Repairing a cheap printer and cost.
I have an Epson XP 820 4-in-1 that needs repair. I got it two years ago as a refurb from Epson for $104. It leaves black vertical streaks and little globs on some prints, not all. And also leaves three thin vertical stripes down some prints, again not all. I tried cleaning the pad where the print head sits, it's pretty inked up. I've watched some YouTube videos but nothing has my model's features. Are there any repair shops that I could send it to or would it even be worth it considering the low cost of most 4-in-1's now? Your advise would be helpful. Thanks in advance.
Do you have some warm water an achohol to wipe the heads.
Get yourself a set of ink jet cleaning pages from an OfficeDepot/Staples, etc. You've got clogged nozzles and ink deposits on the print head and rollers.
But, for something worth $104, the cure would cost more than the disease.
I would just buy a new printer The cost of repair would be greater than cost of a new printer
When you bought the printer Epson was giving you the printer for free. The $104 is only for the ink.
You get what you pay for. Do not expect to get the best quality results from the least expensive device. Repair on anything these days is out of line. Equipment is not made to last because of technology and everyone want to buy for the least price. If you buy used quite often the seller is getting rid of it for a reason. If you can not fix it yourself, it is scrap. Hard to swallow, but Wallyworld installed cheeeeep in everyone's head, and it wont go away.
In the long run a new printer is cheaper and newer technology should give you better pictures, colors and reliability. It's not worth it to repair an old printer. In some cases it's cheaper to buy a new printer than just getting ink for the old one. Look at a refurbished printer also.
My understanding from a retailer a while back is that new printers may not come with full ink cartridges.
This kind of all-in-one is cheap - the ink costs more than the printer. Dump it and buy a new one. $50 a year cost-wise isn't bad.
I 've gone through the same thing with an Epson 837 that is about 5 years old. I spent the better part of a day trying to fix the head. I used some special head cleaning cartridges and it worked for about 10 4x6 prints, then it went back to bad. I called a repair facility in my area that I got from Epson. The price was going to be $129 for a new head and new pads and up to $149 for labor. There Tech advised to get a new printer. I wanted a new 837 but only found about 4 of them, all prices much higher than the original. I bought an XP-860 for $199 at Amazon. It prints very well but is not as good as the 837. Also, I bet it does not last as long because of how it's made.
Get a new printer.
It comes with a full set of standard ink cartridges, so the "effective cost" is even less than that.
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