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I think my Epson Stylus 1270 is DYING. It has been acting up this last month a little with banding and such. It seems that the print head is going out or something. Today it started leaving big black splotches all over the paper. According to all of Epsons documentation, the only way to clean the printhead is with the printers built in utility. I used this utility a dozen times this morning alone and it just gets worse. When doing the nozzle check, it appears that one of the nozzles on the black is messed up. I have had it 3 years and it has printed thousands of pages so I guess it is time for a 1280 unless anybody else has had similar problems and fixed them somehow.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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John, I currently own the 1280. I replaced an Epson 1520 with it.
The 1280 is a phenominal machine! You can't go wrong...better technology than the HP stuff(I own some of each).
If you have gotten 3 years out of your printer...consider yourself lucky. I have owned several ink jet printers...and for what we do....I have determined that a 2 year life span is about all you can expect regardless of what Epson or HP or anybody else tells you.
So....3 years, you have to consider yourself fortunate.
I figure for $500 (cost of the 1280) it's worth replacing every few years.
I tried like heck to clean out a print nozzle on my 1520....I don't think it's possible when it gets to the point your describing. I couldn't see how you could remove the carriage...and I really tried...but kept getting the black blobs and black line streaks.
Go for the 1280 and don't look back.
Oh, also: if you have a CompUSA around you...they sell a 2year warranty that comes with a USB cable for like $39 bucks. I bought it figuring that I got the cable (which you have to buy anyway) and the warranty is a no-questions-asked policy. So if it goes to hell within that time frame,,,,just take it back with the warranty and they give you your purchase price toward a new one.
Figuring they usually go to crap in about 2 years anyway...it was cheap insurance. Normally, I wouldn't buy warranties....but thought I'd give it a try this time. Seemed like a good deal.
Good luck.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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Yep, thats what I was figuring, go on and get a new one. They aren't fixin' to replace the 1280 with a 1290 or something though are they? I hate when that kind of stuff happens and I just bought something. We usually buy our stuff at Compusa also, never got the warrenty though might do it this time.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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i was watchin an ebay sale, for a 1270, it was used and went for $355........you 2 should get both of them old 1270 in one place and make one good one from them.......hehehehe dont liketo throw anything away.....guy brought me an hp 670, he was taking to the dump......i took it. it made clunking noise when printing, put some 3 in 1 oil on the ink cartridge rod...and have been using it for 2 years. and getting life outa your printer buy hp...i still have my HP-550(bought 95-96 xmas, when they 1st came out) its in the mobile unit!!!! but iam lookin at epson large format......
-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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I haven't heard of a new machine out yet to replace the 1280.....not that there couldn't be...I would give Epson Sales a call off their web site if that is an issue.
I can't tell you how happy I've been with the 1280 though. The Epson 1520 was 10 times noiser than the 1280 and didn't feed paper as well. The 1280 is a great unit...I have been very happy with it.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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I bought a Canon BJC-2100 ( I think that's the #)at Christmas, and I have already gone through 2 black cartridges. I only print off the odd cheat page and recipes for my wife, so I find this a little excessive. The cartridges aren't horrendously expensive ($17 CDN), but I thought they'd go farther than that. Maybe I can turn down the density? OP- You got a deal!! The BEST deal I ever saw was my Dad- I heard a conversation on the phone one day between him and his buddy with all the gadgets. His chum must have asked him something like "when are you going to break down and buy a snowblower?" It was January and we JUST got about 11 inches of snow. I overheard my Dad respond " BUY a snowblower? I've got two!! One is 17 and the other 19!!""
