Epsom Photo 700 printer

[pab]

The black ink will not print,this has not been used for a couple of months so I think the printhead may be blocked.I have tried the normal cleaning cycle to no avail.Has anyone tried using lighter fluid for example to clear the jets or would this not work

[trevHCS]

Trouble with Epson's is they have very tiny holes which makes good quality printing, but clogs very quickly. You might find several clean cycles then leaving it 24 hours could work, but eventually they just seem to get totally clogged.

Lighter fluid might be worth a shot - as long as you leave it a little while to dry off. Can't lose much anyway.

[bizarreday]

Lighter fluid will most likely melt some of the plasics. Try isopropyl alcohol (IPA). most ink refill shops also have a bath of this with an ultrasonic cleaner attached and should charge about a fiver to clean it for you.

[rojash]

The good news is that when you replace the cartridge, you are also replacing the printing head, so if worse comes to worst, you could just buy a new cartridge. Having said that, I have an Epson (Epsom is a place, by the way) which is always clogging up and it costs me a fortune. On the other hand I also have a Canon which can print perfectly after sitting idle for months.

[pab]

Thanks for replies,Epsom?, hit wrong key!,this model is quite old now (years) but I have never had this problem before. The cartridge on this one does not have the printhead incorperated just a hole in the bottom for the ink to come out to feed the printhead. I changed the cartridge which didn't help so will look at cleaning options.