Unexpected Ink Out Error 1 (During Print Operation) - Epson Stylus Color C70 Service Manual

EPSON Stylus COLOR C70/C80

3.1.6.3 Unexpected Ink Out Error 1 (During Print Operation)

This section describes the procedures for solving the problem when unexpected Ink
Out errors occur. However, the problem described here is separate to the problem
described before when an Ink Out error occurred even though the ink cartridges had
just been replaced with new ones. This section covers Ink Out errors caused by head
hot errors which can occur when printing continues while several of the nozzles are
missing. The only way to solve this problem is to replace the ink cartridges, so this
section mainly describes the process by which the error occurs.
Table 3-15. Unexpected Ink Out Error 1 (During Print Operation)
Explanation step Head hot error requirements, process and countermeasures
1 A new head hot sensor function has been added to the Stylus COLOR 900/
980. The background to this is given below.
1. Nozzles (number of internal PZTs) were added to cope with the
increase in printing speed.
2. The print head drive frequency was increased.
Under the above conditions, the head becomes extremely hot when ink
cannot be supplied to the head, and in the worst case the PZTs can seize in
the same way as a vehicle engine.
2 The Stylus COLOR 900/980 does not have a CSIC, so removal and
reinstallation of prohibited ink cartridges caused the ink consumption
counter to become inaccurate, so that even if there was not even a single
drop of ink in a cartridge, the printer firmware would detect this
incorrectly and would cause printing characters to be generated at the print
head with the danger of the condition in No. 1 above occurring, and the
result would be damage to the PZTs.
Troubleshooting
Table 3-15. Unexpected Ink Out Error 1 (During Print Operation)
Explanation step Head hot error requirements, process and countermeasures
3 To prevent this from happening, the Stylus COLOR 900/980 detected the
temperature at each color nozzle, and if more than half of the nozzles in a
nozzle line become blocked, and if printing is continuing, then the data for
this rise in temperature caused by this abnormal condition was detected,
causing the following sequence to occur.
1. Abnormal temperature is detected. (At this time the actual temperature
inside the head is approximately 100°C.)
2. Printing of the current character data is momentarily stopped.
3. After this, cleaning (CL1) starts automatically.
4. Printing of the current character data resumes. If no abnormal
temperature is detected after this and the power is then turned off, the
history data indicating that an abnormal temperature was detected is
cleared.
5. If printing is carried out again (before the power is turned off), and if a
high temperature is detected again at this time, it is judged that the ink
cartridges in the printer are completely empty and Ink End is set.
4 The Stylus COLOR C70/C80 have the same function written into their
firmware, but the following points are completely different to those for the
Stylus COLOR 900/980.
When an abnormal temperature is detected, an Ink Out condition is
immediately set, and the ink consumption counters for the currently-
installed ink cartridges are set to 100%, so that the only way to reset the
problem is to install new ink cartridges.
The reasons for changing the sequence in this way are as follows.
1. Actual market results show that problems related to heat hot errors and
customer confusion never occurred.
2. Points to note during head replacement were strictly observed by Epson
subsidiaries and their partners, and so no repair problems ever occurred.
3. The Stylus COLOR 900/980 used conventional ink cartridges which
were not of a CSIC type, so that the amount of ink actually remaining in
ink cartridges and the amount of ink remaining as understood by the
printer firmware was liable to cause counter mismatches due to
incorrect operations carried out by customers, but with this product the
cartridges can be installed and removed freely.
5 Accordingly, the occurrence of head hot errors is extremely rare in the new
models, and basically the only problem that can be expected is counter
mismatches due to refilling.
Overview
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