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jimkramer wrote:

<> wrote in message news:fua4uc$mj7$...



Alienjones wrote:



~From your long winded explanation I would say in all honesty, You should take the refund. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these printers.



That's not true. There is a problem with all Epson inkjet printers. I know, I own one.



I hope that you can see the fallacy of your own statement at this point.



The problem is ink drying out. Basically, of you don't print at least one small print every day unless the humidity is 100%, soon the heads will dry out and it will cost you a bundle of ink to get them working again. If you live in Vancouver you may never notice this. But if there are dry seasons where you live, you will. However, my $100 printer is otherwise reliable and generates beautiful prints up to 8 1/2 x 44 inches. Doug McDonald



I have, currently, two Epsons, a sub $100 R200 that I use mainly for CD's and a $2,000+ 4800 Pro. They are not the same and are hardly even comparable to one another other than that they are both inkjets. I've had to clean the R200 4-5 times in the last 2 years,

That is a dye based printer


the 4800 at least monthly. The R200 can sit for a month and be fine the 4800 needs to be used at least weekly.

that is a pigment based printer. 


To the OP: You've gotten some good tips, unfortunately if you've been trying to print with a dry printhead then the printhead is probably fried. Jim

Most of the respondents are not taking into consideration the the user has tried 3 printers and none would work properly.  It has nothing to do with clogged heads.  I think it is a computer problem.  The Canon IPF5100 will probably work since there are not driver conflicts.

Ray Paseur wrote:
> lid wrote in news:fua4uc$mj7$:
>
> <snip>
> There is a problem with all Epson inkjet printers. The problem is ink
> drying out.
> </snip>
>
> Epson advise us (in writing in the fine manual) to power the printers off
> when they are not in use.
The question is do they do that because it is necessary to because the
get to sell you more ink?
> The power off cycle covers the heads to reduce
> the risk of drying out. I have followed this practice and have not
> experienced drying out on my 3800. On my 9800 I print test strips before I
> print anything for a client. As far as I can tell, it has not had any
> drying out issues, either.
>

John Smith wrote:
>
> > John Smith wrote:
> >>> John Smith wrote:
> >>> Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los
> >>> Angeles. I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and
> >>> everything seemed fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't use
> >>> the printer again for nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble started.
> >>>
> >>> I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to print
> >>> again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single drop
> >>> of ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges were
> >>> still in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off, rebooted
> >>> my PC, made sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of
> >>> hands on IT experience, so I know I covered those techie bases right.)
> >>>
> >>> Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages though
> >>> when trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD panel
> >>> something like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".

<edited for brevity>

> > Based on discussions with Samys Camera and Epson, along with the feedback
> > from here, I've already got commitment from Epson to send me a check next
> > week for a 100% refund for the 3880 and I'm going to pick up a new Epson
> > 4880 next week from Samys.
> >
> > Thanks to all who replied. Epson and Samys have been SUPERB throughout
> > this frustrating process. I'd highly recommend them.
>
>
> Oops, I meant 3800, not 3880.
>
> And yes, I did mean a 4880 to replace the 3800.
>
> Sorry about the typos.


Hello, John:

Okay, you're forgiven.

Joking aside, whenever such an error message appears on a printer's own
LCD panel, it's a rather safe bet that the problem is internal to the
device, itself. No amount of fiddling with drivers (or Windows settings,
etc.,) will accomplish anything constructive, therefore.

Myself, I finally gave up, on an Epson Stylus Photo 825 and replaced it
with a Hewlett-Packard Photosmart D7160, a little over a year ago. The
825 was often plagued by serious clogs, with the first one happening,
only a few months after purchase.

Conversely, the D7160 is still sailing along, nicely, on its bundled ink
cartridges. It never gives me any trouble, and my usage patterns haven't
changed, either (i.e., I don't print a lot of stuff).

Good luck!


Cordially,
John Turco <>

Thanks John. I appreciate the feedback.


