Saturday, July 10, 2010

Epson Stylus Color 580

Would you expect an inkjet printer that spent 8 years unplugged in a shelf to just work?
Yeah, correct, no way.

I seemed to work correctly, with the minor detail that there was nothing printed on the paper. I put in a replacement black ink cartridge, but there was change, even after running several head cleaning routines. Suspecting clogged nozzles, I followed the guide at http://www.mk-stuff.de/artikel/epson_printhead_repair,
 and even blown air through the ink needles,
but it did not help either.

Finally, in the hope Epson keeps some secrets for their repairmen, I downloaded the Epson Service Manual
and, after getting used to previously unseen levels of English, went through the Troubleshooting section. I verified the nozzles aren't clogged, there are no airlocks, and ink is passing just fine.
So there remains a bug in the print head itself or the motherboard. For both cases the Manual suggests replacing them with spare parts :-(

I'll disassemble the printer and scavenge reusable parts, like the stepper motors and PSU.
So long, Epson, and thanks for all the fish!

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