printer epson color stylus 740 problems

[stickybytes]

My printer's not working. I send a document for it to print and it would start printing like normal but then when the paper comes out its all blank. No text. Could this be a driver problem?

 

[imported_Phil]

Sounds like a clogged printhead to me, either try and find one from a printer someone's throwing away, or bite the bullet and call Epson; be prepared to spend quite a bit

 

[Ionizer86]

What about other cartridges? I had a lexmark (cough) that didn't print black till I bought another (cough) overpriced cartridge.

 

[Mark R]

Almost certainly a clogged print-head. This is not economically repairable (you will need a new print-head and 2 new ink cartridges). You can buy a brand-new printer for less.

A new ink-cartridge is unlikely to help, once the print-head is clogged - it's pretty much impossible to clear it. It may be worth trying some new cartridges and running a few cleaning cycles, but unless you can get super-cheap clone cartridges it'll be a very expensive exercise and is unlikely to work.

At least with lexmark, replacing the cartridge will fix it (the print-head is part of the cartridge - so you get a new one with each cartridge).

I went through several Stylus 740s before I finally learnt - I won't be buying epson again.

 

[Mem]

Actually if the head is clogged you can try some cleaning head cartridges,Link to where you can buy them. .

 

[bozo1]

I gave up on Epson because of the same thing. Unless you print frequently, the heads clog and you use a ton of ink to clean them or you end up tossing the printer.

 

[gregor7777]

That must be what's up with mine, it prints funky no matter how many times I clean it. Damned Epson, what other brands can I buy where this doesn't happen?

 

[Paulson]

well HP has always had their print heads on the print cartridge... nice because if the printhead ever got f'd up (never had that happen but who's to say it couldn't) you'd only be out a cartridge...

 

[Macro2]

This why we buy Canons....

 

[SpeedFreak03]

I have had 3 HPs and one epson, and the only printer I don't use is the epson!

1997 - HP DeskJet (Can't remember model #)
1999 or 2000 - Epson Stylus Photo 750
2002 - HP Photosmart 1115 (The BEST printer I have ever used/owned)
2003 - HP OfficeJet 600 (Older printer, given to me for free, but works great!)

I sold the Deskjet a while ago, the photosmart is hooked to my main box, and my officejet is hooked to my spare box. Obviously, I don't print on the OfficeJet unless I am making copies (it is a scanner/printer/copier/fax) or my Photosmart is out of ink. So it gets used maybe 2~3 times a month. I still have the same cartridges in it from when it was given to me, and it was sitting in a basement for 2 YEARS with no use before then. I still own the epson, but I went on vacation once, and didn't use it for a month, and when I came back, the printer looked like $hit! So I got my new photosmart and haven't looked back. I would suggest you just get a new printer, cause epsons are a pain!

 

[mooojojojo]

I'm surprised to see so much negative feedback on Epson. I'm not really familiar with the 740 but don't you have in the driver an option to clean the print head nozzles? It's a standard thing to do when some of the nozzles start to clog and you have some blank lines or an empty sheet altogether.

And while having the printhead on the cartridge may be a good thing because you get a new printhead each ink change, it also means that you pay premium for HP heads. They are much more expensive than Epson and you can't buy a third part ink cartridge - you have to use HP. Besides my old low-end Epson 540 printed photo quality much better than my friend's then mid-range HP 845.

For cartridges you can look at Priceless Inkjet.

 

[Mark R]

I'm surprised to see so much negative feedback on Epson. I'm not really familiar with the 740 but don't you have in the driver an option to clean the print head nozzles? It's a standard thing to do when some of the nozzles start to clog and you have some blank lines or an empty sheet altogether.

Yes, there is a cleaning option - the problem is that once the head is clogged from dried ink, it's too late. For me, my mistake was leaving the printer over the school holidays. 6 weeks later when I got back - every nozzle had clogged solid. 2 brand-new ink carts later, and about 12 cleaning cycles - they were still all clogged.

I normally printed at least a couple of pages a day before that - but even leaving the printer unused over a weekend would mean running an expensive cleaning cycle to unblock the 3 or 4 nozzles that had clogged.

