Epson Stylus Color 800 Carriage error

[inferno-prime]

Hello.

This is a new problem for me I wanted to leanr more about printer repair but there just is not enough material to do so.

I have had this for over 15 years and is pretty reliable. Stepper motors work fine so does the paper feed. When the Printer starts up the carriage goes through its initial test perfectly fine but after that it stops and says it has an error.

My though even though I don't know very much is the home sensor or carriage needs to be reset somehow.

Any help is very much appreciated.

 

[stratman]

Welcome to the forum, Inferno-prime.

What is the exact wording of the error or the sequence of light flashes of the error message (if that is what Epson printers do)? I do not know Epsons but others may and knowing the specific error will help diagnose.

 

[inferno-prime]

Off hand I don't remember but I did check the manual and it said carriage error contact Epson.

Also this is rather old so it does not have an LCD only a few lights.

 

[stratman]

Best I can say is read through Google links for possible solutions. I searched on "carriage error contact Epson" and "carriage error Epson Style Color 800".

Hopefully someone else knows what the issue is and can help.

Hope for a solution, prepare for a new printer. 15 years is pretty good.

 

[AlienSteve]

There are sintered brass bearings in the head carriage. Sometimes, possibly due to the oil getting stiff from absorbing dust, the bearings will slide out. This prevents the carriage from moving over its entire travel.

If it has, just push it back in. I suggest wiping the rails with a rag and applying just a few drops of 3in1 or sewing machine oil on the shafts and running the carriage over them. Do NOT try to wash out the sintered brass bearings. It is sponge-like with oil filling the cavities, originally filled by putting them in a vacuum in an oil bath. If you do manage to get oil out of it, you can't reliably get it back in without a vacuum chamber.