Epson Workforce 1100 printing blank pages

[berderder]

Hi everyone,

My father has an Epson Workforce 1100. It's printing blank pages. It's been in storage for a few years, so I am wondering if maybe the black ink cartridges have gone bad and dried up or something. I am running the cleaning function which is taking a surprisingly long time (the power button flashes green to notify you it's still busy, and it's been about 20 minutes).

Thank you for any help in advance.

 

[ircjim]

Even if you get it to run the cleaning cycle chances are the print head is dried up beyond saving after two years of sitting. If the cartridges have dried up too you have to decide whether to invest in a new set if ink or a new printer. I am a fan of the two cartridge system. The print head is in the cartridge. If it plugs or fails you just get another cartridge.

 

[Heywood]

Hi everyone,

My father has an Epson Workforce 1100. It's printing blank pages. It's been in storage for a few years, so I am wondering if maybe the black ink cartridges have gone bad and dried up or something. I am running the cleaning function which is taking a surprisingly long time (the power button flashes green to notify you it's still busy, and it's been about 20 minutes).

Thank you for any help in advance.

The 1100 is kind of notorious for ink cartridge problems. I refilled my cartridges and when I used up a cartridge and reset it I had no problems even with long print jobs. (a complete book chapter by chapter) But if you buy epson cartridges make sure you run the printer about once a week at least. Even when the little yellow strip is off the cartridge, they will usually be good if you can get at least some of the dot matrix to show. I usually would take the cartridge invert it and insert some ink into the bottom pushing against the plunger with a hypodermic needle. Also, I would put a drop on/in where the supply spout of the cartridge goes. In your case you can use water because the ink is soluble and any liquid you can get through will clear the dried or partially dried ink that's in there.
Using the 1100 works well when you are using it for long and frequent printouts but they can be frustrating to keep running for infrequent jobs. I was really glad to go to the 4530s that are much better and even cheaper to run if you're using epson cartridges. Now that epson has newer ones on the market I hope they have continued the improvements because I long ago settled on that brand of printer. The 1100 did great work for me but you have to be very patient and forgiving. It helps to know a few good cuss words.

You can make your own test page using all the colors. I use this one on all my printers to check or maintain them.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/38403039/Full Color Test Page.jpg