Epson R230 prints blanks

[meren]

Hi- I am a newbie. This forum has been a life saver for me several times. I have a curious problem with my epson R230 for the 4th time.
I use a CISS. I would be printing fine for a month or so then suddenly it starts printing blank pages. I have tried several cycles of head cleaning and squirting rubbing alcohol through the noozles with a syringe. Thinking that its a software problem, I disconnected the usb cable and did a test page print by holding down off/on & cancel button thing but it still goes through the motion of printing- printer starts up  does a self priming, takes in paper & printer carriage moves back & forth but prints nothing.
This is the fourth printer in seven months. Three printers are just sitting looking all shiny & new but useless.What can be the problem? someone please help. My pc is an intel core 2 quad @ 2.84 Ghz. 2 gb ram XP service pack 3

[truenorth]

meren, By the sounds of things this is a "new" printer. If so i strongly advise using your warranty. First i would recommend phoning Epson if it is still under warranty and seek their free tech support. If you don't get pretty fast resolution i would use their warranty to return it to them. I have had and still have many Epson products. If you are fortunate enough to have your problems arise when the warranty is still in force then i have found them to be excellent. Don't forget the possible existence of an extended warranty if you happened to have purchased it with a credit card. Then if the warranty if in the extended stage it will be provided by the insurance of the particular credit card. If this option is not available then tell us and other possible solutions may be forthcoming. good luck,truenorth

[rthompson80819]

This is the fourth printer in seven months.

This is more than getting a bad printer.  And I agree with truenorth that you should try to return them under warranty.  But something else is going on also.

Are you using the came CISS unit in all printers?

Isopropyl Alcohol that you buy in the drug store has impurities in it that could possibly be blocking the jets.  What you probably need is 99% pure, which is not always easy to find locally.  I've never used it to clean ink jets but in fiber optic splicing drug store alcohol has enough contaminates in it to create problems.

Also, how many pages are you printing a month?

[meren]

Thank you -truenorth & rthompson80819 for your post.  All the printers are the new batch wherein they sell you the printer without the cartridges and to avail of the warranty you have to buy the cartridges separately. I bought mine without the cartridges. So that rules out the warranty. I feel that at least one of the noozles should print out a line or a dot or whatever. I have a small t. Shirt and memorabilia making workshop so I do quite a lot of printing- roughly 60 to 70 printouts per day. I have two other old R230s which lasted me two to three years without a hitch but the new batch giving me a couple of months or so of service baffles me.

[rthompson80819]

So your CISS unit is non-Epson?  Can you just buy standard ink cartridges and see what happens?  That's a lot of money in printers just sitting on a shelf doing nothing.

[meren]

I forgot to mention-  yes I tried it out with the original epson cartridges with the same result and no, the ciss are not epson, as far as I know epson does not make ciss or do they?

[rthompson80819]

as far as I know epson does not make ciss or do they?

If they do I can't find it.

I would try the original ink cartridges in each of the printers (I'm guessing you have already) and if they don't work that should validate the warranty.

You may need to buy a different printer, but at least you will get some of your money back.

Also, it seems that the R230 has been discontinued (can't tell when).  Did you buy these used?

[truenorth]

meren, It appears that these printers are a factor in your lifestyle as they are in part or in total a factor in your income stream. That being so i suspect that you need to find a more reliable printer that can handle your needs. I am generally a fan of Epson but as you undoubtedly know they make a great variety of them and it could be that the one you need is not the one you have. A talk with their sales dept. may assist you in that regard. However 2 things: rthompson80819 is again pointing out that indeed because you DO HAVE some original Epson cartridges that it seems you DO MEET the warranty criteria. Therefore i would definitely pursue that avenue. Because you desire (understandably) the ability to use an alternative ink supply option i have a contact in Georgia U.S.A. that i have used and recommended to other CH members with success that i can give you the contact information. As to whether they deal in CISS products i don't know. I have no commercial involvement with them i just use their products and have found them to be very knowledgeable and helpful. If you want to try them PM me and I'll send you the contact information.truenorth

[meren]

Thank you very much truenorth & rthompson80819 for taking  the time to help me out. Sure appreciate that. I would like to share with you and all forum members my experience and maybe let it be a pointer to treat your printer with a little more respect- As a last resort and to keep my mind at rest I carefully pried open the printhead and the innards was filled with inks. This is what must have happened- while cleaning the head with the syringe I must have applied more pressure than was necessary and ruptured the soft sacs containing the inks and filled up the cavity and short-circuited the electricals of the head. Well, a costly lesson but nevertheless a lesson well learned. Getting back to you, rthompson, the printers were brand new. I dont know about it being discontinued elsewhere but here they sell the printer at a premium here since its the preferred printer to use with CISS. Thank you truenorth, but where I live i.e. Nagaland in the north east of India, its what you might call a backward area and it would be a problem to communicate and transact with your contact in Georgia in the USA. Thanks anyway and please keep the forum alive & going-as I said earlier, its a trove of knowledge for like minded people. Looking forward to more interactions with you guys-CIAO     

[rthompson80819]

So can the CISS or any of the printers be salvaged?

I'm guessing you may need a new CISS but the printers should be OK.

[meren]

The CISS & the printers are fine, I just have to change the printheads. A printhead cost just a little less than a printer. If I buy new printers the old ones are just going to contribute to landfills so I am going for the replacement heads.