[Fenrir]

I bought a "barely used" 1400 that had been sitting in someone's attic without ink carts for several years (it's in the old white and blue box). I have a refill damper kit (not CIS, just the refillable dampers) and reset chip with button rather than manual/auto reset chips. Since it hadn't been used in so long, I decided not to even bother refilling it without cleaning it thoroughly, so I bought a set of blank dampers to use with cleaning fluid. The first few times I turned it on, it would allow me to run head cleanings, but if I tried to print it would go to "General error". I thought, great, the thing has been used until the waste counter filled up. I double checked everything and the carts were reading "unknown" so the chip may not have been seated properly. I redid it, the carts showed up as "Epson", but it still kept zapping back to "General error".

I left it overnight (I'm working on it where I work and not at home) and when I got back it started up and I was able to get it to print after completely deleting the print spool. I ran several head cleanings and purge pages... and then it went back to General Error when I tried to run another head cleaning after letting it sit for half an hour. I turned it off and it wouldn't turn back on, I unplugged it for 10 minutes and it came back to life. So I downloaded the WICReset tool from OctoInkjet to check the counter to make sure it hadn't been run into the ground. It came back as only 17% full... they used it more than they said they did but still barely enough to make a difference (and now I'm not worried about the waste pads overflowing). I ran the advanced diagnosis part of it and I saw the "head ambient temperature abnormal". Huh. Maybe it's still got dried ink in it and I should just keep running cleaning fluid through it for the rest of the day. Anyone else have any ideas?

 

[Fenrir]

Just an update, I got the printhead out and found the ribbon cables to the printhead were covered with ink. They were badly corroded as well. I cleaned them off and soaked the printhead overnight, then put everything back together.

I put cleaning carts in it and it worked fine for awhile. Then I told it to do a head cleaning and it immediately changed all carts to "unknown". I am using refillable dampers with a CIS-style reset button. Nothing could bring back the carts. I even tried a different chip. So much for a good deal. I knew I should have tested it there but they had it boxed up and ready to go. I've brought back dead printers before, Epsons tend to recover pretty well, but I guess this one is done for. I don't think they lied about its' usage, but if it was stored in an attic in FL for 4 years everything inside probably corroded as well.

Now to decide whether to get a refurbished 1400 direct from Epson or a 1430 in-store. Does anyone know if you buy a refurb, do you get brand new carts or are they already in the machine (I plan to re-sell them... not that I'm having luck selling my WF 1100 carts for $10 each)?