"John Turco" <> wrote in message
news:...
> John Smith wrote:
>>
>> > John Smith wrote:
>> >>> John Smith wrote:
>> >>> Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los
>> >>> Angeles. I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and
>> >>> everything seemed fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't
>> >>> use
>> >>> the printer again for nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble
>> >>> started.
>> >>>
>> >>> I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to
>> >>> print
>> >>> again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single
>> >>> drop
>> >>> of ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges
>> >>> were
>> >>> still in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off,
>> >>> rebooted
>> >>> my PC, made sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of
>> >>> hands on IT experience, so I know I covered those techie bases
>> >>> right.)
>> >>>
>> >>> Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages
>> >>> though
>> >>> when trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD
>> >>> panel
>> >>> something like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".
>
> <edited for brevity>
>
>> > Based on discussions with Samys Camera and Epson, along with the
>> > feedback
>> > from here, I've already got commitment from Epson to send me a check
>> > next
>> > week for a 100% refund for the 3880 and I'm going to pick up a new
>> > Epson
>> > 4880 next week from Samys.
>> >
>> > Thanks to all who replied. Epson and Samys have been SUPERB throughout
>> > this frustrating process. I'd highly recommend them.
>>
>>
>> Oops, I meant 3800, not 3880.
>>
>> And yes, I did mean a 4880 to replace the 3800.
>>
>> Sorry about the typos.
>
>
> Hello, John:
>
> Okay, you're forgiven.
>
> Joking aside, whenever such an error message appears on a printer's own
> LCD panel, it's a rather safe bet that the problem is internal to the
> device, itself. No amount of fiddling with drivers (or Windows settings,
> etc.,) will accomplish anything constructive, therefore.
>
> Myself, I finally gave up, on an Epson Stylus Photo 825 and replaced it
> with a Hewlett-Packard Photosmart D7160, a little over a year ago. The
> 825 was often plagued by serious clogs, with the first one happening,
> only a few months after purchase.
>
> Conversely, the D7160 is still sailing along, nicely, on its bundled ink
> cartridges. It never gives me any trouble, and my usage patterns haven't
> changed, either (i.e., I don't print a lot of stuff).
>
> Good luck!
>
>
> Cordially,
> John Turco <>

>>>>> John Smith writes:

Urgent> I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
John> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los Angeles.
John> I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and everything seemed
John> fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't use the printer again for
John> nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble started.

John> I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to print
John> again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single drop of
John> ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges were still
John> in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off, rebooted my PC, made
John> sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of hands on IT
John> experience, so I know I covered those techie bases right.)

John> Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages though when
John> trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD panel something
John> like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".

John> So I did, and Epson determined the printer was defective, and agreed to send
John> me a NEW 3800 to replace it. I insisted on a new unit, not a refurbished
John> unit - which is their standard policy if it's more than 30 days from the
John> date of purchase.

John> About 5 days later I received a box from Epson with 3800 Number 2 in it, and
John> yes, they screwed up and sent me a refurbished unit. Back on the phone with
John> Epson and they agreed to replace it again.

John> Two days ago, I receive 3800 Number 3, and I check it very carefully. Yes,
John> it IS a brand new printer with all of the manuals, inkjet cartridges, and
John> software CD inside that come with a new printer.

John> Today I hooked it up, and bingo, 3800 Number 3 fails immediately. Once
John> again, it will not print ANYTHING in spite of the print heads going back and
John> forth and it's SOUNDING like its printing but nothing comes out other than a
John> completely blank piece of paper.

John> (Before anyone suggests their might be something wrong with my PC's basic
John> ability to print, I print fine all the time to a HP LaserJet sitting right
John> next to the 3800.)

John> So I called Epson again; they have offered to replace it a 4th time or give
John> me a full refund. Samys Camera (what a WONDERFUL store to deal with!)
John> offered to do the same.

John> HERE'S MY QUESTION: Are these 3800s fundamentally problematic? Should I
John> replace it and upgrade to a 4800? Or go back down to a 2400 which I owned
John> before the 3800?

