Thank you to those that replied. Here is an update on everything I have done:
Removed the ink pads and soaked them with windex. While waiting for them to dry, I cleaned the inside with windex and ensured that the print pads were moving up/down and the print head wiper was moving back/front.
Just to mention a couple of things. Past the purge unit there is a white lever. When I first got in to the printer, this lever was moving freely but now it seems to be permantly pressed down. Either way, it still didn't work. And where I believe the purge pads to be, the white area just between the sponges and the wiper, it appears that the right side of this very small white area, is just a tad higher. I tried to push it down to be level with the left, but the whole area pushed down as well. Please keep in mind that with every step I took, I did turn off/on the printer.
Next I removed the ink cartridges and the carriage. I cleaned the tops of the sponges (?) as well as the contacts on the back and bottom of the carriage and internally. Re-assembled the unit and slid it across the bar a couple of times and parked it on top of the purge unit to the far right.
After that I greased the bar that the carriage follows. Then with a damp, lint free cloth, I wiped down the black band along the back and I also checked the ribbon.
I'm sure I did a bunch of other stuff too that I don't remember but the end is always the same, that little prick of an error 6A00 with 5C10 rears it's really ugly head. I'm inked from head to toe but I'm still not going to give in. It seemed like such a snap for everyone else, so what is wrong with mine? Do I need to replace the entire purge unit? If so, is it expensive? This is a very nice unit that I only paid $15.00 for. I think it's worth a shot to try and fix it myself without having to spend a fortune. Yes or no?
I saw a post somewhere that this guy buys these all the time for a fews bucks, fixes them and sells them for a profit. The way I interpreted it was that he thought it was kind of funny that people just trash these when they get this particular error, not knowing that it's only a few bucks to fix. I'd like to hear his solution.
Anyway, short from disassembling the unit, I have exhausted all of the options given to me. And again, I thank you. Anybody else out there have a clue?
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I have come to the conclusion that the carriage is not moving automatically. That's kind of important huh? A whole new problem, new suggestions anyone?
Thanks,
MzTess
