Epson R1800 Print Problems

dtschak · 03-04-2009, 01:15 PM

Hi,
I have an Epson R1800 printer. The printer recently quit printing and now simply shoots the paper right on through the printer. This sounded to me like a sensor problem. I called Epson Support and was told that it sounds like a sensor problem. However, the Epson support person would not tell me where the sensor is hidden so that I could check it out - after all, where's the money in telling the customer how to check out his own printer? I was told to take it to a service center. My feeling is that Epson has made enough money off of me on printers, paper and ink. Can anyone tell me where the sensor in question might be? It may be a light with something covering it, or it might be a lever that is stuck, etc. etc. If I knew what I was looking for, I might be able to fix it.

Now that I have your attention, I would like to tell you about all the trouble that I have had with Epson printers. This one regularly decides to reset itself and will stop printing and eject the paper for no apparent reason. The drive wheels gum up and it won't feed. I had an R800 before this, but it would not print art papers so I got the R1800. I will try a Cannon next - I have had good luck with their cameras, so maybe they can do printers too.

Thanks,

Darrell (dtschak)

dtschak · 03-13-2009, 08:11 AM

The Answer to My Own Question Follows:
Since posting my original question/complaint, I have called Epson support two more times. The second support person agree with the first and was a little more help in locating the sensors. He suggested that I blow presurized air in the paper entrance and exit slots. This did not do the trick, but may have helped, so I called again. The third support person suggested that I might have fouled paper drive rollers which would throw off the timing of the paper movement through the print mechanism and cause the paper to be ejected without printing. He suggested that I run cleaning paper through the printer a number of times. I did not have any official cleaning paper for the Epson R1800, but did have a cleaning paper for an Epson Stylus Pro 5000/5500. I removed the adhesive strip cover and ran the paper through the printer. Since the sticky adhesive area on the paper did not line up with the main drive wheels for my R1800, I secured some masking tape with the sticky side up, to the appropriate place on the paper and ran it through by hitting the eject/FF button. This did the trick and saved me a trip to the Epson Service Center. I ran another sheet with more masking tape through the printer and finally got the printer working again - almost like new.

CONCLUSION: Clean your printer regularly. I could not find any Epson cleaning sheets for the Epson R1800, but you could make your own using some heavy paper and securing some masking tape - sticky side up - to the sheet. I have also purchased a cleaning kit which I have not yet opened or tried.

If the first Epson support person does not have the answer, call back and get another. Do not count, to heavily, on Epsons Support menu system to generate an answer to your question - it did me no good.

Epson printers produce good output at a reasonable cost, but they do have their finicky problems. But, perhaps, they all do so I should not be too critical of Epson

03-04-2009, 01:15 PM	#1 (permalink)
dtschak Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: DC Area Posts: 4 OS: Vista	Epson R1800 Print Problems Hi, I have an Epson R1800 printer. The printer recently quit printing and now simply shoots the paper right on through the printer. This sounded to me like a sensor problem. I called Epson Support and was told that it sounds like a sensor problem. However, the Epson support person would not tell me where the sensor is hidden so that I could check it out - after all, where's the money in telling the customer how to check out his own printer? I was told to take it to a service center. My feeling is that Epson has made enough money off of me on printers, paper and ink. Can anyone tell me where the sensor in question might be? It may be a light with something covering it, or it might be a lever that is stuck, etc. etc. If I knew what I was looking for, I might be able to fix it. Now that I have your attention, I would like to tell you about all the trouble that I have had with Epson printers. This one regularly decides to reset itself and will stop printing and eject the paper for no apparent reason. The drive wheels gum up and it won't feed. I had an R800 before this, but it would not print art papers so I got the R1800. I will try a Cannon next - I have had good luck with their cameras, so maybe they can do printers too. Thanks, Darrell (dtschak)

03-13-2009, 08:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
dtschak Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: DC Area Posts: 4 OS: Vista	Re: Epson R1800 Print Problems The Answer to My Own Question Follows: Since posting my original question/complaint, I have called Epson support two more times. The second support person agree with the first and was a little more help in locating the sensors. He suggested that I blow presurized air in the paper entrance and exit slots. This did not do the trick, but may have helped, so I called again. The third support person suggested that I might have fouled paper drive rollers which would throw off the timing of the paper movement through the print mechanism and cause the paper to be ejected without printing. He suggested that I run cleaning paper through the printer a number of times. I did not have any official cleaning paper for the Epson R1800, but did have a cleaning paper for an Epson Stylus Pro 5000/5500. I removed the adhesive strip cover and ran the paper through the printer. Since the sticky adhesive area on the paper did not line up with the main drive wheels for my R1800, I secured some masking tape with the sticky side up, to the appropriate place on the paper and ran it through by hitting the eject/FF button. This did the trick and saved me a trip to the Epson Service Center. I ran another sheet with more masking tape through the printer and finally got the printer working again - almost like new. CONCLUSION: Clean your printer regularly. I could not find any Epson cleaning sheets for the Epson R1800, but you could make your own using some heavy paper and securing some masking tape - sticky side up - to the sheet. I have also purchased a cleaning kit which I have not yet opened or tried. If the first Epson support person does not have the answer, call back and get another. Do not count, to heavily, on Epsons Support menu system to generate an answer to your question - it did me no good. Epson printers produce good output at a reasonable cost, but they do have their finicky problems. But, perhaps, they all do so I should not be too critical of Epson