John> I'd GREATLY appreciate any feedback that any experienced Epson 3800 users
John> may have. Other flamers need not reply.

I have had mine for 14 months or so, with no problems.

I have had other hardware that just refused to work on certain XP machines, and worked
find on others. I suspected driver conflicts, but had no way to diagnose it. Perhaps
there is some odd conflict with something on your computer.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems...)

On Apr 18, 8:36 am, u...@domain.invalid wrote:
> Alienjones wrote:
>
> > ~From your long winded explanation I would say in all honesty, You should
> > take the refund. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with these
> > printers.
>
> That's not true. There is a problem with all Epson inkjet printers.
>
> I know, I own one.
>
> The problem is ink drying out. Basically, of you don't print at least
> one small print every day unless the humidity is 100%, soon the
> heads will dry out and it will cost you a bundle of ink to get them
> working again.
>
> If you live in Vancouver you may never notice this. But if there are
> dry seasons where you live, you will.
>
> However, my $100 printer is otherwise reliable and generates
> beautiful prints up to 8 1/2 x 44 inches.
>
> Doug McDonald

I have two older Epsons -- a Color 980 and a Photo 780.

They work just fine under Windows *and* Linux, and their cartridges
are easily refillable with cheap generic refill kits. The only real
issue with them is that you have to use glossy photo paper.

The heads get clogged up but that's generally not a big problem
because the refill kits ship with a bottle of cleaning fluid. All you
do is create two "cleaning" cartridges for each printer and you won't
waste a lot of time and ink.

Other than that I am not inclined not spend a lot of money on a newer
inkjet. If I want quality I can always take my JPEGs to a photo lab
and get much better prints for less than the cost of the ink and paper
for any of the newer inkjets.

On Apr 18, 1:10*am, "John Smith" <JohnSm...@aol.com> wrote:
> Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
>
> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los Angeles.
> I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and everything seemed
> fine - for a while. *I left the country and didn't use the printer again for
> nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble started.
>
> I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to print
> again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single drop of
> ink came out. *Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges were still
> in the printer for the past 6 weeks. *I powered it off, rebooted my PC, made
> sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of hands on IT
> experience, so I know I covered those techie bases right.)
>
> Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages though when
> trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD panel something
> like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".
>
> So I did, and Epson determined the printer was defective, and agreed to send
> me a NEW 3800 to replace it. I insisted on a new unit, not a refurbished
> unit - which is their standard policy if it's more than 30 days from the
> date of purchase.
>
> About 5 days later I received a box from Epson with 3800 Number 2 in it, and
> yes, they screwed up and sent me a refurbished unit. Back on the phone with
> Epson and they agreed to replace it again.
>
> Two days ago, I receive 3800 Number 3, and I check it very carefully. *Yes,
> it *IS a brand new printer with all of the manuals, inkjet cartridges, and
> software CD inside that come with a new printer.
>
> Today I hooked it up, and bingo, 3800 Number 3 fails immediately. *Once
> again, it will not print ANYTHING in spite of the print heads going back and
> forth and it's SOUNDING like its printing but nothing comes out other than a
> completely blank piece of paper.
>
> (Before anyone suggests their might be something wrong with my PC's basic
> ability to print, I print fine all the time to a HP LaserJet sitting right
> next to the 3800.)
>
> So I called Epson again; they have offered to replace it a 4th time or give
> me a full refund. *Samys Camera (what a WONDERFUL store to deal with!)
> offered to do the same.
>
> HERE'S MY QUESTION: Are these 3800s fundamentally problematic? *Should I
> replace it and upgrade to a 4800? *Or go back down to a 2400 which I owned
> before the 3800?
>
> I'd GREATLY appreciate any feedback that any experienced Epson 3800 users
> may have. *Other flamers need not reply.
>
> TIA ----

Hi John,

I went through almost the same thing with Epson 3800. So far 4
printers, my first one, 2 refurbished and one new replacement. So far
refurbished came with clogged print head, new had broken parts and 2nd
refurbished would not start up and said generally "error - call
epson".

HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION TO ASK YOURSELF

Can you afford to spend hours and hours of your time on phone with
tech support, opening and repackaging and setting up 3800 over and
over again. I guess if you make $1 an hour that would be ok. I dont.
Epson has cost me $1000's of dollars in lost time and productivity.
Oh, and by the way, I had about 6 prototype prints to major customers
that could not go out and a production job that could not go out
because of these printers not working. The printers that I have
received generally have been broken or dont work - by my definition I
would call them junk. Never again.

Lance

wrote in
news:df04f4f3-39ed-4bce-881d-:

I've got a 2400, a 3800 and a 9800. All work perfectly. The 3800 and 9800
are in environmentally unfriendly conditions (fluctuating temperature and
humidity) but as long as the paper is usable, they print without any
problems. I have never used anything but Epson ink and Epson paper and
Epson profiles. The 3800 and 9800 are used exclusively for Lustre prints.
The 2400 does all kinds. As a matter of policy, we power the printers off
every night. Other than an occasional head cleaning, they are up 100% of
the time, maintenance free. I cannot remember where we bought the big
printers; the 2400 came from B&H.

Ray

> On Apr 18, 1:10*am, "John Smith" <JohnSm...@aol.com> wrote:
>> Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
>>
>> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera

<snip>

John McWilliams <> wrote in
news:8o-:

> Ray Paseur wrote:
>> wrote in
>> news:df04f4f3-39ed-4bce-881d-8bb94b964c93
@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
>>
>> I've got a 2400, a 3800 and a 9800. All work perfectly. The 3800
>> and 9800 are in environmentally unfriendly conditions (fluctuating
>> temperature and humidity) but as long as the paper is usable, they
>> print without any problems. I have never used anything but Epson ink
>> and Epson paper and Epson profiles. The 3800 and 9800 are used
>> exclusively for Lustre prints. The 2400 does all kinds. As a matter
>> of policy, we power the printers off every night. Other than an
>> occasional head cleaning, they are up 100% of the time, maintenance
>> free. I cannot remember where we bought the big printers; the 2400
>> came from B&H.
>>
>> Ray
>>
>>> On Apr 18, 1:10 am, "John Smith" <JohnSm...@aol.com> wrote:
>>>> Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
>>>>
>>>> On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera
>>
>> <snip>
>
> One wonders if "john smith" and his "correspondent" are one and the
> same....and what causes the grindstone to spin.
>
> My 3800 goes along fine. Curious, tho: why power down each day?
> Doesn't it cause more cleaning/purging heads?
>

Hi, John. We power off because an Epson rep told me that the power-off
cycle parks the heads in a way that helps prevent ink drying out. Seems
reasonable. It may do more cleaning/purging but I have no way to
compare since we have "always done it this way"

John McWilliams <> wrote in
news:

> Ray Paseur wrote:
>> John McWilliams <> wrote in
>> news:8o-:
>
>>> One wonders if "john smith" and his "correspondent" are one and the
>>> same....and what causes the grindstone to spin.
>>>
>>> My 3800 goes along fine. Curious, tho: why power down each day?
>>> Doesn't it cause more cleaning/purging heads?
>>>
>>
>> Hi, John. We power off because an Epson rep told me that the
>> power-off cycle parks the heads in a way that helps prevent ink
>> drying out. Seems reasonable. It may do more cleaning/purging but I
>> have no way to compare since we have "always done it this way"
>
> Boy, I'd be inclined to check that with another rep, or better,
> someone who is a direct Epson employee in the department. It certainly
> used to be gospel to power down some years ago, but my understanding
> that with energy saving stand by now common, heads are parked properly
> when machine is idle.
>

Good point, John. I wonder which costs more in the long run - ink or
electricity or printers. I'll bet there is an MBA at Epson who has
optimized this equation for the longest tent pole!