Horrible printer problem, please help!!!

[FullMetalJacket]

Hey,

I have an Epson Stylus C82. It'd been working fine, and now all of a sudden all the papers it prints come out very fuzzy and poorly defined. So I used the print head cleaning utilities, and -- get this -- the print quality has actually gotten WORSE! It's virtually printing blank pages! And it's not because my ink is almost gone, either; my black and color inks are all at about 60% full each.

As an English major I have a lot of papers to write (and print), so please help ASAP!

[Wamplet]

If it's a dual cartridge system, try printing just black, then color, then both.

I would recommend a more reliable printer, like a laser printer, if you are gonna be printing out essays. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Just because they are not completely empty doesn't mean the ink hasn't dried up on the bottom where it shoots out. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/redface.gif

[Kevin Wolff]

I would recommend a more reliable printer, like a laser printer,


Bah. Dot matrix. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif

[Wamplet]

Kevin Wolff said:

I would recommend a more reliable printer, like a laser printer,


Bah. Dot matrix. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tinyted.gif


^ HAHA You slick bastard! I was actually just coming back to edit my post to say: "Even better yet, get something even more reliable, like a Dot Matrix."

o/\o

[FullMetalJacket]

Things have gotten even worse now. It's literally printing blank pages even though there's tons of ink left. Do periods of inactivity make printers turn to shit or something?

Should I invest in a laser printer? Are they really more reliable? But how much are they? I'm not about to drop 1200 bucks for one.

[avatar_58]

Have you used your colour ink lately? I found out the hard way that ink can actually expire and it will do all sorts of strange things including not being picked up by the printer.

[Kevin Wolff]

Should I invest in a laser printer? Are they really more reliable? But how much are they? I'm not about to drop 1200 bucks for one.


Laser printers rock. You don't need to drop $1200 for one...there's some decent $300 models, and $600 for color.

[Jeff]

Tried cleaning your cartridges? There should be a program which can be found in your printer tools. On your vendor's CD, there should be a software suite for printer maintenance and such. There's also another one where you can set the amount of ink the printer uses to print a page, as well as the quality of the page. Plus many other things.

Hell, you might just be running out of ink. There's also an ink level program in there which will tell you how much ink there is left in the cartridge.

[Wamplet]

FullMetalJacket said:
Things have gotten even worse now. It's literally printing blank pages even though there's tons of ink left. Do periods of inactivity make printers turn to shit or something?



Yes.

You should try to print with all cartridges on a weekly basis, even if it's a test page. They can dry up.

You can run them under the faucet and then wipe them with a cloth. Just make sure to get them completely dry, before reinstalling them.



Should I invest in a laser printer? Are they really more reliable? But how much are they? I'm not about to drop 1200 bucks for one.



Laser printers are fairly cheap now.

They cost about 200-300 US gold and the toner cartridges are around 60-80 gold.

As long as colour isn't mandatory, you can leave it sitting for months on end and have little worry. The toner is also cheaper than the ink cartridges and last longer.


http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=305555&pfp=SEARCH This one is about 129 gold after rebate. The toner for it is about 69 gold.

I bought a laserjet 1300 a few years ago. Still using it and on my same cartridge. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif Printed out quite a bit with it.

[Tedski]

It may be that the nozzles have got blocked through inactivity after some heavy printing. On Epson printers it is actually possible to clean them using cotton buds and something like disc cleaning fluid (alcohol based). You've got to be carefuk doing it though. I don't remember the exact method, but it has worked for my father on a similar Epson printe, from a similar set of circumstances. Using 'lookalike' cheap cartridges, where the ink isn't of the same quality could contribute to that too.

[FullMetalJacket]

Thanks for the info, guys. Wamplet, I tried washing the cartridges off and drying them and reinstalling them, but to no avail. I'm still getting blank sheets. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

[NetNessie]

Even though its not likely, have you tried reinstalling the printers drivers, finding driver updates, or even rolled back on previous drivers?

[IwantMORE]

Have you tried different ink carts sometimes they have faults in the carts.

If you need the essay quick got to a print shop they don't cost that much...

[Wamplet]

It sounds like his cartridges are just dried out and raped.

Of course, I don't think he should go out and spend 60 or 70 gold on new cartridges. I say just piss all that gold towards a laser printer. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[NetNessie]

Wamplet said:
It sounds like his cartridges are just dried out and raped.

Of course, I don't think he should go out and spend 60 or 70 gold on new cartridges. I say just piss all that gold towards a laser printer. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



I love how Wamplet uses totally bizarre wording. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[FullMetalJacket]

NetNessie said:

Wamplet said:
It sounds like his cartridges are just dried out and raped.

Of course, I don't think he should go out and spend 60 or 70 gold on new cartridges. I say just piss all that gold towards a laser printer. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif



I love how Wamplet uses totally bizarre wording. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif




Me too. http://forums.3drealms.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/love.gif