# Epson and inkjets in general

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 16, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732 "2005-03-16T01:06:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732/1 "2005-03-16T01:06:51Z")

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This is more of an observation than a question. I let my Epson 2200 inkjet lay around unused for over 2 months, which is an inkjet no-no. The first test print was so bad that I ran the cleaning program twice, back to back. Perfect.

In the past when this happened I would clean and test over and over and over before the test print came out ok. Thought I would post my results in case anyone else ran into this scenario.

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**Author:** ![Thylacinewas\_taken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@Thylacinewas\_taken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacinewas_taken)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732/2 "2005-03-20T03:16:49Z")

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I gave up on my Epson because it was always clogged.

I think Epsons have thicker ink than other printers, or at least than Canons. I used to have a good reason for thinking this, but I don’t remember anymore.

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**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732/3 "2005-03-20T03:49:56Z")

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doesnt epsons ink only last up to 6 months?

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732/4 "2005-03-20T04:03:40Z")

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I posted about this once too, but I don’t remember when it was. But yeah, my old Epson dries up too. Quality deteriorates some if left sitting for only a couiple weeks. And runnung the “clean” program uses a _lot_of ink.  
So, what’s a good alternative?  
Peace,  
mangeorge

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**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/epson-and-inkjets-in-general/294732/5 "2005-03-20T05:17:30Z")

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I’ve owned HP’s and Epsons and it seems to be a problem with all inkjets. I was just suprised how much faster I was able to clean my current printer by doing the cleanings back to back without doing any test prints. All my last attempts at cleaning involved many cycles of cleaning and test prints (4 or more cycles).

HP’s use to put their print heads ON the ink cartridges so a new cartridge would cure any woes. However, my current printer has 7 separate ink cartridges so the print head is a fixed item. Cleaning is going to be a necessity if the printer is not used weekly. Since I have a laser printer for bulk printing it is easy to go months without using the inkjet.