Great that it was ultimately a simple albeit a frustrating solution! I've already invested in the Cone stuff, I have the piezo flush and I have converted over to the cone refillable inks for my work. Much more cost effective (and great inks that work with the Epson profiles) once you're up to speed with handling the refillable carts and the chip stuff. Bounty paper towels work perfectly with the cleaning fluid. The key with the Epson printers is simply to use them periodically- I spent the summer printing my current exhibition - Instead of letting it sit I used it once a month since - now that I have have quite a bit of printing to do for my clients I'm ready to go without issues.