Epson XP 245 stopped printing black

[EcoZero]

Hi everybody. I've had this printer for a long time and never had a problem. Until the other day when I realized the black cartridge was running out of ink. Yiiikes. I immediately refilled it (I always used self resetting compatible cartridges). Probably it was too late, because - no matter how many times I ran the head cleaning tool ... nothing. Now the printer won't print black. As a last resort I also removed the print head for a thorough cleaning, reassembled it and let it sit for a couple of days. Still no joy. I'm running out of options (the other colors are just fine). The black cartridge seems to be ok, the ink nozzle lets the ink out as expected and it is properly recognised by the printer. Whan am I missing? Can the print head be damaged? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thank you
Mike

 

[UpAndPrinting]

Most likely your third-party inks sludged up over time either inside the printhead or on the bottom where the ink comes out of the channels. It's very common and if that's the error, can most often be repaired by cleaning the printhead manually. Do the following:

Turn the printer on and wait for the printhead to start doing it's startup slide. Once it's moving, unplug the printer so the printhead is free to slide left and right. Cut a strip of parchment paper and cut a half sheet of paper towel in half once more to make a square. Fold that a few times to match the size of the parchment paper. It should be wide enough to slide under the printhead, but provide coverage in case liquid seeped through.

Spray your paper towel with 80% Isopropyl Alcohol and 20% Windex (with Ammonia). Once the paper towel is throoughly soaked and resting on the parchment paper, place it where I put the purple box background in the image.Now, remove the ink cartridges from the printhead. And slide the printhead carriage OVER the paper towel. Let it sit for anywhere between 15 minutes to overnight if you can. While you're waiting, get a Q-tip soaked in IPA and manually go over each of the nozzles. Making sure there's no ink left at all on them.

Carefully remove the soaked paper strip and parchment. And install your ink cartridges (preferably full) and run the head cleaning process through the tools/software with nozzle check patterns inbetween until you achieve a clean nozzle print. You may have to repeat this a few times to clear bag clogs. But you do not have to remove the printhead which takes a lot of the risk out. Also be VERY careful about spilling liquid anywhere as that will be the end of the printer as soon as you power it on. Hope this helps.

 

[EcoZero]

Thanks man for the detailed instructions. I will try that as well (although I already removed the print head -- because it's not that complicated -- and soaked it in a mixture of alcohol and windex for an entire night and later pumped with a syringe some cleaning fluid through the nozzle and see the liquid squirting out).


Mike

 

[UpAndPrinting]

Ok thanks for letting me know that. That was going to be my next suggestion for a more aggressive cleaning. I do not own this model printer so I played it safe assuming the printhead would be difficult for some users to remove. Is the spray in the black channel coming out evenly like the other colors? Sometimes it takes a few repeated attempts of flushing to finally get it.

If you let the printhead rest in cleaning solution overnight, that may help dissolve some buildup deposits inside. When I say rest, I mean a puddle or a little more than that. We actually had this happen to one of our Artisan 1430's. We performed the cleaning service but black still wasn't budging. Which is unusual as black is the most commonly used color and as such, flows the most often and should be the easiest to restore.

I re-removed the printhead and let it soak in a 1/4" deep of cleaning solution overnight. Sure enough, the next morning there was a long thick and deep black trail that dislodged overnight. It needed more time to soften up.

Also, what ink brand are you using if you don't mind me asking.

 

[EcoZero]

Hi, thanks for getting back. Today - totally dejected - I turned back on the printer and ... finally .. something is happening!! ATM the nozzle check pattern is a little fuzzy, but at least the ink is beginning to come out again (I'm running the cleaning tool as I write). By the way, I attached the pic of the ink I've been using since 2018 with no problems at all. Before today I was worried the print head might have been somewhat compromised: now I know it's not. The ink just needed more time to settle ... I guess?

Thanks again for your patience.
Mike

 

[UpAndPrinting]

That's another thing that I would tell customers. It's a last ditch effort but sometimes will pay off like in this instance. I'm glad you were able to get back up and printing again!