Air lock in ink lines. Firing up a new Epson 4900. Has been in storage for 10 years and never opened.

[Bob Jones]

The printer loaded the inks. When printed a test there were only two heads that looked like they were printing. Did several cleanings but no improvement. Looked at the ink lines and most of them have no ink. Tried printing single colour purge for 15 pages and no improvement.
Running out of time and patience.

 

[VA1DER]

The printer loaded the inks

Please say you didn't use the 10 year old cartridges... that is one of the early all-pigment ink printers and I shudder to think what ten years would do to it.

The printer won't have had any ink in the lines at all when it was shipped. The pumps are designed to charge the lines and should be able to work through any air locks. I think that printer uses peristaltic tubing pumps, but some of those old industrial Epsons had print heads that had the power to pull the ink through the front-loading cartridges to the heads. Ten years shouldn't be long enough for tubing to have dry rotted, but that depends on what they used in the tubing. Even a peristaltic pump won't pull anything through if there is even a small crack in the tubing.

Did it finish the initial charging process? How long did it take, and did you get any errors?

I don't have a repair manual handy for it, but I'd get one and check. That printer is 100% worth the effort even if you have to redo the tubing.

 

[Bob Jones]

It said it completed the initial charge, but there is no ink in most of the lines. Replacing all the ink cartridges will cost over $2000.00 and if it doesn't work? No error messages. The ink cartridges that have no ink in the tubes all weigh about 170 grams while the cyan and magenta cartridges weight about 150 grams.

 

[VA1DER]

Replacing all the ink cartridges will cost over $2000.00

With originals, yes. But you could have good quality refillable cartridges and a pile of great ink for less than half that. That is the real strength of that printer.

I am reaching to find an explanation outside the cartridges, and the only reason I didn't focus on it more in my original reply was I honestly couldn't fathom that anyone would put ink that old in a printer like that. I really do understand not wanting to invest money in an unknown, but ten year old ink, especially pigment ink (which is known to clump over far smaller time frames) is not something I would want to put through a printer of that caliber. Like putting ten year old gas in a Maserati.

 

[Bob Jones]

Really I never thought about the ink being pigment. I have been using a 3880 for a few years and it is dye based and never a problem with 'old' cartridges. I bought a temporary printer to get me through the couple of jobs I need done right now. I will get a couple of new cartridges and see if I can clean up those lines.

 

[silexx8]

Hi, you solved the problem? i have exactly same problem i see lot of air in inklines

 

[Bob Jones]

Hi, you solved the problem? i have exactly same problem i see lot of air in inklines

No.Like to buy one cheap?