Please help me not throw my printer out the window

March 5, 2018 6:12 PM

I have an Epson WF-3640 all-in-one printer that is printing blurry text in some, but not all parts of documents. I have tried everything I can think of. An image of what I am talking about is below the fold.

Here is what I am talking about.


It only has this problem with black ink. When I print in colors, it is fine.

I have tried:

- A new ink cartridge
- New paper
- Resetting all printer settings
- Reinstalling drivers
- Multiple nozzle cleanings
- Multiple printhead alignments
- Running clean paper through the printer
- Putting the printer on a different, level surface

Basically every setting I can find, I have run.

Help? Also, does anyone even fix these things anymore?

Thanks, as always for your help.

posted by 4ster to Computers & Internet (9 answers total)

Best answer: I know this isn't the answer you're hoping for -- so apologies up front.

I dumped my Epson printer two years ago and bought an affordable Samsung laser printer and, wow, what a life changer.

Works like a charm, and no ink cartridges -- which I read somewhere is considered the most expensive fluid on earth. And have yet to replace its toner cartridge. Can't recommend going that route enough.

Good luck with a more germane answer to your question.
posted by zenpop at 6:54 PM on March 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: It's glitching out roughly every 32 mm vertically. That will be some multiple of print head or feed roller size. It could also be the driver: does this happen when printing in mono mode, or just in black ink?
posted by scruss at 6:57 PM on March 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

That is more or less how my Epson inkjet printer died some months ago. I cleaned the heads, swapped out the ink cartridge, etc, etc, etc. I tracked down trouble shooting info online and tried it all. I did everything you listed, more than once. Sometimes I could get a single decent page before it went bad again. I took to sending single pages to my partner to print at work, and larger jobs to FedEx Kinko's via their online printing option.

Just now I printed our first pages on an old HP LaserJet that my partner picked up from a co-worker for 40 bucks. It's old enough to be slow but did a beautiful job. This has completely bypassed the problems with the inkjet, which awaits recycling.
posted by Orlop at 6:59 PM on March 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

I could have written Orlop’s post word for word. Once our Epson started glitching like that we could never fix it. We also bought a cheap laser printer and it is such a joy having a drama deee printer.
posted by kimberussell at 7:34 PM on March 5, 2018

Yeah I have a similar WF and it’s doing the same crap. Laser is the way to go.
posted by jeffamaphone at 7:58 PM on March 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Try reinstalling all the software connected with the printer. When I was having problems with my printer, that seemed to fix the problem(s) I was having. It's worth try.
posted by james33 at 4:27 AM on March 6, 2018

I like scruss' reasoning. I think you've got a worn roller somewhere. Every 32 vertical mm on the page implies a roller about a centimeter thick.

Given how cheap printers are (Brother laser printers start at 50 bucks on sale, 85 if you need it right now), buying a new one is probably cheaper than trying to find someone to pay to fix yours.

I nth switching to a laser. I've been super-happy with Brother lasers.
posted by yggdrasil at 11:22 AM on March 6, 2018

The paper bail (holder) rollers on my WorkForce WF7520 are about a centimetre in diameter. If you can see 'em from the paper feed path, take a look and see if they've split or developed flats. If they have, they might be allowing the paper to lift every few lines and cause this out-of-focus glitching.

But the colour working okay? No idea.
posted by scruss at 7:20 PM on March 6, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your help. The Brother laser arrived today. Ink is dead. Long live toner.
posted by 4ster at 6:48 PM on March 8, 2018 [1 favorite]