QTR-Quadtone RIP

After a four year hiatus (I've been living on a boat) I'm about to immerse myself in printing again. I have a lot of material to go through! But when I took my printers out of retirement I found that they have all suffered badly through lack of use. Yes, there were carts left in, but they were dry stored in airtight bags. None of them will produce a reliable nozzle check. They are a 2880 (which I hate to discard but it resists all attempts at cleaning), a 2100, a 1400 and a venerable 1290. I need a replacement printer. I mean to use PR's Carbon-6 inkset in refillable carts via QTR. It has been a while since I was familiar with the available models - is there an acknowledged best performer in the A3 range? The 1500W seems well priced in the UK - is this the same as the 1430?

Thank you both, Paul, Christie. I was pleased with my original 1400 so perhaps the 1500 is a good option. I will persevere with cleaning the 2880; can't make it any worse!

Try Jon Cone's Piezo Printhead Cleaning, Flush & Storing fluid: Welcome to InkjetMall! It's worked great for me on my 1430, and even on my 7900.

Try the Piezo flush from Jon Cone on his Welcome to InkjetMall!

site. Has always worked great for me. Though as most know by now, Epson print heads being the pesky integrated things they are, do go bad, and then is the choice to replace or to just spring for a new printer. Also, there is designed in obsolescence, so, after a fair number of years.... Earlier this year, I replaced the print head on my 7900 (at about 2/3 cost of a brand new one).

Epson should, really, offer, instead of a warranty (or in addition) an annual maintenance fee. Exp. shows that having the machine gone over by a tech somewhere in that 13th to 24 month period, and then annually thereafter, increases longevity. Still there comes a time to let go the past and embrace the now to the next 5 years or so. The SureColor (esp. commercial) wave seems poised to replace the StylusPro.

Anyway, the Piezo cleaner/flush should work for you with the earlier Epson models you mentioned, though, you will need to be patient for the cleaner to wipe out your ink clogs. To this extent, I would advise to order two or three bottles of the cleaner. With serious clogs you will certainly go through more than one bottle; that's just the nature of the epson print heads with their tiny, tiny nozzles.

Anyway, hope this helps in your restoration project.........

Before scrapping them I suggest you try some cleaning solution. Both Cone and MIS sell it and both work well. I was able to rejuvenate my 2100 after several years of inactivity with G Quad inks in it and totally clogged nozzles with relatively few cleaning cycles spread over a few days. It is now running reliably with an MIS carbon inkset in it.

Cone / InkJetMall has videos on Youtube that show how to clean various printers using their piezoflush. The 2100 is a bit old now, but the principles are the same as other desktop printers.