Printer troubles

[LadyFlynt]

I have replaced the black ink...and cleaned the head over and over till I've run out of yellow and it refuses to clean the head anymore.

It will copy in colour, including black...but refuses to copy in black and white. Then printing, it only prints the colour and not the black.

Suggestions?

 

[panta dokimazete]

what brand and type of printer?

 

[LadyFlynt]

Epson Stylus CX5400

 

[LadyFlynt]

I did all the troubleshooting and then called tech support. They believe it's a hardware problem, but can't tell me what...just has to do with the output (I kinda got that much). My options are a) pay a fortune to ship it and have it repaired and shipped back b) buy a newer model at discount c) take it to a Geek friend and see what he can do with it.

 

[Dwimble]

Certainly sounds like a hardware problem. I recently replaced a several year old printer that did the exact same thing...black would no longer print. Fortunately I had TWO all-in-one printers sitting there in the closet waiting, having gotten them both for free with the last two computers I bought.

Printers are so cheap now that I'd just go grab a new one if you can afford it. I consider them practically disposable. Get two or three years of moderate use out of them and then throw them away and get a brand new one (hopefully you got that much use out of it). There are all sorts of all-in-one printers similar to yours ranging anywhere from $50 to $200, depending on what you want. It's the consumables that the companies are trying to make their money from.

 

[LadyFlynt]

Yeah, my Geek friend said the same thing...printers are disposable now.

 

[Dwimble]

Yeah, my Geek friend said the same thing...printers are disposable now.

Absolutely, until you get into color laser printers or more high-end photo stuff (I have a higher-end photo printer that would be painful to have to replace at anywhere from $700-$1500). But, for regular home-office inkjet printers...definitely.

On a side note, that's why if I buy something like that from Best Buy or the like, I NEVER waste any money on extending the warranty. 99 times out of 100 you'll get at least a couple of years out of the cheap printer, unless you really print a lot. So, in the crazy rare event that you only get several months or a year out of it then you can just grab another one. Just about the only thing I consider getting extended warranties on are things like refrigerators, or maybe a really expensive TV. Some people may disagree though and probably swear by those warranties. But the way I see it is there's a reason why the stores push them so hard, and it ain't because they like you.