Over the years I have had a number of Epson printers. They are a great printer when they are working but they have a tendency to have a somewhat short life before they become faulty, as often as not with blocked ink jets in the heads. On occasions this fault can be cleared by running the cleaning cycle a large number of times. If you had a blocked 'Yellow' head, the cleaning cycle wastes all the other coloured inks,which is expensive especially if one dosn't manage to clear the blocked one. I have a C86 with a terminal useless 'Yellow' head and would like to know if I can replace the head assembly with a servicable one from a C82 as I have a spare one with a good head but mechanical problems. The Question is are the C82 and the C86 Heads interchangable??

Dennis Leefarr of Hereford, March 2007

how can i made my epson L210 ink jet printer blocking a black ink....

Jamesspa, March 2013

I bought a Brother Laser printer. That solved my problem.

Rocketeer, December 2010

Remove cartridges and with a syringe & blunt needle flush the raised cones in the ink cartridge well with distilled water. A dropper held against the cone head an squeezed will also effect a clearance. however you will have to mop up excess distilled water in the cartridge well before reinserting your cartridges. Also put a few drops of the distilled water on any sponges under the print heads, this will help remove any build up of ink on the print head.

ken allen, October 2009

Just throw the heap of sh*t out the window and go buy another down Sainburys for less money than its costs to refill it with new ink.

epson c60 block inc, December 2008

My C83 become blocked in some of the holes in the jet head, was given another for spares and realised this to had the same problem, searched for this and so many complaints for printer failing after 1-2 years. Solution is to remove black ink jet head, the piece with circuitry on back and inject with hot water to soften clogged ink in holes. Then force compressed air through head but beware ink is emitted under pressure so 20 foot shot is not unusual but should cure problem, did mine, now in its 4th year. Beware the plastic cable tidy assembly, remember how it goes back.

David, November 2007

I have just managed to fix my Epson cx540. It required some boldness and dexterity with a clothes peg and tweezers. What had gone wrong is that the plasic tube that connects the head cleaning pump to the ink pad that Sucks ink from the reservoires had become detached. After parking the heads, open the printer to gain access to the ink cartridges. Move them to the left after de powering . You will see on the right a plastic mechanism that sits under the cartridges. Make sure you wear rubber gloves the ink is very messy. Slide the top part of the mechanism to the right and somehow secure it (clothespeg?!). Underneath is a tube that should be plugged into the underside of an oblong ink sponge, if it isnt then it needs to be reconnected (tweezers and patience), it is possible to disconnect the sponge pad that has 2 springs under it by pushing the hinge part down and pulling to the left but dont force it. I reconnected mine and ran the cleaning cycle a few times and my printer came back to life.....maybe your fault is different, goodluck!!

Stu, March 2007

In my experience the heads get blocked because the suction cleaning pipe is blocked. This is a 3mm silicone tube going from a cup under the heads in the Service Station (where they park), through a peristaltic (rolling squeezer) pump and discharging into a big felt absorption pad in the printer base, and it actually sucks ink out of the heads during the cleaning cycle. You'll probably find very little ink has reached the pad and the end of the pipe is buried in a pile of dry ink. I've had some success with dismantling so that I can poke the pipe clear where I can reach it, but the only answer is to completely remove the pump assembly and take out the tube, wash it clear and start again. The nature of the pump means you can't poke it right through. Since all that takes a long time, even if you know how to do it, it's actually cheaper to buy a new printer (in a business enterprise).

Bill, March 2007