epson R2880 clogged, maybe dead, Love/Hate, and some whining!

[dkperez]

A few months ago I needed to set up my 2880 so I could "store" it for a couple months. Removed all the cartridges and put in the InkJetMall carts with the Piezo clean stuff in them. Fiddled, tested, cleaned, fiddled, and eventually got everybody to make nice, clean, pink lines from all the heads in the nozzle check... Turned off the printer to park the heads, and figured all would be well... About once a month or so I'd get a chance to turn it on so it'd run a mini-head-clean and do a nozzle check... SEEMED OK.......

Couple days ago was ready to print again... Ran a test sheet and got pink cleaning stuff in all the blotches... Pulled those carts and put in the "GENUINE Epson" carts..... Nozzle check, clean, figured things would be good....... WRONGO, MOOSE FACE! No Magenta, No Yellow. Cleaned, nozzle checked three times. No Magenta, No Yellow. Pulled those two carts and replaced them with the InkJetMall carts (a different set) using the Cone color ink. Fiddled, nozzled check, clean heads. Got Yellow. NO MAGENTA. Let it sit over night. Yesterday morning... Nozzle check. Got lines everywhere with a few missing areas in the Magenta. Ran a test blotch print. LOOKED OK. Put in "real" paper and printed...... NO MAGENTA.

Nozzle check - NOTHING coming out the magenta again. Cleaned, nozzle check three times. No magenta.

Put a lint free cloth in the printer head track and wet it with the Piezo cleaning fluid. Slid the head unit back and forth and got some inky smutch off the bottom. Let it sit for a while, then slid again to clean. Removed that... Nozzle check, print test, clean heads...... LOOKS LIKE I'M GETTING INK... Put in paper to print an image with a lot of red/orange/magenta in it.............. NO MAGENTA.....

Check, clean, fiddle, 3 times. NO MAGENTA.

Pulled the cart and connected a syringe to the Magenta feed. Inject a couple ml of Piezo flush stuff in that head... APPEARS to come though fine. Let sit 20 min. Inject a couple more ml. Let sit. SUCK with the syringe to pull the whatever out of the head into the syringe. Nothing colorful shows up. Inject a couple more ml and let it sit.........

Put magenta cart back in. Power printer up and during the turn-on cleaning ALL EIGHT ink lights come on. Status monitor says "Ink cartridges not recognized". Turned the printer off, unplugged, and let it sit. Turned the power back on and it goes part way through start-up-clean and I get the same thing... Ink light is on, ALL EIGHT lights are on where the cartridges are.

Turned it off, unplugged, and left for the evening. Disgusted.

This morning I plugged it back in and during the turn-on cleaning cycle it stopped again with all the ink lights on. Removed the Epson cartridges and inserted the InkJetMall cartridges with the Piezo flush solution that worked PERFECTLY two days ago... Turned it back on and got the same thing. All ink lights on......

Yes, the cartridges are in the right slots. The monitor continues to say the printer can't recognize the cartridges..........

SO, does ANYBODY have any ideas how to get this working? I've got 4 sets of cartridges, including a new set of "GENUINE Epson" cartridges. The printer won't recognize ANY of them.

I ran the end-of-life, pad replacement reset utility. It said I didn't need to run it 'cause the printer isn't at end-of life. So, apparently not a problem there...

I can try Epson tomorrow, but frankly, unless they're very different than the other companies that have outsourced all their support, I'm not expecting much... Ideas?

Unfortunately, (here's the whining part), I've had the printer since they first came out, and it's ALWAYS been a love/hate relationship. When it WORKS, it prints well. BUT, this thing has ALWAYS CLOGGED. It'll clog in 3 days. I've used "Genuine Epson" cartridges and Magenta will clog in 3 days. I've used the Cone Color ink in refillables and it'll clog in THREE DAYS... I'm in Minnesota - it's HUMID in the summer so I'm having trouble believing it's too "dry". In the winter it's dry here, but this thing sits in a room with it's OWN humidifier. Between when I'm using this thing I've run nozzle check at LEAST weekly, leaving the printer off in between so it would run a "mini-head cleaning" when I powered it up. Even THEN, the thing would clog REGULARLY.

