Epson 4900 Printer Extreme Clogging Problem

[Peter De Smidt]

I don't know about what's possible with the newest printers. With my 7600 and 4880, I load cartridges with storage solution, much like Paul's listed above. I do an initial fill, and the I leave the printer sit. When I come back, I re-install the ink cartridges and do and initial fill. So far, this has worked really well. The downside is that it uses a lot of ink, but then so do endless cleaning cycles and trips to the service center. I only do this for an extended printing hiatus of more than a couple of weeks.

[trev2401]

Just my 2cents here. I'm a proud owner of 2 x 4880 printers. one purchased from the lovely chaps at MPEX almost 5 yrs back.

That unit has been "on" for almost it's entire lifespan, yes, 5 yrs, with an APU powering it should there be a power failure. I"ve been posted away for work for 3-6 months at a time, and the unit has still remained "on" with my wife and parents assisting with the occasional look-see.

No clogs (knock on wood) nor issues with it as of yet. Just thought that this might help anyone here.

But then again, the unit's also sitting in Singapore, South East Asia, where humidity is 80-105%.

[Edziu60]

Okay, I've read this entire thread from the beginning looking for a solution to my 4900 clogging problem. This past Monday (5/25/13) the yellow ink in my 4900 clogged. I've had minor clogging problems from time to time that cleaning the head fixed, however, this was a complete clog...no yellow at all in the test page. {Even when I'm not printing a lot I tend to print test pages nearly daily in the hope of avoiding such a problem.} So, I did what you all would do...I tried normal and powerful cleanings but to no avail. I focused only on cleaning the yellow and then tried the whole head...nothing. On Tuesday, the PK started to block-up so I hit the internet looking for solutions.

To my dismay, I found a number of you out there and was none-to-happy to hear that folks where actually giving up on the 4900 because the cost of a new head vs a new printer was negligible. How could Espon allow such a printer to be produced if the heads where going to be such a huge problem after such a short time in use. What a hit to their reputation. So, here I am with a 4900 that, after 4 days of not getting the tinniest amount of yellow ink on my test page, is printing beautifully again. I can't offer you a concrete solution, just tell you what I did so maybe it works for you too.

First, I ordered cleaning solution, but I knew I would grow inpatient for that to arrive so I looked at other remedies in the meantime. There are some who suggested using the windex method of placing a wet paper towel sprayed with windex under the head to loosen the clog from that end. Some suggested not using that method for fear of damaging the head, but I figure why not give it a shot. If the head isn't cleaned it's all but useless anyway. So you might as well give it a shot, but as a last resort after I first use the cleaning solution.

Nothing else really stood out until the end of the thread. I live in Michigan and my house is closed up in the Winter. The humidity upstairs where I use my 4900 is lower than the rest of the house. So I put a Honeywell humidifier, set on low with the door to the room half open, and left it there for 4 hours. When I came back I ran a cleaning and a test page. Nothing. So, instead of Manually cleaning the head I put it on Auto-Cleaning and then ran a test page. For the first time in 5 days I saw a couple of small lines of yellow. I ran two more Auto-Cleanings and a Nozzle Check. The Nozzle Check came back "no heads clogged." I ran a test page and all the colors look great.

So, that worked for me. I truly hope it works for you. And to the guy from Singapore who's humidity is 80-100% thank you!

[EOTS]

Great! Good to hear you could fix it with the humidifer!

If you're referring to mine, I've already sold it and switched to a printer with consumer-replacable heads.
I also tried the humidifier method but I guess my rooms are too large for it to have worked,
and the humidifier was actually an "air washer", so perhaps not the ideal choice for that task ...
I never got above 45% humidity in the room.

Best regards,
Martin

[Michael Lloyd]

Interesting thread. I've got a 4900 that sometimes sits for a month before I print. So far I've never had a clog as bad as I've read about here. A few times I had a specific color that wouldn't clear until i changed the cartridge. It was the cartridge that came with the printer and it was pretty old. Apparently Epson ships their old cartridges in new printers. I live near the gulf coast and humidity is typically around 40% - 50% in my house so maybe thats why I have better luck with clogs. I've got two more of the original cartridges installed and those seem to be the most problematic.

[gth]

I have an old HP DJ130 NR. It's a 24 in wide printer. Replacable print heads and carts.

As long as it is plugged in to the wall - but "off" - it fires itself up once in a while. Goes through a cycle of some kind and then goes back to sleep. Freaks me out waking up in the middle of the night and the hear the damn printer churning in my workroom!! Never has clogging problem. And I leave it "off" for months.

Don't get me started on Epson clogging in cheap "all-in-one" home office printers. Must have thrown out 3-4 of them in the last few years. At one point I figured it was cheaper to pick up a new one at Walmart, then buying ink for endless cleaning cycles. What a racket.

Then I finally got smart and got a Brother All-In-On for the office. Never looked back. Recommended!! Zero problems.

Quite amazing actually considering the time and money I have wasted on Epson's racket.

[Don Dudenbostel]

Theres an Epson repair center in my city. I had a 7000 that has terrible clogging and the tech at epsons repair center told me to puddle warm windex on the parking pad. He specifically said NOT to use windex with amonia and that it could damage the head. I used regular windex and heated it to about 135 degrees f and allowed it to sit a day. The clogs were cleared up and every time I had a clog it cleared it up with no problem. Each time after the windex treatment I ran a cleaning cycle.

I think it's the detergent that breaks up the clog.

My brother did the same treatment with his 2400 and it resolved the clog with no problem.

[Peter De Smidt]

Don, thanks for sharing that. I hadn't heard of the "heated Windex" tip before.

[Alan Frank]

I had a fatal clogging situation after a few week trip. After considerable back & forth with Epson they replaced the printer. They recommend humidity to keep it from happening. Tough in a desert environment! I discovered that a half gallon plastic milk container on its side will fit nicely along side the parked print head. A few holes in the top facing side and a half inch of water creates a local humid environment. I always replace the container when I turn off the printer, close all hatches and cover it. So far no clogging after a major summer trip.

[wgoh]

Something to share with everyone with Clogging Problem.
Like many of you, I have the same problem... under use, and over long winter season with heat blasting.
Last attempt before I put it out as trash.... something finally works.

So here is a list of things I've tried.
-Nozzle check,
-Clean Print Heads
-Print Head Alignment
-Days & days of the Windex trick with Humidifier
but I can never get it back to 100% on all the ink heads.

After weeks of weeks repeated attempt... nothing works till I found these simple method.

POWER CLEANING - Running Cleaning Cycles (Page 124)
Simple and it works. This give you the all the cleaning options

go to Control Panel and select the Ink menu button.Select the color pair or all color, and select Execute Powerful.
Works like a charm.

Good luck everyone

To download Epson Pro 4900 manuals

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/s...Doc&oid=171983