-------------------- Steve Burke Cascades Inc NS Canada
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving isn't for you Posts: 359 | From: NS Canada | Registered: Jan 2002
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We use ours to make t-shirts using hot peel ink jet paper and we have really good luck and hardly any fading even after multiple washings. Been selling shirt using ours for 3 years and not one complaint about a faded shirt. No other ink jet can touch the Photo Epsons as far as using it for tees. We actually have had better luck with the Epson than we did using a buddies laser printer for transfers. The paper also makes a REAL big difference. It MUST be a real high quality Hot Peel paper.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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I've gone through my share of INKJETS.....now I have an HP1215 and a 1220c. That 1220 does photo quality 13X19s....Have had it a year....great printer so far! Still have my old HP Laserjet IV....10 yrs. old. .....keeps on crankin'!
posted
Hey OP I can relate to your HP story, I got an old 660C 6 years ago & it's still printing away.
I'll have to check the model number on an epson a client talked me into taking as a part trade. I let it collect dust for a year or 2 & then finally tried to install it but had problems. I will see what it is & then maybe get some advice here. It prints up to something like 13 x 19.
Besides the T-shirt transfers mentioned, what are people doing with their inkjets besides show-proofs? Are there many people paying for paper signage?
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DOUG: First I take a digital shot of the building or the vehicle or whatever /wherever the sgn is going. Then I paste the completed artwork and size it, on the building, etc. Then I print the whole thing out on a 13X19 piece of Photo paper. When the customer sees the "finished product", it blows their doors off! I usually get the job....THEN talk price!
[ June 17, 2002, 02:35 PM: Message edited by: Bob Burns ]
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I have never seen your model of printer but if it is like the 1520 it is not the difficult to take out the printhead and I have had to do it twice.
Now I had the printheads changed about two months after I purchased the printer under warranty and I did it cleaned the printhead twice in the last year or so myself. Although the last time was not very successful so I will be looking at finding a new printhead if they will sell to me.
now if you are god mechanically and if you have some common tools you should be able to get the prinhead out also but I would try one thing first.
Go out and buy brand new ink cartridges from future shop they sell a house brand called Cicero I swear by them as the very best printheads every clog that I ever got was from epson brand cartridges and 9 times out of 10 when I use the new Cicero brand carts it clears out the clog.
Now if you are getting bloching you have inked up lint stuck to the inkhead and you will need to remove the head to clean it. Hope I help you some.
-------------------- Steve Eisenreich Dezine Signs PO BOX 6052 Stn Forces Cold Lake, Alberta T9M 2C5 Posts: 774 | From: Cold Lake | Registered: Mar 2000
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I do the same as Bob...ALWAYS get the job! But I print it ot on my Epson Stylus Color inkjet (no model number....It was Epson's first model of inkjets, and they hadn't thought of adding model numbers yet !
-------------------- Si Allen #562 La Mirada, CA. USA
(714) 521-4810
si.allen on Skype
siallen@dslextreme.com
"SignPainters do It with Longer Strokes!"
Never mess with your profile while in a drunken stupor!!!
Brushasaurus on Chat Posts: 8831 | From: La Mirada, CA, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Well Hp makes a fine product...I almost bought one instead of the Epson 1280...but I talked to a techie at CompUSA and he explained in detail the differences.
The Epson uses the piezo electric inkjet head and spits an electrostatically charged drop at (?) sized picoliters. They claim it is a heavy duty printhead and is the latest technology similar to what's used in large format inkjet printers.
He said the HP is a nice printer, but the printhead is supplied new on each ink cartridge you buy. This sounded like a good thing to me...new ink cartridge/new printhead......but he went on to say that HP's printhheads are designed to heat up the ink, create a drop and then spit it onto the paper...creating a larger and fuzzier looking dot than Epsons Piezoelectric process. And he also claimed that HP's heads, because of the heat process have been shown to warp and degrade the print even before the ink is used up.
Now, who really knows? He seemed like he was one of those super tech geeks who like reading tech manuals while sitting on the can. He sold me though, and I've been happy.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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It really is nice to see an old fashioned, knock-down, drag-em out brawl over specsmanship that I'm not actually involved in. May the best man (technique) win. hk
-------------------- Howard Keiper Independent Contractor Benicia, Ca. thekeip@comcast.net
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Well, I have been doing great selling jobs from my customized digital pics printed on 8-1/2 x 11 paper.