I MUCH prefer to do my own printing 'cause it's so much easier to play with the prints. BUT, I'm TIRED OF THIS THING NOT WORKING... If I'm going to replace it, I want SOMETHING that's not going to clog constantly... Near as I can tell, that's NOT going to be something from Epson. SO, I'm looking for a desktop unit that'll do at least 13x19, print as well as the 2880 or better, AND WON'T CLOG EVERY %^()@!#$% WEEK. And is "reasonably" priced, meaning it shouldn't cost more than the 2880 did... Be nice if it didn't cost a fortune for ink, either.

If anybody in here has any good ideas how to get this thing beaten into submission and working, great, let me know.

Alternatively, if you've got an alternative printer that fits my requirements, let me know that too...

 

[The Hat]

I hate to say this to you but have you ever considered switching over to using a Canon printer.
Their 13 x 19 dye and pigment printers would give you far less trouble than you seem to be having with your current Epson printer..

 

[santer]

Have just run mine, which has been idle for a couple of months, it whirred for ages but printed fine, of the Epson printers I use, it is the one most likely not to clog, in fact, cannot remember it clogging. If it runs out of ink mid print, it halts, then continues the print seamlessly after the ink has been replaced. It uses compatible inks.

Here is what Epson say about it

https://www.epson.co.uk/gb/en/viewcon/corporatesite/products/mainunits/faq/2733/2085

As you have replaced - re-inserted them often, do they still click home, you may need to gently pull the clip away from the cartridge if not.

Of the Epson printers which do clog unless they are used daily, I have used refillable cartridges filled with head flush. I run a purge sheet then a head clean, leave it a couple of hours then repeat, eventually it prints clear. Then the cartridges are filled with ink, a head clean is run followed by a nozzle check, it is left for a couple of hours then a nozzle check is run followed by a head clean if required.

Epson Chat UK is available during UK office hours, they may be able to help, it uses an e-mail address to send the transcript but a US e-mail address should be fine.

http://www.epson.co.uk/gb/en/viewcon/corporatesite/cms/index/6

 

[jtoolman]

My R2880 never seems to clog whether I run OEM or Refillables with IS inks or OCP inks.
I print about once a week with it and if not, just run a nozzle check.

Sorry to hear about your problems and hope Epson can lead you to a solution.

 

[dkperez]

Yeah, the clogging seems to be REAL individual. But, mostly seems to be the Magenta that clogs... I've got a couple friends with 2880s, running both Epson and Cone inks, and at least one of them routinely leaves hers for weeks or even a couple months and NEVER gets clogs... I get clogs in 3 days! Guaranteed in a week...

At this point, the thing is totally inoperative, with all the ink lights on. NONE of the cartridge sets I've tried have made any difference. I've had two conversations with Epson, and THEY don't have any idea... Their recommendation is to get a THIRD set of Epson carts DIRECTLY FROM EPSON and try them!

So, at the moment I have a large paperweight... I'm certainly considering a Canon printer, although from various reviews, the consensus seems to be that Epson will provide better prints - of course when the thing is clogged, you get NO PRINTS!

I keep hoping SOMEBODY will have an idea or a reset or SOMETHING that'll make this thing come back to life, but so far, nothing.

 

[websnail]

Magenta is one of those inks that does seem to create more problems with regard to clogging than anything else and it's something I've noticed throughout from the early C84 through the current R3000's and onwards.

The formulations are changing but it seems the required concentration of pigment makes them that much more prone to clogging when it comes to Magenta.

The thing that occurs to me is that your weakest point may well be the cartridge and how it's being refilled. Apologies if this is a case of teaching Grandma how to suck eggs but here goes anyway.

1. Make sure the ink is thoroughly mixed before opening
2. Draw any ink from the middle of the bottle, not the bottom, to avoid drawing in any settled clumps of pigment
3. Fill the cartridge and then use a draw through adapter or luer slip syringe to pull the ink out of the feed port (on the bottom) while the cartridge is upright. This should flush out any settled pigment.
4. Empty the syringe into your source bottle
5. Re-prime the syringe and then refill the cartridge

Using this approach you should be able to get a good feed with fresh, mixed ink and hopefully flush out any cr*p and/or air that's causing problems.

Hope it's of some use...

Martin

 

[dkperez]

Thanks Martin... I don't know about grandma, but I always have new things to learn!

I do shake the inks thoroughly, and try to make sure I'm pulling NOT from the very bottom.

BUT, I never thought of using a syringe on the feed port to make sure I get whatever smutch is on the bottom of the cartridge... Good idea.

