Thanks so much for the replies everyone!
Farmer: I understand that it is an Epson Utility, but there is no user-end version of this type of utility as far as I know, so my options are either get this version, or get nothing, correct? I could take the moral high-ground and not get it, but then I would just be throwing my printer out (see below).
The nozzles are moving around a bit but most seem locked in place. I was having one nozzle drop out of VM (it was the same nozzle every time) but i ran off about 100 prints and checked them with a loupe and they were fine. Then I did a nozzle check and the VM was resolved but the MK had a few nozzles drop out. I ran a cleaning, it got worse, rinse and repeat a few times and now half the nozzles on MK are gone. I cannot figure out how it went from working perfectly to suddenly this bad.
The problem with doing maintenance like replacing the capping station, or replacing the head, is the cost.
New capping station: $300
Maintenance Technician: $200 for the call plus $200 per hour of labor.
So just with that, i'm $700 into repairs that may or may not work (if the tech can get it done in 1 hour, which seems unlikely).
Lets say he replaces the capping station, and it still doesn't work, and i need a new printhead?
Add $1,300 to that, plus a few hours to install it i'd assume. The tech would have to come back out once i purchase and receive the new head. $200 for the call plus $200 an hour. Now I'm at $2600 worth of repairs.
Oops, it needs new dampers too. Add another hour of labor and $150 for the dampers. Now i'm at $2,950.
Oh no, it needs a new ink channel too. See where i'm going with this?
The new model of this printer (the P5000) Is $1,400 brand new right now. And for a 5 year old printer with a print count of over 25,000, i'd say spending $30 to at least see if the utility program works (from what i've read, the epson utility will most likely do the trick) then it seems this is my most logical direction, yes? My main goal is to use the remaining ink I have in the 4900. I don't really want to be investing in repairs and more ink for a printer that may or may not continue to have problems.
Mark: While I would totally agree about doing maintenance, since this printer is discontinued, the parts and labor are seemingly more expensive than they were 2 or 3 years ago. I could buy 2 new printers for the potential cost of replacing parts on this printer. And the fact that I've had this printer for 5 years and printed tens of thousands of prints, and NEVER done any internal maintenance like replacing parts, i think i came out on top overall. I took really good care of it
To be clear, i am not buying the manual to disassemble the printer. I am just looking into the utility that could potentially fix my problem by using the advanced techniques it offers, that my normal Epson utility does not offer. If i'm ready to throw the printer away then i will disassemble it and try to manually clean the head, but at that point if it doesn't work out i'm in the same boat I was when I decided to throw it out
I have a p7000 and was going to eventually get the p5000 just because of the wear and tear and long life of my 4900.
So back to my initial questions: is it worth it to at least spend the $30 and see if i can get the line to clear? Will doing an ink charge really use 115ml of ink if the ink channels are all full? From what i read, doing an ink charge will just help remove air bubbles in the head and not completely drain the lines and replace all the ink.
Either way, any input on my next course of action is really appreciated. Kindof leaning towards getting the p5000 while it's on sale.
Thanks!!
-Justin