Epson Printhead Blocked? Let’s Fix That!

Are you getting white streaks, missing text, unusual colours, or even no print at all from your Epson inkjet printer? It’s probably due to a blocked printhead.

Unlike many other printers (like some Canon and HP models), with Epson you cannot simply remove the print head from the printer for cleaning, which makes unblocking the print head much more difficult in more stubborn cases.

What to do …?

The first thing you should check is the ink cartridges. Are they correctly seated in the print head?

If the ink is of inferior quality (especially cheap ink and ink from Ink Station often cause problems), this is most likely the cause. Newer Epsons are extremely sensitive when it comes to third-party inks.

With original ink, the print head only dries out under extreme conditions (my WF-7835 continued printing perfectly after several months of downtime without any cleaning).

If you suspect inferior ink is the problem, you should consider switching them out with original ink first. Further attempts or further printing with inferior third-party ink will only make things worse. This is because often inferior compatible inks contain impurities or larger particles that can accumulate and block the tiny nozzles in the print heads. These blockages can disrupt the ink flow through the printhead.

If the inferior third party ink dries too quickly or doesn’t dry properly, it can solidify inside the print head nozzles, causing clogs. Some third-party inks may also not be fully compatible with the materials used in the print heads, leading to chemical reactions or residue build-up that can cause clogs.

123 Inkjets compatible Epson inks are thoroughly quality tested and guaranteed to work with your Epson printer.

Find out which colours are affected…

A streaky print does not necessarily indicate which colours are missing and which nozzles are responsible for the unclear print.

This can be found out by running a nozzle test in the printer driver menu (under “Utility”).

Clean…

First, I would recommend the normal print head cleaning in the printer driver menu under “Utility”. If this doesn’t work, you should try this 3 or 4 times maximum before moving on to the next method, as cleaning uses a lot of ink (which is expensive and fills the waste ink container) and the probability of success is extremely low if no improvement was seen in the first few cleaning processes.

Power cleaning…

In case normal cleaning doesn’t help, Epson suggests power cleaning.

This works as follows:

• In a text editing program such as Wordor LibreOffice, create a page (approx. ¼ full) with text (just type in letters – no spaces, graphics, etc.)
• Make sure you include colour text in the colours that are (partially) missing
• Print the text
• After the document has been printed, within 5 seconds hold the cleaning button down for several seconds to perform cleaning
• Re-print the text document during the cleaning process

This procedure (printing, cleaning) should be repeated several times in a row. The printer switches to a higher cleaning level each time.

If there is still no improvement in sight after the 5th or 6th attempt, you should move on to the next step, as power cleaning also uses a lot of ink.

If the printer is still under warranty, you should send the printer to Epson now or at the latest after the first method of “manual cleaning”. The Epson service is usually quite quick.

If power cleaning doesn’t help…

Since removing the print head on Epson printers is a lot of work, here are a couple of methods that you can use to clean the print head in the printer.

For “manual” cleaning, you first have to move the print head out of the parking position so the print head be moved freely. To do this, either press the paper feed button for 3 seconds or give the printer a suitable task (e.g. cleaning) and unplug the power cord as soon as the print head has moved out of the parking position.

Method 1…

After moving the printhead out of the parked position, take a paper towel (for example a Viva paper tower) and soak it in pure alcohol (I always use isopropyl alcohol). Then you put it in the printer (in an easily accessible place where the print head can move to) and carefully move the print head onto the paper towel. Leave the print head on the paper towel.

After a few hours remove the paper towel, turn the printer back on and clean the print head 1-2 times.

If that doesn’t help, you have to become more brutal (you have nothing left to lose anyway!).

Method 2…

Remove the cartridges from the print head, and place a paper towel under the print head as in the first method.

Fill a syringe with alcohol or warm distilled water and put a plastic tube (a few millimeters thick) on the syringe. The other end is put on the spike of the colour to be cleaned on the print head, which the printer uses to get the ink out of the cartridge. Then you carefully (!) press the liquid through the print head.

Then you remove the syringe and the paper towel, reinsert the cartridges, perform some print head cleaning (ink has to get into the print head again) and hope that it works!

If those methods fail…

… you have to take more drastic acyion – do it yourself by removing the printhead.

ATTENTION: Be careful not to get any ink on clothing, carpets, furniture, etc. Ink stains are pretty nasty and often cannot be removed.

If you’re willing to remove the print head (which means taking half the printer apart), you can soak the print head in warm water or alcohol like you would a Canon print head.

After soaking the printhead for up to 2 days, reverse the steps you took to remove the printhead and put your printer back together. Perform 6 print head cleaning cycles, then print a nozzle check page. If the result is unsatisfactory, repeat until until printhead is clear, up to 3 or 4 times.

If that doesn’t help…

… you can forget about the print head. For most devices, it is not worth repairing outside of the warranty period (a new printhead or a service from Epson will cost more than $150). An exception would be higher end, more expensive printers.

If the print head often dries out…

… this is either due to inferior generic ink (you should buy from 123 Inkjets), an unsuitable location (such as a too hot or too cold room), or not enough use. We suggest printing a nozzle check page at least once a week to keep the ink flowing in your Epson printhead.