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I ran into the regional Epson rep in the local CompUSA, asked him if he knew how I could revive the Color Stylus 900 at work (he concluded it was beyond help), and he gave his advice on using an Epson printer:
--> Turn off the printer when you are not using it, so the print head doesn't clog.
Does this make sense to you folks who have been using Epsons?
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I don't own Epsons, but that's what I've always heard Epson users say. That's why I don't dare have one; I'm so used to HPs that go for years without being turned off that I'd never remember to do it. My Canon is pretty forgiving, too, although it hasn't been running as many months non stop as the HP has. Apparently Epsons have some kind of little "routine" they go through when powered down and back up that keeps the heads from clogging.
As far as I'm concerned, having a printer that had to be turned off when it wasn't in use would totally defeat the purpose of my network.
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Makes perfect sense. You doubt it?
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Yes. Epsons clog very easily, when left on unused, and you have to waste a lot of expensive ink to clean the print heads.
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Yes, turn it off from the Printer switch, NOT the extension cord/Power cord.It goes through a cleaning cycle and parks the heads.
My wide carriage Photo Stylus is eleven years old, never had a clog.
BGnR
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Yes, turn it off or use it once a week.
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I have a 900, paid top $ for it, only used Epson ink and always turned the printer off when not in use - at the printer.
The dam thing still clogged continuously. Someday, maybe I will have time to spend hours degunking it. I will never buy another Epson printer. My Canon IP4000 was cheap, prints well and has never clogged.
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Been using an R300 for the past two years and a Stylus 750 for five years with generic ink carts (G&Gs in the R300 and Ink4Arts in the 750) and never had a skip or clog and have never turned either printer off - except for the two days after Katrina. The R300 gets daily use but the 750 get used on a monthly basis at most. Maybe the rep's advice was for the older models but it sure doesn't apply to my Epsons.
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[quote PeterW]Been using an R300 for the past two years and a Stylus 750 for five years with generic ink carts (G&Gs in the R300 and Ink4Arts in the 750) and never had a skip or clog and have never turned either printer off - except for the two days after Katrina. The R300 gets daily use but the 750 get used on a monthly basis at most. Maybe the rep's advice was for the older models but it sure doesn't apply to my Epsons.
Ah ha! Or maybe it's because you don't use Epson ink?!
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The only time that I ever killed an Epson was using generic ink. I've got a 10 year old printer here that's never had a problem because it's simply used regularly.
Epsons have a sleep-mode. Assuming that you're printing at least once a week to keep the ink flowing, the only thing you accomplish by turning it off is adding an extra cleaning cylce and wasting ink when you turn it on again.
If you're not going to print for awhile then it might make some sense to turn it off.
