[toni-a]

Since I bought my Epson L800 I am more than happy with it, its output is very satisfactory, however I noticed a problem and I don't know if this is normal or not :

When I use it on daily basis, evertything goes fine, whenever I leave it for more than 2 days without using it, I have to clean the print heads, is that normal ?

[Brightcolours]

Do you turn the printer off when not in use?

[toni-a]

Do you turn the printer off when not in use?

yes 

[Rainer]

All printers are to an extend prone to ink drying ... (not thermo-sub printers) ...

whether this starts to show after a week or after a day is likely depending on

the environment in which the printer operates (hot/cold ... dry/humid ... etc) ...

A good idea is normally not to switch the printer off entirely, instead, let it

sit in standby if not needed ... this way, the printer can go into a cleaning cylce

if it feels like it.

 

A thing I found helpful is to cover the printer with thin plastic foil  or something similar ...

this helps against dust.

 

Rainer

[H. J. Simpson]

A good idea is normally not to switch the pronter off entirely, instead, let it
sit in standby if not needed ... this way, the printer can go into a cleaning cylce

if it feels like it.

I'm pretty sure Epson L800 won't go into a cleaning cycle by itself. It'll only start head cleaning after some user interaction, otherwise you can leave it on for months and it'll just sit quiet doing nothing. At least that's how Epson T50/P50 operates, and L800 is basically the same printer with a CISS from the factory.

 

When I use it on daily basis, evertything goes fine, whenever I leave it for more than 2 days without using it, I have to clean the print heads, is that normal ?

Epson used cheaper inks for L800, it's not the same Claria inks used for the previous models with the same print head (T50 etc), so while I'm not 100% sure it's normal (for that you'd need to ask other L800 owners), I'd say it's not surprising that it clogs a little after a few days.

[Studor13]

On my 3880 there is an option to do a test print where on a plain sheet of paper you get to see if all the cartridges are printing properly. If they are then "all the dots/lines" are connected. That is, there are no gaps in the dots for every ink color.


Every now and then there are gaps between the dots. When this happens, I just run the test again (maybe twice) and I usually find that all the dots get re-connected.


This is much cheaper than running a longer test print which obviously uses a lot more ink. However, when the quick test prints show that the heads are still a bit clogged, I just run a small sized (10x15cm) print and this also seems to unblock the heads.

[toni-a]

On my 3880 there is an option to do a test print where on a plain sheet of paper you get to see if all the cartridges are printing properly. If they are then "all the dots/lines" are connected. That is, there are no gaps in the dots for every ink color.


Every now and then there are gaps between the dots. When this happens, I just run the test again (maybe twice) and I usually find that all the dots get re-connected.


This is much cheaper than running a longer test print which obviously uses a lot more ink. However, when the quick test prints show that the heads are still a bit clogged, I just run a small sized (10x15cm) print and this also seems to unblock the heads.

In my case whatever print doesn't unlock the heads, only head cleaning does,

and many thanks for the advice I moved my printer away from direct sunlight, this should surely help