I have an older Epson (Stylus 740) inkjet printer which still works just fine. Problem is, I only print a couple times a month and the ink dries out at the nozzles. I run the “clean nozzles” utility two or three times to get it printing, but this uses a ton of $20/cart ink. If I remove the carts and re-install when I’m ready to print the machine thinks it’s a new one and wants to run the utility anyway.
So, is there a way to keep the nozzles from drying out with the carts left in place?
I’m off to Staples to get a new cartridge, and I’d sure like to use more of the ink for actually printing.
Peace,
mangeorge
BTW;
If there’s no soluition, is there a type of printer that doesn’t have this problem?
Wow, finally a question that doesn’t have a dozen responses before I get to it.
I feel your pain. I have run several Hewlett Packard and Epson printers. Hewlett Packard printers have the printer head built into the ink cartridge. So you get a new clean head everytime you replace the cartridge. I have had the best luck using these printers on an intermittant basis without the head clogging.
Epson printers probably have better heads as they are permanent (I am sure others would debate this point). But they are very prone to clogging if you do not use them several times a week which I do not. I used my color printer mostly for doing photos. It did a great job. But paying $100 for a new set of cartridges to print a couple photos does not cut it. I now use an online photo service for 50 cents a print and the results are as least as good.
For regular printing I only use a laser. They have dropped in cost to about $150 to $200 for a good one. We run them in our office. I recently noticed that we had to replace the drum on a laser so we ordered one. When the invoice came in the cost of the drum was $250. At the same time they were selling the same printer new for $150 including a drum and toner. So we sent the drum back, bought two new printers, and threw the old one out. What are you gonna do?
Perhaps you have a reason that you just have to run the epson printer. Then I would look into buying ink by the gallon. These different jugs can be hooked up to the inkjet cartridge by tubes. It is a bit of a pain to setup, but is an economical way to do some volume of printing. Then you have to run the printer several times a week.
Yeah I switched from an Epson to an HP Deskjet for this very reason. With the HP, the nozzle is part of the ink cartridge so you get fresh nozzles every time you put in a new cartridges. Even with cartridiges that have gone unused for a month, the HP doesn’t clog up.
I agree on the laser printer suggestion. I have a ten-year-old HP laser printer that I also only use once or twice a month and have never changed the cartridge. The only downside is that it’s only black and white. But you can get a color laser printer for as little as $600, while a monochrome one can be gotten for under $200.
Six Hundred Bucks???
Gah!
Pantpantpant.
Take it easy, man. I’m getting older. 
Anyone current on CPR?
But thanks, I may be forcrd to go that route.
Six hundred dollars for a color laser printer may sound like a lot, but they used to be well over a thousand dollars so that’s quite a price drop. At home I make do with a monochrome laser printer, although I have access to a color one at work.
I suppose if you’re doing a lot of digital photography you’d need a color printer at home, but then you’d probably use it frequently enough that the cartridges won’t dry up before they get used up.
A friend told me today that she just purchased an HP color laser (called an Officejet - don’t know the model number, but I’ll see it tomorrow and report back) for, sit down mangeorge, $400.
I emailed Epson tech support and they got back to me already. Actually, they always have been prompt.
They said to be sure to turn the printer with the power button on the printer and something something blah blah genuine blah Epson something something.
Well, I do turn it off as directed so now I’m going to try printing a short line (on the same paper) every week or so. I’m due for a new computer soon, so if that doesn’t work I’ll look at a new ($400) printer if my new pal says ok.
Thanks
If she bought an HP Officejet, it is not a laser printer. HP brands all color laser printers as Color LaserJets. OfficeJets are a group of all-in-one ink jet printers. HP’s cheapest color laser goes for around $500.
Right now I’m going on her word. I’ll know more tomorrow, after I see it.
including the model you have and they have all ended up being thrown out because the heads clog and no amount of cleaning will fix them. I also understand that Epson has put chips on their cartridges now so that you can’t refill them. Of course, the upshot of all of this is that I will never buy another Epson no matter how good they are rated (they do print well… while they work).
We have an industrial machine at work that addresses about twenty thousand envelopes an hour that just uses regular HP Inkjet cartridges. If they ever get clogged you can take them out and put a wet towel on the head so that the capillary action clears the nozzles. If that doesn’t work you can throw out a twenty dollar cartridge instead of a $200 printer.
I have a $40 Canon printer at home with the heads in the printer. I refill it’s cartridges myself and it hasn’t failed yet but I don’t use it much. I figure I can always throw it out and I’m only out the cost of a couple of cartridges.