# Need (Advanced) help cleaning heads on printer **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138 "2004-10-25T22:39:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/1 "2004-10-25T22:39:45Z")
We have an Epson 820 color printer connected to a Mac G-3 B/W. Its about a year old. We use it pretty frequently and use the self cleaning feature fairly often, maybe once every two weeks. We used an off-brand cartridge last time we changed. We weren’t very happy with it, so two days ago, changed back to Epson’s. I tried printing this morning and couldn’t. I did a head check and found black and blue to be clogged. I did the cleaning, and blue cleared up but black was still not flowing. Cleaned again and every thing was worse. Again and again…worse and worse. Is there any thing else I can do? Did using the off brand of ink do this? We did find it needed cleaning more often with the off-brand. Would mixing two different brands, both made for this printer, cause a reaction, making the ink “gel”? Thanks, in advance, for any suggestions, help or encouragement. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![robcaro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/2 "2004-10-25T23:37:40Z")
My advice is to take your Epson 820 printer to an Authorized Epson Service Center to have it cleaned properly. If it was still in warranty, you probably voided that because of using 3rd party ink cartridges. Anyway, they will clean it up and tune it properly. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/3 "2004-10-25T23:57:38Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > My advice is to take your Epson 820 printer to an Authorized Epson Service Center to have it cleaned properly. If it was still in warranty, you probably voided that because of using 3rd party ink cartridges. Anyway, they will clean it up and tune it properly. Given that you can buy a brand-new Epson 820 for $75, I’m not sure that having it serviced makes much sense. Just having it cleaned will probably run around $50, and if they have to replace any parts, you’re in the hole. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/4 "2004-10-26T00:01:50Z")
> [@robcaro](#): > > If it was still in warranty, you probably voided that because of using 3rd party ink cartridges. Not true, according to the Moss-Magnuson Act. But no doubt the company servivce center will try to tell you this. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/5 "2004-10-26T00:10:50Z")
Your problem sounds like a saturated ink-pad. Epson printers have a little sponge where they dump the ink during self cleaning. When that sponge becomes saturated with ink, you’ll have the problems you describe. You probably need to clean it. You also have to clean Also, see this thread [http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/printer/17/16008.html](http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/printer/17/16008.html) and in particular this post: > [@](#): > > Cliff: You will first need to clean up any build-up of ink that you can see, where the Printhead Assembly purges itself into an opening above the Waste Ink Pad Area. Also any ink build-up on the guide plate area, under where the printhead assy travels back-n-forth during its printing process. Then clean the ink of those small rollers that the paper travels under, just prior to going under the printhead assy. Use a damp rag or damp Q-Tips to get up as much ink as you can. Its also possible that your problem is being caused by a build-up of dust, dirt, lint and hair that sticks to the wet ink on the bottom side and backside areas of the Printhead Assembly. That build-up acts like a small paint brush and transfers wet ink to those small white or grey relay type rollers, that the paper passes under, just prior to going under the Print Head Assembly, during the actual printing process. Those small rollers then act like tiny paint rollers and roll the wet ink onto the paper as it passes below those rollers. Once those two areas are thoughly cleaned and then the small rollers are also cleaned, the problem will normally go away. Check for a couple of e-mails from me that should help in that area, in case you want to do the cleaning and at least eliminate that possibility…Good Luck! Denny Conway Generally, self-cleaning should not be performed, unless streaks of ink appear on the prints. It is just a waste of ink. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/6 "2004-10-26T00:13:29Z")
This is the one thing I dislike most about Epson printers – the print head is not accessible. At least HP printers give you a fresh print head with each expensive cartrige! Now for my super secret method of cleaning _my own_ Epson printer heads (do this at your own peril): 1. Press the “change cartridge” button to position the print head in the middle. 2. Disconnect the power. The print head should now be free sliding back and forth. 3. Dampen a few layers of folded up tissue paper and place it in the well below the print head. 4. Slide the print head back and forth a few times, making sure that the head crosses over the damp tissue paper. 5. Remove tissue and turn it back on. You are ready to go. Note: My printer is a Epson Stylus Photo 785EPX, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this method works with other Epson printers. It takes a bit of experimentation to get the amount of tissue just right. Once you do, you will see immediate results: the tissue will become multicolored as it picks up the ink from the head. This method has never failed to get severly-clogged heads clean for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/7 "2004-10-26T00:24:19Z")
There’s a bit of freeware you can get [here](http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml) for Epson printers that enables all sorts of things, including undocumented extra-intensive clkeaning cycles and resetting of ink counters (the cartridges can sometimes report being out of ink before they really are and the printer will just stop printing entirely when it thinks the head cleaning sponges are full). I’ve had great results from it, but use it entirely at your own risk. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/8 "2004-10-26T06:06:32Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > There’s a bit of freeware you can get [here](http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml) for Epson printers that enables all sorts of things, including undocumented extra-intensive clkeaning cycles and resetting of ink counters (the cartridges can sometimes report being out of ink before they really are and the printer will just stop printing entirely when it thinks the head cleaning sponges are full). I’ve had great results from it, but use it entirely at your own risk. That sounded great, but alas, as I said, I have a Mac, so I can’t use the freeware. ☹ **Early Out** That was my thought. It seems there’s a sale somewhere all the time. Why aren’t they free yet? 😃 **minor7flat5** I’ll try that. **Dog80** I’ll try that too, Thank you all. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/9 "2004-10-26T08:28:58Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > That sounded great, but alas, as I said, I have a Mac, so I can’t use the freeware. ☹ Oops - sorry, I missed that bit. If you end up replacing the printer, may I recommend moving away from Epson (just my opinion, you understand) - most of the other printer manufacturers have a different design for their ink jet models - the print head is incorporated with the ink cartridge - the worst case scenario in the case of irreparably blocked nozzles is simply cured by replacing the ink cartridge. I personally recommend HP. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2004, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/10 "2004-10-26T09:26:36Z")
We had an HP previously and hated it. It just didn’t interface with the Mac easily, even though it had Mac software. We did a little research on that aspect before buying this, and found that Epson seems to be most compatible with Mac. Unfortunately, we didn’t check on ease of maintainance ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/12 "2021-01-09T16:33:49Z")
You can buy super-duper Epson head cleaner on Amazon or Ebay. I’ve never not been able to unclog a head, but it can take many hours, and lots of messy, wasted, expensive ink. Epson’s have the best print quality, but they are way too prone to clogging. I finally gave up, and just started using Walmart or CVS for printing photos, which is not only much higher quality, but cheaper. I use a color laser for non-critical color work (which is 99% of what I do). ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/13 "2021-01-09T16:43:00Z")
Almost seventeen years later and printers still suck. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-advanced-help-cleaning-heads-on-printer/271138/14 "2021-01-09T16:44:32Z")
Wow. How did that happen? It came up in my “feed” - I had no idea it was a really, really old zombie.