke too soon! After I had taken the printer back to my friend and
connected to his PC I had a communication problem with a large red cross
over the printer image.
I brought it back to my house again and found the same fault so have come o
the conclusion that the cable is faulty and my next stage is to buy a new
cable
Will let you know the result. Unless someone has a brighter idea
Blair

"Blair" wrote in message
...
Thanks to everyone who replied. Early this morning I decided to try and
release the black cartridge temporarily and reinstall it. The red light
went
out I am back using the 400 again.!
I was afraid that the cartridge would be useless after reinstalling it but
all seems well.
I hate throwing devices on the scrap heap!
Blair

Tony wrote in message news
Doing what others have advised with the printhead may be worthwhile, but
your
red light "may" be caused by the protection counter.
Try http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml and use the utility to reset the
protection counter, if you are fortunate you will then be able to purge.
Be warned however that the waste ink pad may be getting close to full
and
you
may in the near future need to replace or clean it to avoid overflow.
Tony


"Blair" wrote:
I realise that it is an old printer but I hate to be beaten on what may
be a
simple remedy.
I have a cleaning cart but at present as long as the red light is on it
will
not permit the cleaning cycle to start. Also if I remove the new cart
according to the book it cannot be used again.
It also cost £11.50!
Blair


"Shooter" wrote in message
...
As someone has said a very old printer, but that should make it easy
to
purchase cleaning carts, if you decide to do this go to a site and
down
load
a purge tiff, this will allow you to clean a couple of times then
print
the
purge, providing the waste pads are not full it may work.

"Blair" wrote in message
...
A friend asked me to help him with his Epson Stylus Color 400
which
was
printing very faintly and he thought that the cartridge needed
replacing
and
he bought and fitted a new Epson one . The results were the same.
I first of all started the cleaning cycle and after several
cleaning
cycles
it printed perfectly although I noticed the ink indicated showed
only
half
full.
I then tried the colour but one colour was very faint and after
cleaning
again there was no improvement. As my friend hardly ever used
colour
we
left it and went back to printing his documents in black when I
noticed
the
red light was on continuously against the black and when we tried
to
print
there was a large red cross over the printer. I have now brought
the
printer
home with me and connected the printer to power only and it still
shows
the
red light on against the black so I cannot carry out any cleaning
cycles.
It is obviously a fault on the printer
Can anyone suggest a remedy please.
Blair