How can I stop the magenta colour banding on my Epson Worforce-Pro, WF-8510 (A3 Inkjet) printer?

Hello

My Epson Worforce-Pro, WF-8510DWF (A3 "Business Inkjet") printer has horizontal developed stripes when printing solid magenta colour.

Epson want to charge me £352 to fix it. That is more than 50% of entire the cost of the printer. And I simply can't afford that. They say that is the cost to get an engineer out. And that he would need to replace the entire print head.

Is there any way that I might clean the print head myself?

Many thanks

J

you may google for the 'WICReset' utility, it should have a button for an 'Ink Charge' function which starts the initial ink charge at installation time - and is as well a more intense cleaning cycle than the regular cleanings you can start via the utitilty tab of the driver. Give it s tray and do another nozzle check after it.

Ink stained Fingers said:

you may google for the 'WICReset' utility, it should have a button for an 'Ink Charge' function which starts the initial ink charge at installation time - and is as well a more intense cleaning cycle than the regular cleanings you can start via the utitilty tab of the driver. Give it s tray and do another nozzle check after it.

Click to expand...

Well, I have downloanded and installed "WIC Reset Utility", however unfortunately I failed at the first hurdle. There is no obvious way of disabling my Printer Status Monitor!

Printing Preferences (in Windows 10) ==> Maintenance ==> Extended Settings.... but there is nothing there about printer status monitor. :^((

i.e. The page on Espon.co.uk is out of date/incorrect.
https://www.epson.co.uk/viewcon/corporatesite/site/211/products/mainunits/faq/5626/13547


Meanwhile I have found several cleaning solutions & "printhead cleaning kits":

e.g.

A) Printhead Hospital's Print Head Cleaning Kit
==> Reasonable reviews on amazon: has 4.6 stars from 629 reviews on amazon.co.uk

B) Printers Jack Printhead Cleaner Kit
==> Mentions a lot of compatible Epson Workforce Printer printer models
==> Only 11 reviews (3.4 stars) on amazon

C) Magic Bullet printhead cleaner
==> only 4.1 stars from 629 reviews on amazon

D) Octopus Nozzle Cleaner
==> Not well reviewed...

E) Printer Refresh Ltd Printhead Cleaner


Alternatively, I do have some neat IsoPropyl Alchol??

Either way on my printer (Epson Workforce-Pro, WF-8510DWF)
[ https://www.epson.co.uk/products/printers/inkjet-printers/business-inkjet/workforce-pro-wf-8510dwf ] ...it's not easy to see how to get at the print head.

I can pull out the cartridge and maybe just try to gently force some fluid through the hole using a syringe?? But I am nervous. This printer cost me c. £500...

With thanks

OP

Does the WICReset utility communicate with the printer at all ? Can you get the status report ?
The layout of Epson printer drivers vary between models, but there is typically a maintenance tab similar to this one

There is a button for monitoring functions - that can be the place to (de)activate the status monitor.
Yes, there are various cleaners on the market, they work in some cases - or not. Not all missing lines in the nozzle check are caused by clogs , some - if they change from print to print - are caused by a restricted ink flow.
I'm not familiar with your printer model - are the cartridges riding on the printhead carriage ?
Flushing the ink line(s) with a cleaner is a viable option, some ink distributors offer such kits - cleaner + tube + syringe, and there are various Youtube clips to that method as well.

Now I have a new problem: The little screen on the printers says "Close the rear cover 1." ...even though I HAVE closed the darned thing. I just don't know why it thinks that cover is still open [GRRR]

PS I still can't find anywhere to disable the "printer status monitor"
Here are some screenshots of the Espon Settings:

O.k. - yes - I see - and there is nothing either on the 'Printer and option Information' as the last try ? And WICReset does not communicate at all with the printer - no status report - no status of the waste ink container ?
There must be a switch or sensor for the rear cover somewhere - and e.g. blocked by a small piece of paper, that would require to get the maintenance manual for this printer to locate that switch or sensor.
Most of such service manuals are only available against a charge, e.g. at the source of the WICReset utility 2manuals.com

In the end...

...well, it was either throw the darned A3 printer out and thereby lose c. £1000 of printer, OR spend £358. And get it guaranteed to work for 6 month.

In the end I just couldn't afford to spend any more time messing around. I looked at try to find a way to clean the head out using special fluids etc, but the print head is extremely hard to get at. And the whole printer is very VERY flimsy.

So I very, VERY reluctantly I have now paid the money. The print head has been replaced. A pathetically flimsy leaf switch has also been replaced. And I am back in action.

On the upside, Epson have given me some replacement cartridges, so I am net up slightly on ink. Please the box where spare ink is dumped during cleaning has be replaced.

Nonetheless this A3 printer/scanner/copier has NOT been a good investment for me. I have only printed 4000 page apparently before that printhead started to fail.

It's just such a shame that Epson don't build more robust, easily serviced (and cheap to run!) printers.

Hey ho. But thanks for your support, folks.

OP

Hi, Have a look at www.Marrutt.com in UK, they have several videos on how to clear blocked nozzles for both Epson and Canon printers using there cleaning fluid. I have used this fluid on both my Canon and Epson printers with good results. Hope this might be of help.