Epson Artisan 835 - blank pages even after new cartridges and head cleaning

[Stargazer7]

Hi all, new to the site. I just unboxed an Epson Artisan 835 that was never used - not once. I did a fresh install of the latest Epson drivers, then I tried a print job of 2 pages. It printed some greenish bars (which were on the document), but almost no text.

A cartridge check indicated 3 of them were empty or nearly so; since the printer was never used, I guess they just dried up. I bought a package with ALL colors plus black, I replaced them all except cyan, which was full. Another cartridge check showed all were indeed full.

I tried printing 2 pages again -- text only, black/greyscale -- and this time nothing but blank paper came out. I did head cleaning three times, and still just blank sheets came out. I went through the head alignment process several times and that did not help either. At the moment, I can't think of anything I've missed. Thanks in advance . . .

David G.

 

[VA1DER]

That is an exceptionally old printer. I am not at all surprised by ink-flow issues.

First of all, the ink cartridges show full or empty based on a chip they have that records how much has been printed from that cartridge. Even if the cartridge had "run dry" over time, it wouldn't show as being empty. If it shows on the printer as being empty, then it has been printed from. The printer may not have been as unused as you were lead to believe.

If that printer has been printed from, if there was ink in the system and then it went on to sit for ages, then you may need to go to some effort to clean it out. I would get a set of refillable cartridges for it (Ali Express has them) and fill the cartridges with printer cleaning solution. If you don't want to buy the solution you can make it. Buy some high purity alcohol, isopropyl is fine, but make sure it's 99% or 100% alcohol. Mix that 50/50 with some Windex (or similar) - you want the kind of Windex that comes with ammonia in it. Or, you can add some ammonia. Half a cup of alcohol with half a cup of Windex and a tablespoon of ammonia is a good mix. Fill the refillable cartridges all with this cleaner, prime the cartridges, and then put them in the printer. Run it through a half dozen cleaning cycles.

 

[Stargazer7]

That is an exceptionally old printer. I am not at all surprised by ink-flow issues.

First of all, the ink cartridges show full or empty based on a chip they have that records how much has been printed from that cartridge. Even if the cartridge had "run dry" over time, it wouldn't show as being empty. If it shows on the printer as being empty, then it has been printed from. The printer may not have been as unused as you were lead to believe.

If that printer has been printed from, if there was ink in the system and then it went on to sit for ages, then you may need to go to some effort to clean it out. I would get a set of refillable cartridges for it (Ali Express has them) and fill the cartridges with printer cleaning solution. If you don't want to buy the solution you can make it. Buy some high purity alcohol, isopropyl is fine, but make sure it's 99% or 100% alcohol. Mix that 50/50 with some Windex (or similar) - you want the kind of Windex that comes with ammonia in it. Or, you can add some ammonia. Half a cup of alcohol with half a cup of Windex and a tablespoon of ammonia is a good mix. Fill the refillable cartridges all with this cleaner, prime the cartridges, and then put them in the printer. Run it through a half dozen cleaning cycles.

Thanks, VA1DER. Just to reiterate, I put in ALL brand new cartridges. Also, I did not buy this printer used from someone else; I bought it new several years ago, and I had never used it once.

 

[VA1DER]

Thanks for the clarification It's possible that they were "starter" cartridges. When cartridges first began to get more expensive than the printers, people began literally buying printers for their cartridges and throwing away the printers. So printer manufacturers "retaliated" by putting in starter cartridges that only had enough ink to fill the print head and nothing more. I don't know if the Artisan 835 was one of those printers or not, but it may explain it. Or ir may be something else entirely. There may be no good explanation.

How to proceed, though, may still be the same. You may need to run some cleaning fluid through the system.