I can't wait to see how much more I'll sell (or charge) for jobs proofed on 13 x 19 paper! I wonder if my Epson Stylus Pro XL is worth troubleshooting (no model number in sight)
[ June 17, 2002, 05:39 PM: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
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I don't really use the size of my printer for anything else other than tees but I use it to make all types of stuff. I make a lot of flyer designs and logo designs for my customers. We also do some Photo work but not often. My printer runs continously so I am not mad 'cause it has seen its time. As far as HP versus Epson, go to a professional photography website and check out the debates, there aren't any, it is always Epson. The ink the Epsons use is far superior to any other Ink-Jet out there. They use Archival Pigment based ink. Just to try before we bought, we got prints made with transfer paper we use Before we bought a printer. Only one that didn't fade was the Epson. It fades very slightly after the initial washing and then if you follow the washing instructions of the paper, it will last a good long while. As far as ink usage, if you learn what to set it at for each job (the Epson has a really extensive control panel far superior to 99% of anything else out there + a postscript RIP option that I beleive comes with the 1280), it is cheaper to run than anything else I have ever used as far as inkjets.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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Got my 1280 today and now I am fixing to tear my 1270 apart to see if I can fix it. If I do, I reckon I'll just have 2 awesome printers.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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Just now playing around with my 1280 and first thing I noticed under the hood is a change in the cleaning system and it also sounds a lot different in it's cleaning cycle so there must have been a problem with the 1270's cleaning system. I thought that the 1270 was awesome but this 1280 is way better. Now I am going to see if I can get the print head off of my 1270 and clean it physically.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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I noticed I see Epson hot on the top list of good printers. I also have one, an older desk top model (the 600). As far as the large format goes I hear they have a new Epson 9600 that kicks some buttie! I think it's a 1440 or 2880 dpi. 44" wide for $5K. Only thing is when I asked about it's outdoor life longevity in direct sun, that's when I didn't get the answer I wanted to hear. From other vendors I was told an HP or an Encad would be the printer I needed for outdoor stuff. ah well...
-------------------- aka:Cisco the "Traveling Millennium Sign Artist" http://www.franciscovargas.com Fresno, CA 93703 559 252-0935 "to live life, is to love life, a sign of no life, is a sign of no love"...Cisco 12'98 Posts: 3576 | From: Fresno, Ca, the great USA | Registered: Dec 1998
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I just got off of their website and they have a 7 color desktop tabloid printer coming out! $699 I would have waited if I could and had known but I had to have a replacement right now so I doesn't matter. Thats the way I always get screwed, I buy one thing and then a month later they come out with something better, DARN SON-OF-A-ITCHES. Aw, this 1280 is awesome so I guess I'll be set anyways. I did buy the 3 year extende warrenty this time though for $49 so at least if this one croaks in 2-3 years I'll get the newest version, at least that's what the plan said.
-------------------- John Thompson JTT Graphics "The big guy with a little sign shop!" Royston/Hartwell Georgia jtt101@hotmail.com Posts: 626 | From: Royston Georgia | Registered: Feb 2002
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Good choice John...I can't imagine how prints could look anymore better or photographic than what comes out of the 1280...with the right paper...it's phenominal.
You saved $300 by not waiting for the 7 color and you probably have a few less cartridges to buy along the way.
Let me know if you got the print head off and how you managed it.
Good luck.
-------------------- Todd Gill Outside The Lines Potterville, MI Posts: 7792 | From: Potterville, MI | Registered: Dec 2001
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-------------------- joe pribish-A SIGN MINT 2811 longleaf Dr. pensacola, fl 32526 850-637-1519 BEWARE THE TRUTH.....YOU MAY NOT LIKE WHAT YOU FIND Posts: 11582 | From: pensacola, fl. usa | Registered: Nov 1998
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