Hello Mike and David,
First David: You are right and I was incorrect to jump the gun and point to the wrong area on the pic presented by Mike. Thanks for correcting that. Initially it may seem that I'm about to contradict myself, but please read carefully. I agree totally that Epson should bear NO responsibility for warranty coverage of any part or parts installed or tampered with by the user. And of course having said that, what you have mentioned would obviously only have implications if the printer is indeed under warranty. If that is the case and a service call is arrange, the service tech will usually assess the situation and advise Epson of any possible warranty breaches. Then it's up to Epson whether or not the warranty will cover that particular repair. My next little piece of advice to Mike will follow along that line. However, I'm sure that Epson would like nothing better than to have all of their customers call them for the most inane issues and have a very costly service call arranged. Over the years we have all at some point made it a routine to maintain the equipment we use, be it paper and film processors or the heavy duty 8x10 enlargers we used in the darkrooms of the past. Depending on your vintage David, I'm sure you might have at least some knowledge of such equipment. It has always been and is still imperative to maintain the equipment that keeps the business afloat, something that is becoming more difficult with each passing year. Self reliance is the foundation of small business, but warranties and insurance are what keep the equipment in good working order. Just my opinion of course.
Mike: If you have been reading my ramblings here I imagine you know where I'm going with this. Your warranty is worth its weight in GOLD, use it. When I tore into D1 previously it was only because I have had a lot of experience with that company. Unfortunately they are the only game in town as far as Epson is concerned. I had three different techs work on my machine and when I called in always tried to get the one I thought was most responsible and experienced. Of course that didn't always happen and sometimes it would be a tech in training, wasting my time while talking on his phone to the senior tech and trying to describe the situation and come to some sort of decision on a repair technique. I will say though that it's not the techs I blame for this ineptness, they are only doing what they can do under the circumstances. In my opinion it's the company policy at D1 that's the culprit. Now to the nitty-gritty Mike. You have a warranty, correct? Please make it a routine as soon as possible to make yourself KNOWN to Epson. Keep a log of the issues you are having, complete with a comprehensive description and dates. Also log the service calls and what was done to the machine at those times. Call Epson and explain your problem, let them work it out. That's what they do and they usually get it right eventually. If for instance you are having a "clogging" problem, therefore using a lot of ink with cleanings etc, call Epson and complain. Very often they will send out a few cartridges to offset the cost of that ink. You will never know what they might be able to do for you if you don't try. On several occasions on this forum and others I have advocated warranty renewals for these printers. It's the best insurance policy you can buy. Definitely not inexpensive, but much less than the cost of a head replacement for example. My first service call, about six months in, would have cost a total of approximately $2500 outside of the warranty. I had several calls beyond that, one about two months prior to the expiry of my final warranty period. Epson also keeps a careful log of all issues and service calls pertaining to your printer, so when you do call they'll have all of that information to review and that's a big help as well. So I suppose what this all comes down to is the fact that if you are still under warranty you definitely should NOT be trying to do any maintenance other than that prescribed by Epson. Had I been aware that your printer was still warranted I would have suggested all of this in my first post. Please take complete advantage of the warranty and make Epson work for you Mike.
Gary
