- Joined
- Aug 4, 2024
- Messages
- 1
I need to store my Epson ET 4850 printer for about six months. What is "best practice" for storage? Do I need to "drain" ink and if so how? Thank You Bill McLean
storage of Epson Eco Tank Printer
- Thread starter Bull Elk Bill
- Start date
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2024
- Messages
- 280
This is a great question for the entire EcoTank [ET] line on printers. I've serviced a few of them in the past. Epson pulled a clever move like the trojan horse where they give you the illusion that you're getting a printer that you won't have to replace ink cartridges with. Effectively creating their own continuous ink supply system or CISS for short. But what they didn't tell you, that in the process of doing that, they have also made it exceptionally more difficult to maintain and service your printer unless it's a much larger size.
These printers were built to fail internally with ink that stays unused for a decent amount of time. Rending flushing services ineffective unless at the printhead with more work accessing it to service. What I would do is fill each ink channel with ink, followed by running a few head cleaning operations to get the ink flowing. If you can't have someone turn the printer on every couple weeks to do a test print. That's going to be your best shot at making sure nothing dries inside the lines.
To be fair, 6 months with genuine ink isn't absolutely terrible. It's not the longest amount of time, you will most likely have to do a soft cleaning under the printhead by placing an Isopropyl soaked towel under the printhead to moisten up all the ink again. Followed by head cleaning operations to get the ink flowing outward again. That should be it though.
We created a video that shows you how to do it. Instead of putting the paper towel in dry, apply the IPA/Windex soaked sheet directly to the towel and slide it under the printhead for 15 minutes to overnight. Repeat if necessary.
These printers were built to fail internally with ink that stays unused for a decent amount of time. Rending flushing services ineffective unless at the printhead with more work accessing it to service. What I would do is fill each ink channel with ink, followed by running a few head cleaning operations to get the ink flowing. If you can't have someone turn the printer on every couple weeks to do a test print. That's going to be your best shot at making sure nothing dries inside the lines.
To be fair, 6 months with genuine ink isn't absolutely terrible. It's not the longest amount of time, you will most likely have to do a soft cleaning under the printhead by placing an Isopropyl soaked towel under the printhead to moisten up all the ink again. Followed by head cleaning operations to get the ink flowing outward again. That should be it though.
We created a video that shows you how to do it. Instead of putting the paper towel in dry, apply the IPA/Windex soaked sheet directly to the towel and slide it under the printhead for 15 minutes to overnight. Repeat if necessary.
- Joined
- Feb 3, 2024
- Messages
- 280
Did you use a drill bit and chuck for weight and leverage? That's how we punctured ours to become 2-way. You can see how in this video.