Epson Ecotank ET-2600 Printer Not Printing Color 😕

[nelsonic]

Yesterday when I tried to print a design to show a craftsperson our requirement https://github.com/dwyl/home/issues/127#issuecomment-649515078 I noticed that the Epson ET-2600 printer is not doing it's job. 😕

The image on the screen has shades of grey and green:

But the printout has just black, no grey shades and zero green:

Through a bit of research it appears that the printer heads are blocked. There are a few products on Amazon with varying reviews: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Printhead+Cleaning+Kit+epson

Unfortunately, because it contains a liquid, Amazon won't ship it to PT. 🤦 There are a few sellers on eBay that will ship to PT for around £8. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?&_nkw=Printhead+Cleaning+Kit+epson

I'm going to check at Staples (IRL) and MediaMarkt to see if they have a cleaning kit. If I don't find anything, I might try and create my own solution using Isopropyl Alcohol

But I would still need a way of targeting the cleaning solution (liquid) to the heads Something like a pipette or syringe ...

Maybe I'm better off just buying the kit for £12.50 + £8 postage ... it has pretty decent reviews https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epson-Print-Head-Cleaning-Kit-Unblocks-Printer-Nozzles-100ml-Cleaner/124203398086

This is the cheapest option: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Printer-nozzle-unblocker-Epson-Printhead-print-head-cleaner/303113801909 The seller specialises in ink cartridges and has decent feedback. Crucially the delivery cost is much lower. £8 for 100ml vs 99p for 30ml From reading forums, only need around 10ml to do the clean ... so I think the cheaper kit might work.

I'm probably going to spend more than £20.50 in time trying to hunt down the pieces and DIY this ... 💭 Watched a couple of videos on how to use the cleaning kit and it looks pretty straightforward. Looks like it will probably take at least T1h to complete ... ⏳ (still better than burning a fortune on ink cartridges!!)

@iteles thoughts? Have you previously researched this while frustrated with the print quality of the Epson ET-2600? (I could not find an open issue for it ... hence this new one)

[iteles]

The only problems I’ve had with that printer have been resolved with nozzle clearance from the Utilities menu and topping up the ink in the ecotanks.

[nelsonic]

@iteles in which case, next time you @home please try and print a Nozzle check (test print page) and confirm. If it's just my computer that had the issue I don't mind reprioritising this issue. But I remember when I tried to print off the models for the Garden Sunroom they were "streaky" ... I would expect a $200+ printer to have decent results not this 💩

[iteles]

Leave it with me and I’ll test this ASAP 👍🏻

[iteles]

Started with a nozzle check by going to Printers & Scanners on Mac and selecting the ET-2600.

After choosing Options & Supplies, select Print Test Page from the Utility menu:

The test page gave me this:

The colour print heads clearly need cleaning.

Looked up the manual: https://files.support.epson.com/docid/cpd5/cpd52446/index.html

I prefer to do these things with the machine buttons usually as it's more reliable, so I followed the instructions here:

I did two print head cleaning cycles in a row, they take about 3-4 minutes each.

[iteles]

Printed another test page, looking better:

Another print head cleaning session coming up.

[iteles]

One more for good measure.

[iteles]

Well, this is fascinating.

We've solved the colour print head issue and created a black print head issue 🤦‍♀️

Checking ink levels just in case...

[iteles]

There's definitely ink.

I ran one final print head cleaning and it thankfully seemed to do the trick:

@nelsonic Can we close this issue and I'll get on printing https://github.com/dwyl/home/issues/129#issuecomment-650825704 ?

[nelsonic]

@iteles yes, please. Glad you got it fixed. 🎉 You're a ⭐