I did a very stupid thing on my 1400

[Paul W.]

I'm quite new here - did sign on back in 2013, but haven't spent much time here for a while - no offense please! Just took a different path for a while.

Anyway, had some clogs on my 1400 but with some perseverance cleared them up. I read somewhere that if you're in a dry climate clogs are more likely. I'm in So. Central Montana, very dry indeed. So to check the humidity I put a hygrometer in the area where the print carriage moves back and forth. I thought, I've got to remember I laid it there and to be sure and remove it when I power up.

Well, guess what... a few days ago I indeed did forget it was there. I heard a horrible bang, lifted the lid, and the carriage was at the far left, blocked from going all the way because of the hygrometer. I quick turned the power off, moved the carriage back to the right and powered up again. Then I heard the most horrible grinding noise. My heart sank. I powered off, then on again. No more grinding, and the carriage moved back and forth very slowly at times. I hoped it was resetting itself. Did a nozzle check, it was good. Printed a text page, then a full page photo, both were good. Been using the printer ever since and it seems to be back to its old self.

God, did I feel stupid, but here I am, first substantial post in a long time and it's about a very dumb move on my part. True confessions! The key question for folks here is: did I do any damage? I'd sure appreciate some consoling comments.

Thank you,

Paul

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

did I do any damage?

you checked the printing after that event - everything seems to be fine, as long as you didn't damage or tear the coding band there is a good chance that there is no further impact. You may check your printer with the WicReset utility running the status report - you'll probably find an error record about some head blockage, so this event is recorded and stored for the rest of the printer life nevertheless.

 

[Paul W.]

Thanks very much, Ink, that was welcome news. But what was that grinding noise? Almost a screeching sound. Whew!

Doesn't WicReset, among other features, have a print count utility? And - is it safe to use? A few years ago I think I read it was risky in some way. Maybe it was another utility with a similar name I'm confusing it with. I've been using the Epson printer reset utility... don't know if that's still functional with Win 10. (sorry, a bit OT)

Paul

 

[pixelphoto]

Since the print head got banged around it would be a good idea to do a print head alignment using the Epson Printer Utility. Also you could leave the printer on 24/7. Turning it off every day and then on again uses a lot of ink at start up. Just print a small color file at least every other day to keep the nozzles clear. And you could place a small container with a wet sponge in the print head area to provide humidity when you're not printing. OF COURSE YOU WANT TO PLACE A STICKY ON THE PRINTER REMINDING YOU TO REMOVE THE SPONGE BEFORE PRINTING!!!

 

[Paul W.]

Thanks, pixelphoto. I did try running the utility... I did about five tests but it seemed there was no end to the procedure - so I have to confess I got a little lazy and stopped running the utility. And the patches were so small it was hard to discern when there was no band.

Ink use at startup is not much of a concern... I fill my own carts, one is 100% black and the other five are various dilutions of black, some as low as 5% black in a low cost base fluid. The plus side on startup is that a "mini-cleaning" takes place. As for putting a sticky on printer. I thought of that - but after this episode! Arghhh. Too late, I'm sad to say, but I'll certainly do that from now on.

Thanks for your many good tips!

Regards,

Paul

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

there are various sources for the WicReset utility like http://www.wic.support/ and your virus scanner would probably scan it at the time of the download or installation. The status report tells you as well the number of printed pages. You most likely heard the noise of a slipping tooth belt between the stepper motor and the head carriage

 

[Hector Vilches]

Paul, that was not 'stupid'... it was human.

 

[Paul W.]

Very kind of you Hector, many thanks.

Paul

 

[Paul W.]

there are various sources for the WicReset utility like http://www.wic.support/ and your virus scanner would probably scan it at the time of the download or installation. The status report tells you as well the number of printed pages. You most likely heard the noise of a slipping tooth belt between the stepper motor and the head carriage

Ink: a "slipping tooth belt" - that puts in words very close to describing the sound I heard. Good call.

Paul

 

[jtoolman]

Paul, I can even tell you how many times I've done that! The sound, admittedly horrible, was just the belt slipping on the gear. After that you will always recover with the super slow head transport from right to left and back to right. It is checking for the obstruction which at that point should have been removed. Once it senses all is clear you are good to go. A head alignment is always a good thing to run after that type of mishap.