Printers & potential problems: Hey All, I have just cranked up my printer of several years(Epson Stylus Photo R1900) and out of mfg. 1. the printer has not been used for more than a...

bertnie1

Hey All, I have just cranked up my printer of several years(Epson Stylus Photo R1900) and out of mfg.
1. the printer has not been used for more than a year...(much use before, very successfully.)

Minor problems in the past but would like any advice as to the proper handling of the printer in
order to get it "up & running" currently...and if things are bad, What would be a good replacement
printer ???(the R1900 prints 13"x19")

Many Thanks to you all!

Bert

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

bertnie1 wrote:

Hey All, I have just cranked up my printer of se... (show quote)

Take a good look at the Epson Surecolor P600, great pro level pigment ink printing up to 13" wide. (It takes roll paper as well) They are about $800 right now, but Epson has them refurbished for only $539 right now, a GREAT buy!

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/Inkjet-Printers/Epson-SureColor-P600-Wide-Format-Inkjet-Printer---Refurbished/p/C11CE21201-N

If you need wider the P800 would fill the bill at 17" width, and $639.

https://epson.com/Clearance-Center/Inkjet-Printers/Epson-SureColor-P800-Wide-Format-Inkjet-Printer---Refurbished/p/SCP800SE-N

bertnie1

Many thanks MTSHOOTER!
Will look into these printers!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

The biggest problems with older printers is not mechanical failure, or supply availability, the biggest threat is “software rot”. Printer manuf’s cease software support for older printers then the old drivers don’t work with newer OS releases. I have had this happen a couple times.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

bertnie1 wrote:

Hey All, I have just cranked up my printer of se... (show quote)

To get it up and running? Plug it in, turn it on and make sure it is communicating with your computer. Your drivers and utilities should be fine since the only part of the driver/utilities package that has been updated since 2013 is a utility for printing CD/DVD. That was updated 2/2018. If necessary, go to Epson and download the driver/utilities package. It's still available.
Go into your maintenance functions. Perform a head cleaning and alignment. Print a test sheet and see what you got.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

LFingar wrote:

To get it up and running? Plug it in, turn it on and make sure it is communicating with your computer.
...
...
Go into your maintenance functions. Perform a head cleaning and alignment. Print a test sheet and see what you got.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

bertnie1 wrote:

Hey All, I have just cranked up my printer of se... (show quote)

Change all the inks. If they have been opened for six months or more, and sitting in an idle printer, you risk a clog. If they are past their “use by” date, you risk a clog.

Many EPSON software pieces have been updated via the automatic updater on a regular basis.

If you use a Mac, know that some of the Mac software for EPSON is still 32-bit. It will not work at all in the next operating system (10.15, due this fall).

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

Definitely do a head cleaning, you may need to do a couple. I switched from the Epson to a Canon pixma Pro that also does 13x19, installed Canon pixma Pro Studio and am a happy camper. After rebates the printer was nearly free and they threw in paper. “It’s not the printer, it’s the ink” where they make their profit.

markwilliam1

If you left your ink cartridges in your printer as Epson recommends for long term storage just use the head cleaning utility, maybe a couple of times. Should be good to go! I’ve stored my printers for extended periods of time with the ink cartridges installed and no problems.

LFingar wrote:

To get it up and running? Plug it in, turn it on and make sure it is communicating with your computer. Your drivers and utilities should be fine since the only part of the driver/utilities package that has been updated since 2013 is a utility for printing CD/DVD. That was updated 2/2018. If necessary, go to Epson and download the driver/utilities package. It's still available.
Go into your maintenance functions. Perform a head cleaning and alignment. Print a test sheet and see what you got.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

markwilliam1 wrote:

If you left your ink cartridges in your printer as Epson recommends for long term storage just use the head cleaning utility, maybe a couple of times. Should be good to go! I’ve stored my printers for extended periods of time with the ink cartridges installed and no problems.

You’re very lucky! I’ve had ten dye ink Epsons and four pigment ink Epsons. All would clog during long term (several months or more) storage.

I learned to swap out ink cartridges in the smaller printers before restarting them. Fresh ink, properly agitated before installation, helps clear the heads during the inevitable post-storage head cleaning.

Larger format printers using pigment inks have thin tubes that feed ink from large cartridges to the heads. Those tubes clog if ink sits for a long time. That’s a service call.

Despite all that, I love their color science!

markwilliam1

Thanks Burk! Guess I am! I recently fired up my old and trusty Epson 2200 printer. Had been in storage over year. After 2 head cleaning cycles she printed beautifully again using the cartridges already installed! Guess that’s a rarity though.

burkphoto wrote:

You’re very lucky! I’ve had ten dye ink Epsons and... (show quote)

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

markwilliam1 wrote:

.....

Guess that’s a rarity though.

Definitely. Lucky you!
I'd print a few things with it that use each ink color to make sure the jet lines are pretty clean internally.

LFingar Loc: Claverack, NY

markwilliam1 wrote:

Thanks Burk! Guess I am! I recently fired up my old and trusty Epson 2200 printer. Had been in storage over year. After 2 head cleaning cycles she printed beautifully again using the cartridges already installed! Guess that’s a rarity though.

We'll see if you are the only lucky one. One of my printers is an Epson Artisan 837 that has been sitting for well over a year. As soon as I get up the nerve I'm going to fire it up and see what happens. I will have to change at least one cartridge. I stopped using it because the black had run out and I didn't have another on hand. By the time I got the ink I was in the habit of using my other printer.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

MT Shooter wrote:

Take a good look at the Epson Surecolor P600, grea... (show quote)

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

My thoughts are if you have to buy a complete set of new inks to get the printer working properly, a good result will probably not happen and you'll have wasted the cost of the ink. If you can get your printer working properly and you have decently dated ink, use it for a while. Determine if it will continue working over a month or two and that nothing else crops up. As Bill said, if using a Mac you will HAVE TO HAVE 64 bit software by the next upgrade, so check into that. I use a P800 and I am ASSUMING my software to be OK because the OS is not telling me otherwise, but checking would be a good idea on my part. Best of luck.