Epson 3800 - URGENT

John Smith wrote:

John Smith wrote:
John Smith wrote:
Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.


On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los
Angeles. I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and
everything seemed fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't use
the printer again for nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble started.

I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to print
again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single drop
of ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges were
still in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off, rebooted
my PC, made sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of
hands on IT experience, so I know I covered those techie bases right.)

Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages though
when trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD panel
something like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".

edited for brevity

Based on discussions with Samys Camera and Epson, along with the feedback
from here, I've already got commitment from Epson to send me a check next
week for a 100% refund for the 3880 and I'm going to pick up a new Epson
4880 next week from Samys.

Thanks to all who replied. Epson and Samys have been SUPERB throughout
this frustrating process. I'd highly recommend them.


Oops, I meant 3800, not 3880.

And yes, I did mean a 4880 to replace the 3800.

Sorry about the typos.


Hello, John:

Okay, you're forgiven. ;-)

Joking aside, whenever such an error message appears on a printer's own
LCD panel, it's a rather safe bet that the problem is internal to the
device, itself. No amount of fiddling with drivers (or Windows settings,
etc.,) will accomplish anything constructive, therefore.

Myself, I finally gave up, on an Epson Stylus Photo 825 and replaced it
with a Hewlett-Packard Photosmart D7160, a little over a year ago. The
825 was often plagued by serious clogs, with the first one happening,
only a few months after purchase.

Conversely, the D7160 is still sailing along, nicely, on its bundled ink
cartridges. It never gives me any trouble, and my usage patterns haven't
changed, either (i.e., I don't print a lot of stuff).

Good luck!


Cordially,
John Turco

Thanks John. I appreciate the feedback.


"John Turco" wrote in message
...
John Smith wrote:

John Smith wrote:
John Smith wrote:
Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.


On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los
Angeles. I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and
everything seemed fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't
use
the printer again for nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble
started.

I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to
print
again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single
drop
of ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges
were
still in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off,
rebooted
my PC, made sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of
hands on IT experience, so I know I covered those techie bases
right.)

Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages
though
when trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD
panel
something like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".

edited for brevity

Based on discussions with Samys Camera and Epson, along with the
feedback
from here, I've already got commitment from Epson to send me a check
next
week for a 100% refund for the 3880 and I'm going to pick up a new
Epson
4880 next week from Samys.

Thanks to all who replied. Epson and Samys have been SUPERB throughout
this frustrating process. I'd highly recommend them.


Oops, I meant 3800, not 3880.

And yes, I did mean a 4880 to replace the 3800.

Sorry about the typos.


Hello, John:

Okay, you're forgiven. ;-)

Joking aside, whenever such an error message appears on a printer's own
LCD panel, it's a rather safe bet that the problem is internal to the
device, itself. No amount of fiddling with drivers (or Windows settings,
etc.,) will accomplish anything constructive, therefore.

Myself, I finally gave up, on an Epson Stylus Photo 825 and replaced it
with a Hewlett-Packard Photosmart D7160, a little over a year ago. The
825 was often plagued by serious clogs, with the first one happening,
only a few months after purchase.

Conversely, the D7160 is still sailing along, nicely, on its bundled ink
cartridges. It never gives me any trouble, and my usage patterns haven't
changed, either (i.e., I don't print a lot of stuff).

Good luck!


Cordially,
John Turco

John Smith writes:

Urgent I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.
John On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera of Los Angeles.
John I set it up, made a single gorgeous 8x10 test print, and everything seemed
John fine - for a while. I left the country and didn't use the printer again for
John nearly 5 weeks. That's when the trouble started.

John I returned from my trip about 6 weeks after I bought it, tried to print
John again, and all it would print was clean white pages, not a single drop of
John ink came out. Of course, the brand new Epson inkjet cartridges were still
John in the printer for the past 6 weeks. I powered it off, rebooted my PC, made
John sure all of the techie stuff was OK (I have 30 years of hands on IT
John experience, so I know I covered those techie bases right.)

John Then all of the sudden the 3800 stopped even feeding blank pages though when
John trying to print, and started displaying a message on the LCD panel something
John like "Serious error - call Epson technical support".

John So I did, and Epson determined the printer was defective, and agreed to send
John me a NEW 3800 to replace it. I insisted on a new unit, not a refurbished
John unit - which is their standard policy if it's more than 30 days from the
John date of purchase.

John About 5 days later I received a box from Epson with 3800 Number 2 in it, and
John yes, they screwed up and sent me a refurbished unit. Back on the phone with
John Epson and they agreed to replace it again.