 

[stickybytes]

thanks for all you guys suggestions. my printer does have a cleaning nozzle option. i have installed new black and color cartridges. i have tried cleaning the nozzle about 10 times with no result. still prints out blank sheets. but heres a interesting point:
i was printing out a five page manual and during the third page, the problem started. if it was clogged, it wouldn't suddenly stop printing when 2 minutes ago it was working fine.

 

[Macro2]

Buy a Canon i560, i850 or i860 and don't look back.

Cheap cartridges a monsterinkjets.com and megatoners.com.

Mac

 

[Creig]

Try going to FixYourOwnPrinter.com and I believe they sell Epson head cleaning solution.

 

[Creig]

Epson Stylus Head Cleaning Solution
Repairs: All Epson Stylus printers (except for the C80) which don't print, or print choppy in black or color.
Description:

This is the same chemical used by Epson in their service department
Easy to use, no disassembly required
In our testing on an Epson 600 that sat unused for several months, it 100% restored a head that had no output, with one application (Individual results may vary)
Note: This is not alcohol or Windex; it is an ink-specific solvent that has proven to be safe and effective for use on Epson printheads. Do not use alcohol or Windex, they will very likely ruin your printer.
Kit Includes:
1 oz bottle Epson Stylus head cleaning solution (enough to fix several printers)
1 syringe applicator for dispensing solution
Simple directions for use

 

[Paperlantern]

Originally posted by: Mark R

I'm surprised to see so much negative feedback on Epson. I'm not really familiar with the 740 but don't you have in the driver an option to clean the print head nozzles? It's a standard thing to do when some of the nozzles start to clog and you have some blank lines or an empty sheet altogether.

Yes, there is a cleaning option - the problem is that once the head is clogged from dried ink, it's too late. For me, my mistake was leaving the printer over the school holidays. 6 weeks later when I got back - every nozzle had clogged solid. 2 brand-new ink carts later, and about 12 cleaning cycles - they were still all clogged.

I normally printed at least a couple of pages a day before that - but even leaving the printer unused over a weekend would mean running an expensive cleaning cycle to unblock the 3 or 4 nozzles that had clogged.

running cleaning cycles on epsons more than once is pointless. The first time they suck ink down through the printhead, which can be effective in a way. but after that (for a certain amount of time, unless you completely power off the printer and unplug it, and even that sometimes wont reset the timer) the printer only does partial cleanings, and then finally, which is probably what happened the last 9 or 10 cleaning of your 12, it jsut runs the printhead over a rubber wiper a few times. It keeps the consumer from using an entire print cartridge of ink and then calling up epson and complaining that they went through an expensive ink cartridge in 1 day and demand another at no charge, when it was their fault they ran 19 clenaing cycles, lol. So they made the cleaning cycles only use ink the first 2 cycles, then it doesnt really do anything after that.

 

[tomcas1]

There's an easy way to find out- just run a printer operation check by doing the following:
1. Turn the printer off and the computer off.
2. Unplug the interface cable from printer.
3. Make sure paper is loaded in the printer (duh).
4. Hold down the load/eject button (middle one with the icon of a sheet of paper with a folded corner) while pressing the power button. Continue to hold the load/eject button in until the power light starts to flash, them release the button.
5. A test page will print.

 

[JudySmith]

Originally posted by: Creig

Epson Stylus Head Cleaning Solution
Repairs: All Epson Stylus printers (except for the C80) which don't print, or print choppy in black or color.
Description:

This is the same chemical used by Epson in their service department
Easy to use, no disassembly required
In our testing on an Epson 600 that sat unused for several months, it 100% restored a head that had no output, with one application (Individual results may vary)
Note: This is not alcohol or Windex; it is an ink-specific solvent that has proven to be safe and effective for use on Epson printheads. Do not use alcohol or Windex, they will very likely ruin your printer.
Kit Includes:
1 oz bottle Epson Stylus head cleaning solution (enough to fix several printers)
1 syringe applicator for dispensing solution
Simple directions for use

I just got an Epson Stylus Photo 820 (it's still in the box) and after reading this thread, I'm anticipating problems [sigh]. So I have some questions:

(1) Do any retailers such as Walmart stock these head cleaning solutions?
(2) Are the chemicals in the solution very strong? Because I have MCS (multiple chemical sensitivity)