R3000 printer

John_M_King · Jan 11, 2016

I attempted to do some printing last night using mt Epson R3000. The 1st was fine, but the 2nd print changed colour half way though the image.

I checking the printing quality I found that the light cyan channel printed almost completly blank. I carried out several head cleans only to find after the 6th attempt the light magenta channel also went completely blank. After another clean I left it overnight, (but didn't do a test print) I did a test print this morning but it was just the same as last night. I am not going to do any more to avoid wasting any more ink until I can get some other answer or solution. Any tips would be appreciated.

It is times like this when quite an expensive piece of equipment goes belly up, that I would be better going back to dark room printing, my enlarger never lets me down apart from a new bulb now and again.

pschwart · Jan 11, 2016

This is an unfortunate fact-of life with Epsons. I have two Epsons that have been clogged since before Christmas, probably related to the drop in humidity here from 50% into the 30s. Running endless head cleanings can just make things worse, quickly using up all your ink and dumping it inside the printer since there is no waste tank. A good rule is never run more than three consecutive head cleaning cycles as print quality may actually deteriorate. You may need to resort to strategies like using cleaning cartridges, or even injecting cleaner directly into the heads (dangerous!). Good luck

John_M_King · Jan 12, 2016

There is apparently no way around other than just doing a head clean(s). After several however the situation got worse with the light cyan channel, the light magentas and the light-light black all blocking up. According to Epson I should do 2 cleans in a row without printing the result, the 2nd clean is actually more rigourous that the 1st. Then leave overnight with the machine still switched on but resting. This apparently allows a minute quantity of ink/dye to leach out and this helps to soften the dried material in the blocked channels.

I did just that and printed the result this morning. There was some improvement, with only the light magenta channel still blank. The light cyan and the light-light black were partially printed so I did the same again and have left it switched on overnight. We will see what happens tomorrow.

I asked about cleaning cartridges or solvent which I used on my previous 1400 and apparently there are none available for the 3000

pschwart · Jan 13, 2016

John_M_King said:
There is apparently no way around other than just doing a head clean(s). After several however the situation got worse with the light cyan channel, the light magentas and the light-light black all blocking up. According to Epson I should do 2 cleans in a row without printing the result, the 2nd clean is actually more rigourous that the 1st. Then leave overnight with the machine still switched on but resting. This apparently allows a minute quantity of ink/dye to leach out and this helps to soften the dried material in the blocked channels.

I did just that and printed the result this morning. There was some improvement, with only the light magenta channel still blank. The light cyan and the light-light black were partially printed so I did the same again and have left it switched on overnight. We will see what happens tomorrow.

I asked about cleaning cartridges or solvent which I used on my previous 1400 and apparently there are none available for the 3000

cleaning cartridges: of course Epson doesn't offer these, but you can make you own with a set of refillable cartridges.

John_M_King · Jan 13, 2016

Cleaning cartridges

I have a set of empty ones but what solution do I need to fill them with?

On the other hand, as these cartridges have already been used, the chip will record them as such, so it seems that unless I can get a new empty set, where do I go from here?

It may be that all I need is a bit more patience because after leaving the printer for another night, the test print today showed a marked improvement over the previous 24 hours. I will do this again tonight and see if the improvement continues.

pschwart · Jan 13, 2016

Do a web search for refillable cartridges. You want cartridges with auto-reset chips. I can't afford to have printers that will only print at their leisure. For me, refilling cartridges and unsupported maintenance procedures are just part of the cost of ownership. There is really no incentive for Epson to make better desktop printers -- they are just disposables.

John_M_King · Jan 17, 2016

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John_M_King · Jan 17, 2016

The R3000 has died completely. I found out that the problem of the heads blocking and seems to be the small wiper blade that sits under the printer head carrier had broken off and it was simply not doing it's job. I retrieved it using a pair of tweezers from where it was sitting in a puddle of ink and there is no way of fixing it.
When I contacted a company that does repair them, they replied stating that the actual cost may be more than the value of the device. That is if the spares were available! As much as it grieves me, the 3000 is now as much scrap and so bit the bullet and bought one of the 600 series.

1st impressions of the 600 are very very favourable with perfect results straight out of the box. Even B&W is good with a neutral B+W produced with no bias towards colour casts. An expensive exercise but possibly a good move in the long run.

R3000 printer

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