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Author Topic: The maid unplugged the printer  (Read 3417 times)

texshooter

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The maid unplugged the printer
« on: January 18, 2017, 11:04:55 pm »

My house keeper unplugged my Epson printer, presumably to plug in the vacuum cleaner, and did not plug the printer back in.  The printer was turned on at the time it was unplugged.  Two weeks later I took notice, plugged the printer back in, turned it on, and spun a print after the unprompted  auto clean finished.  The print had horrendous track marks. A print head line test revealed a completely clogged cyan ink line.  I then did a print alignment and everything was fine after that.  My question is this.  What is the danger when an Epson printer is unplugged while on, such as when a maid unplugs it or when there is a power outage? Do the vacuum seals fail to slam shut? Will the ink dry out or the heads clog? Clearly it did something to my printer, just don't know what.
« Last Edit: January 19, 2017, 02:19:48 am by texshooter »
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BobShaw

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #1 on: January 19, 2017, 03:59:41 am »

Look on the bright side, it could have been a life support system.
The heads would not have been capped. Give it a nozzle check and if necessary head clean using the Print Utility.
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Otto Phocus

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #2 on: January 19, 2017, 06:22:19 am »

There are several devices available that help prevent accidental unplugging.  While these devices won't prevent a cleaning person from unplugging something, it might discourage them, especially if there is an open receptacle available.  That's the key.  The cleaning person is not doing this with malice, they are doing it through ignorance.  They don't think there is any problem unplugging this one plug temporarily.

One could also place a label in the appropriate language, stating that this plug should not be unplugged.

Just be sure there is another receptacle they can use for their job.

The easier you make it for them to do the right thing, the more likely they will do it.

Good luck with this.  We too have had problems with cleaning people switching/unplugging stuff. 
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Wayne Fox

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2017, 10:06:10 pm »

depends on which model.  The newer printers go into a "sleep" cycle which allows some controls on waking for self maintenance. It sounds like the heads are sealing when going into sleep. I know that many times when I've turned it off, the printer makes no noise ... so the heads are already sealed.

 I leave my printer on all the time now (first Epson I've done this with in a long time) , and I hear it wake itself up every once in a while, does something then goes to sleep.  I don't know if it's spitting a little ink out, but it reseals the heads. I haven't quite figured out exactly what it's doing, there are 3 different settings involved, and none of those times seem to be part of this.  For example I have the printer set to auto shut off after 4 hours, yet it never turns it self off, but I have come in and it's been "asleep" ... everything off but the blue power light.

The older printers maybe more of an issue, but I would think it would have to be off for an extended periods of time.  If you lost a whole channel it sounds like your damper might have been stuck, and a  little ink loosened it back up.  Often the best course is to wait a short period of time after cleaning that channel so the fresh ink can loosen that damper back up.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2017, 10:41:48 pm by Wayne Fox »
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BobShaw

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #4 on: January 20, 2017, 12:56:16 am »

Rather than a technical solution I think the best solution is a firm discussion about unplugging your equipment and especially not plugging it back. It reminds me of the story about the South African intensive care ward that lost a patient every Friday in the same bed and couldn't figure out why.
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BobDavid

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #5 on: January 20, 2017, 09:18:19 pm »

I leave my 7890 on and it is plugged into a UPS. I only turn it off and unplug it when there are severe thunderstorms. The gulf coast of Florida is the lightning capital of the western hemisphere.
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tonywong

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2017, 12:33:16 am »

I leave my 7890 on and it is plugged into a UPS. I only turn it off and unplug it when there are severe thunderstorms. The gulf coast of Florida is the lightning capital of the western hemisphere.

+1 on the UPS. Just remember that the UPS also helps remind the maid to plug the UPS back in because unplugging the UPS from the wall will wake up the UPS and it will start beeping etc.
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Ferp

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2017, 05:36:42 am »

In 1972, Neil Young documented this issue, when he sang "A man needs a maid ... not to unplug the printer".
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texshooter

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #8 on: January 22, 2017, 03:18:34 am »

A dedicated UPS seems like overkill.  How much energy should it take to cap the heads in the event of a power outage? A single 9 volt battery probably is all. Maybe in the next generation model I hope.
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tonywong

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2017, 02:09:11 am »

Protecting a multi-thousand printer with a hundred dollar UPS is a pretty cheap insurance plan.
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jtmiller

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2017, 11:05:17 am »

You can buy a <1.00 piece of metal that hooks over the plug and is affixed to the wall plate by its screw.

jim
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Mark Lindquist

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Re: The maid unplugged the printer
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2017, 12:18:27 pm »

You can buy a <1.00 piece of metal that hooks over the plug and is affixed to the wall plate by its screw.

jim

Then you have to unplug the printer and unscrew the ground during a lighting storm.  We live in the lightning capital of the world - Florida, and have had to deal with the issues many times.  Actually, just last night.  We have a large APC UPS and have not only the individual printers plugged in, but also the LAN cables.  We lost two printers in a bad thunderstorm years back.  It happened through the unprotected LAN cable.  Now we have the right gear for lightning, thank goodness.
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