John Two days ago, I receive 3800 Number 3, and I check it very carefully. Yes,
John it IS a brand new printer with all of the manuals, inkjet cartridges, and
John software CD inside that come with a new printer.

John Today I hooked it up, and bingo, 3800 Number 3 fails immediately. Once
John again, it will not print ANYTHING in spite of the print heads going back and
John forth and it's SOUNDING like its printing but nothing comes out other than a
John completely blank piece of paper.

John (Before anyone suggests their might be something wrong with my PC's basic
John ability to print, I print fine all the time to a HP LaserJet sitting right
John next to the 3800.)

John So I called Epson again; they have offered to replace it a 4th time or give
John me a full refund. Samys Camera (what a WONDERFUL store to deal with!)
John offered to do the same.

John HERE'S MY QUESTION: Are these 3800s fundamentally problematic? Should I
John replace it and upgrade to a 4800? Or go back down to a 2400 which I owned
John before the 3800?

John I'd GREATLY appreciate any feedback that any experienced Epson 3800 users
John may have. Other flamers need not reply.

I have had mine for 14 months or so, with no problems.

I have had other hardware that just refused to work on certain XP machines, and worked
find on others. I suspected driver conflicts, but had no way to diagnose it. Perhaps
there is some odd conflict with something on your computer.



--
Andrew Hall
(Now reading Usenet in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems...)

Ray Paseur wrote:
wrote in
:

I've got a 2400, a 3800 and a 9800. All work perfectly. The 3800 and 9800
are in environmentally unfriendly conditions (fluctuating temperature and
humidity) but as long as the paper is usable, they print without any
problems. I have never used anything but Epson ink and Epson paper and
Epson profiles. The 3800 and 9800 are used exclusively for Lustre prints.
The 2400 does all kinds. As a matter of policy, we power the printers off
every night. Other than an occasional head cleaning, they are up 100% of
the time, maintenance free. I cannot remember where we bought the big
printers; the 2400 came from B&H.

Ray

On Apr 18, 1:10 am, "John Smith" wrote:
Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.

On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera

snip

One wonders if "john smith" and his "correspondent" are one and the
same....and what causes the grindstone to spin.

My 3800 goes along fine. Curious, tho: why power down each day? Doesn't
it cause more cleaning/purging heads?

--
John McWilliams

Ray Paseur wrote:
John McWilliams wrote in
:

One wonders if "john smith" and his "correspondent" are one and the
same....and what causes the grindstone to spin.

My 3800 goes along fine. Curious, tho: why power down each day?
Doesn't it cause more cleaning/purging heads?


Hi, John. We power off because an Epson rep told me that the power-off
cycle parks the heads in a way that helps prevent ink drying out. Seems
reasonable. It may do more cleaning/purging but I have no way to
compare since we have "always done it this way" ;-)

Boy, I'd be inclined to check that with another rep, or better, someone
who is a direct Epson employee in the department. It certainly used to
be gospel to power down some years ago, but my understanding that with
energy saving stand by now common, heads are parked properly when
machine is idle.

--
John McWilliams

Ray Paseur wrote:
John McWilliams wrote in
:

Ray Paseur wrote:
wrote in
news:df04f4f3-39ed-4bce-881d-8bb94b964c93
@m3g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
I've got a 2400, a 3800 and a 9800. All work perfectly. The 3800
and 9800 are in environmentally unfriendly conditions (fluctuating
temperature and humidity) but as long as the paper is usable, they
print without any problems. I have never used anything but Epson ink
and Epson paper and Epson profiles. The 3800 and 9800 are used
exclusively for Lustre prints. The 2400 does all kinds. As a matter
of policy, we power the printers off every night. Other than an
occasional head cleaning, they are up 100% of the time, maintenance
free. I cannot remember where we bought the big printers; the 2400
came from B&H.

Ray

On Apr 18, 1:10 am, "John Smith" wrote:
Urgent: I need feedback ASAP from other Epson 3800 owners.

On Feb 19, 2008, I bought a new Epson 3800 from Samys Camera
snip
One wonders if "john smith" and his "correspondent" are one and the
same....and what causes the grindstone to spin.

My 3800 goes along fine. Curious, tho: why power down each day?
Doesn't it cause more cleaning/purging heads?


Hi, John. We power off because an Epson rep told me that the power-off
cycle parks the heads in a way that helps prevent ink drying out. Seems
reasonable. It may do more cleaning/purging but I have no way to
compare since we have "always done it this way" ;-)

Caveat: Always power off with the printer switch. Killing the power at
the mains socket does not park the printer properly, I believe.

Colin D.
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