Buying a used printer - best practices

General
1

Hi,

As anyone looking for an Epson printer today (as of fall 2022] for use with piezography there are not a lot of choices and Epson continues to make third party ink use harder and harder.

So one turns to the used market.

In addition to looking at a nozzle check and the physical condition of the printer, are there other reliable reports that can be printed (regarding usage)? And what questions should we ask sellers?

Looking to build a best practices guideline for buying a used printer.

Thanks,
Michael

2

seeking an answer to this same question

3

Hi Stephen,

Welcome to the forum!

Before purchasing a used Epson printer here are my recommendations based upon my experience (over a number of years and a few generations of printers).

Before purchase:

  1. physically examine the printer. has it been well kept? is it clean (look under the “hood”)? any ink spills?
  2. run a nozzle check (if you cannot physically examine the printer request a nozzle check from the seller and insure the date is current).
  3. run a status check showing usage, etc. (if you cannot physically examine the printer request the seller printer this out).
  4. how old is the printer?
  5. did the owner buy it new?
  6. has the owner replaced any parts? specifically dampers/ink selector and cleaning assembly/flushing box/wipers (per the recommendation on many other posts these parts need to be changed on a regular schedule to maintain the printer in optimum form). is the cleaning assembly full of dried, crusty old ink and you cannot see the screen and the rubber seals all dried out? if so this could be a sign of poor maintenance on the part of the owner and a red flag that could lead to premature head failure once you get it home and start converting it. it also means these parts should be changed as part of your piezography conversion process.
  7. does the printer come with Epson OEM ink (depending upon the model you will need the chips off the Epson original ink carts to install on your refillable carts from IJM).

Good luck! Let me know if you have any questions.

Michael