Inks not charging in brand new 4900

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

Hello,

I received my new 4900 inks and cartridges today. Filled them up, primed them, left the orange plugs off and loaded them in a brand new 4900.

It did its initial ink charge upon booting.

I did a nozzle check: nothing shows up.

Printed a few sheets nothing.

I closed the printer and checked the cartridges, no inks ever went in. The cartridges were still full.

I also got a “The printer’s ink tubes are nearing the end of their service life. Please contact Epson support.” message, weirdly.

Any idea? The ink tubes are completely clean…

2

A few questions:

I assume you tested the nozzles and made sure they were all printing before you put the IJM carts in? Yes/No?

Also, did you prime the cartridges before putting them into the printer?

-Walker

3

-I did not test the nozzles before putting in the IJM carts as the printer was brand new and no ink had ever been loaded in it before. The ink lines in the printer are still white and clear.

-I did prime the cartridges

PS. I did not get a chip resetter with the order (the order page mentions it as being included)

4

I put in new OEM cartridges, tried another initial charge in the adjustment program and the ink is still not loading.

WTF? In a brand new printer?

5

This has happened to me before (OEM carts and inks) more than once on the 4900. It’s the cleaning assembly (vacuum pump) that is either miss-aligned or just plain dead.

Was this printer refurb or new? As it had an “ink line age limit” it could be a refurb unit that got a new head but not a new cleaning assembly.

-Walker

6

It was a brand new printer AFAIK - all the blue tape bits were still there, ink lines are brand new, etc.

I will open up the printer following the manual and see what’s up.

If the cap-assy looks new, I assume it’s a bad seal?

7

Called in Epson warranty and they’re sending me a new printer…

8

Generally this is what they do the second they hear “no channels printing”

It’s a common problem.

Best,
Walker

9

That’s not reassuring but it’s impressive they’re replacing it so quickly on their dime – shipping including. Can’t imagine what this costs to ship, a 9900 must be much worse.

They seem to have a specialized Large Format printer support center in the Philippines.

My card has already been pre-authorized for the replacement printer so I guess it will be coming soon.

Thanks for the help Walker! Always reassuring to get a problem confirmed by someone with experience like you, Dana or Jon. I’m sure you’ve seen it all, takes the guesswork out of the equation.

10

I just fired up my new refurbished replacement this morning and no ink is coming out of the left 6 cartridges,called Epson again and they are sending out the third one.

11

I assume this is with the OEM ones!!? You need to init-fill with those first.

-Walker

12

I received my replacement, which was a refurb, but the inks loaded fine, I’ve printed about twenty 16x24" and all seems good to go.

I’ll be doing my daily auto-nozzle checks from now on.

You suggest changing the ink selector and cap/pump assy every 2 years or before? Assuming moderate use and good maintenance (cleaning of wiper and cap assy with foam q-tips on a monthly basis with flush solution, etc.)

13

Yes. Every year actually if you can swing it. Otherwise every 1 1/2 year max.