Epson print head replacement - possible?

54and56

Hi all,

I've a two year old Epson Workforce WF-7620 which cost €280. It's been a very good printer for my needs which are moderate uasage in a small/home office with a couple of users. It probably prints 100 pages a week 50% B&W and 50% in colour. I don't really need the A3 functionality and I definitely don't need the fax function but I do need the wireless network function and the duplex scanning function.

Recently the black print heads have started playing up in so far as they are not printing clearly and not matter how many times I run the cleaning and alignment maintenance processes I still get gaps in the cleaning pattern similar to this:-



Is there any practical way to have the print heads physically removed, cleaned and replaced or is it just going to be more economically viable to buy a new printer and chuck this one in the recyclers which is a bit depressing really after relatively low usage over two years?

If the latter can anyone recommend a printer with similar multi function capabilities which is likely to last a bit longer than two years and 10,000 pages of print? I read that Brother multifunction printers don't tend to have print head problems as much as others but even if that's true I guess they'll have other problems instead I should probably be aware of. I guess this MFCJ5335DW All-In-One Wireless Inkjet Printer would be the Brother equivalent of what I already have.

Any thoughts?

ED E

Try flushing the heads with Isopropyl alcohol.

54and56

ED E wrote: »

Try flushing the heads with Isopropyl alcohol.

€10 delivered via Parcel Wizard. Worth a shot!!

54and56

Just for future ref:

Don't know why people go to the bother of making these video's but I'm glad they do. Looks like a job for some Saturday morning. 50:50 chance I'll end up with a repaired print head or a smashed up printer out of pure frustration/lack of dexterity on my behalf!!


Edit: Looks like at least one UK company has commercialised the process with a DIY kit - http://www.118ink.com/shop/printer-head-cleaning-kits/epson-printer-head-cleaning-kit-x-1/ I wonder is the solution they use Isopropyl alcohol?

ED E

Probably water + detergent + ammonia (small bit).


The advantage of the alcohol is that it evaporates in room temperature, so you can run it through the heads without removing the printhead. Just spray, wait, spray, wait 30 mins, cleaning cycle. Then test. If it works, much faster.

Then if that fails go nuts pulling it all apart and use a warm bath to dissolve out the ink.

whizbang

Alcohol will congeal the ink in an Epson printer. Dont use it.

Most household waterbased cleaners will do.

In the video above, they neglect to tell you to keep the fluid from the electrical connections.