Printer not printing, have tried all the usual suspects

Hi all,

I have an Epson Workforce 635 connected with a PC running Win7 Pro. It was working fine but now refuses to print. It responds to print requests and goes through the motions as if it were printing, but absolutely nothing shows on paper. The (black) cartridge is the correct one, and is brand new.

What I have tried:
- cleaning the print head several times
- removing and reinserting the cartridge to ensure proper seating
- unplugging and reconnecting both the power cord and USB cable
- uninstalling and reinstalling the printer in Control Panel

Notes: I requested cleaning of only the black cartridge, and I've only requested printing in black/grayscale

Is there anything left for me to try, or am I resigned to buying a new cartridge, even though this one is brand new?

Thanks in advance
David, Utah USA

Does the print head move at all, or do you see anything on the printer's display (if any) that indicates that it received a print job?

Note:
Epson blocks the ability to use any third party print cartridges, so if you have a non-Epson cartridge, it may or may not allow you to print.

However, it may not be that at all. You should open the print spooler for the Epson printer so that you can see if a print job appears in the print queue. TO do this, open the Devices and Printers window (Start, Devices and Printers), and right click on the Epson printer icon (hopefully, you only have one), and select "See what is printing". Then, move that window to a place on the screen where you can see it while you are starting your print job. Send your print job to the Epson printer and watch the Print Spooler window to see if it appears and then disappears. Also, check the Print Spooler window for any other (previous) print jobs that may be stuck.

Report back the results.

Hi JDC,

Thank you for your reply.

- The new cartridge is indeed brand-name Epson, and it is definitely the correct cartridge.
- No, there was and is no open print job in the Spooler.
- Yes, as I said, the printer acts just like it should after requesting printing. When I try requesting a print job, the small display screen on the front of the printer says "Printing," and the print head moves all around as if it's performing the requested print job. But then, absolutely nothing shows on the paper.

To reiterate, this happened out of the blue, after working fine following installation of the new cartridge.

If the printer printed OK with the old cartridge, and with the new cartridge the print job appears in the Print Spooler queue and the printer's mechanism goes through the motions of printing, but nothing appears on the paper, then it is likely that you have a defective print cartridge.

Sorry JDC, I guess I didn't clarify well enough. The printer worked fine for some time after installing the new cartridge. That's not to say it couldn't be bad.

The only way to know for sure would be to try another new cartridge. This is one reason why I have laser printers.

It's also possible that your color ink is the problem. Even though you tell the printer to print black/ grayscale, most Epson printers use color ink to create that black/grayscale. If your color ink are out of ink, the printer won't print.

I've always used Epson printers until I decided lasers were better and less hassle.

It sounds like the printhead is clogged. Even the cleaning cycle wouldn't be enough. Note that the ink carts are just ink tanks; the printhead is separate. On most HP printers, the printhead is on the ink cart.

This video shows how to clean the printhead, but it does require a special cleaning solution and syringe.
http://www.inkcityusa.com/EPSONWORKF...print_head.htm

In the end, it might be easier to just buy a new printer, but that's up to you.

Thank you, Photolady. Sorry for the delayed reply, I'm still recovering from a hospital stay. I guess I'm considering a laser printer at this point, inkjets have indeed been a lot of hassle.

Thanks, Midknyte . . . I'll give the cleaning a try per your link, but I may end up with a laser printer as soon as I get my tax refund.

Note that the cleaning requires a special cleaning solution. I guess you could try another cleaner. If it doesn't work, you'd probably want to chuck the printer anyway.

I've see that happen to other Epsons. For most HPs, the printhead is part of the inkcart.