Unfortunately, I tried a brand new, genuine Epson set of cartridges, and nothing changed... All the yellow lights on the inks are on, as is the control panel one.

I talked to the authorized repair place, and it goes like this: $150 for them to look at it. If it's the CHEAP part, the repair will run around $450. If it's the expensive part, the repair will run around $600.
So, for a MINIMUM of $600 (diagnosis and repair), I'll have the same clog-prone 2880 I've got now. Could be over $700.......

There's a new R3880 on order! I considered going this way back when I bought the 2880, but didn't want the extra printer size and didn't figure I'd ever want anything larger than 13x19. And, of course, I didn't want to spend $1400 for the printer. Now, the 3880 is less than $900, and with the inks that come with it, it's cheaper than the R3000. So, life's too short to deal with equipment that doesn't work. Hopefully the 3880 will be a lot more usable.

 

[mikling]

Sounds like you have a rubber seal that is not sealing and hence the clogs. When it does not seal it will not have the suction to reprime the heads. If this condition persists and the ink returns back UP past the nozzle area and then dries out then you will have problems and really possibly never be able to clear it again. The R2880 properly functioning will not clog in three days. It is one of the newer generation that should present far less problems than the R2400 or R1800.

The issue has most always been air migration issues and not clogs with the 2400 and 1800. Cleaning solutions may not work well for storing printers and you need to be careful here. Why? Because many cleaning solutions must be immediately chased out by ink. If not, the cleaning solutions can cause pigment dropout and settling from the ink that had clinged onto the walls, This can cause the pigment particles to settle out to concentrate towards the lower parts and cake up. A real internal clog. Think about it logically and you'll see. You prevent ink from drying by having a continuous bead of liquid ink. If you concentrate particles and create a solid wall, the liquid cannot reach the tips of the nozzle where ink is drying.

So from what I see the problem you faced is possibly paired. Possibly defective sealing frame on the purging/parking station....leading to consistent "clogs" or bad primes. and the use of cleaning solutions on pigment ink lines for storage...causing settlement and a real clog thereafter.

I recently came back and having been away for nearly two weeks and my R3000 did not need a head clean at all to start up again. There's an avenue with the R3000 that can be used to make it much less expensive by offloading the OEM carts and getting back credit. With this avenue, the R3000 can be under $500. With the 3880 you must keep the OEM chips. If one of the OEM chips goes on the blinkers....it can add up much quicker than with an R3000. So for prospective purchasers these options need to be weighed carefully.

Because an Epson does not print a perfect nozzle pattern does not necessarily mean it is clogged... Further testing must be done to determine what the issue is but most times it is NOT a clog but air. One day I'll explain what the issue is and how Epson came around to "fixin" it. A series of small evolutionary changes in their design.

 

[Tin Ho]

I keep hoping SOMEBODY will have an idea or a reset or SOMETHING that'll make this thing come back to life, but so far, nothing.

If you have a set of Chinese made refillable cartridges with ARC, use them so that the lights for the cartridges will go off. Follow the priming instruction for the cartridges to prime them. This is not to be confused with priming the print head. If the cartridges are primed they will work instantly. By doing this you can quickly determine if it is the print head that is clogged or it is a problem with the cartridges. If it prints to a problem with the print head then you have a tough battle ahead.

I have access to a 2880 of a photography club and I used it a lot last summer. I often lost track of ink usage and some cartridges ran to bone dry. If I refilled them without priming they would almost never work no matter how many cleaning cycles were done. But once primed they worked immediately. The ink we used were purchased from Hobbicolors. It is weird though they don't sell it on eBay as they do for their Canon inks. I acquired the ink by calling and they had them. I ordered 9 liters (one liter for each color) and we have almost run out of the ink. I will call them and place another order for the up coming Spring when the club activity warms up again.

The Epson R2880 is quite heavy duty. Ours is constantly abused by club members and there was a lot of mistakes made and waste of inks. Yet it has survived just fine. We may need to get another one just in case. Anyone know where to get one? Is it still sold?

 

[santer]

Amazon have some, though Lex Jet may be cheaper

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Stylus-...?ie=UTF8&qid=1358474897&sr=8-1&keywords=r2880


They have the R3000 with a mail in rebate at the moment

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-Wireles...5221&sr=1-1&keywords=Epson+Stylus+Photo+R3000

Is wireless with auto switching black inks