How to Murder a Printer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jan Alter
  • Start date Start date
J

Jan Alter

This happened yesterday. The teacher says to me that her Epson 740 has
stopped working since the end of school last spring and that everytime she
turns it on it makes this banging and grinding noise and then three red
lights go on and stay lit.
I turn it on and it happens again. I lift the printer cover and find an
8" orange bone sponge sitting on the bed. When I take out the sponge I see
the bed and travel bar show thick rust and pitting where water has been
sitting. The printer is beyond repair. I ask the teacher if she knows
anything about why the sponge might be there. She says that when I told
folks to pack their printers away for the summer I suggested putting a
moist sponge in the printer to keep the humidy levels high. I tell her I
wrote to put the sponge in the plastic bag along with the printer. "Oh" she
replies.
 
Sledge hammer, works with 'any' printer, what dy'a expect from a
teacher.

A moist sponge would dry out surely, more so if it was left in a
plastic bag, guess it would only take a couple of days for it to do
so.

The sponge on my soldering worksation can be wringing wet and bone dry
in a couple of days, mind you it ain't wrapped in a plastic bag.

Davy
 
Sledge hammer, works with 'any' printer, what dy'a expect from a
teacher.

A moist sponge would dry out surely, more so if it was left in a
plastic bag, guess it would only take a couple of days for it to do
so.
Click to expand...

Um... Assuming a relatively airtight plastic bag, the sponge isn't
going to dry out very quickly.

But tossing a sponge in with electronics for storage? What the heck
is that all about? That's one very odd suggestion. It's not like
we're dealing with wooden instruments here.

And I'll note it's the exact opposite of what electronics
manufacturers packing things with desiccant silica gel packs do to
keep things moisture free, and hence keep oxidation from airborne
moisture at bay.
 
Yike...

And people wonder why I don't post my Epson Cleaning Manual on line!

When people email me, they open up a line of communication that allows
them to ask questions and for me to explain things they don't
understand. I also give some consideration to the nature of the email I
get, and although I don't have numerous versions of the manual written
for different levels of comprehension, if I detect a real lack of ease
or understanding with instructions, or a language barrier, I often don't
send the manual out until they send me a sample scan or at least a more
detailed description of the difficulty they are encountering.

I can't protect people from their ignorance or limitations completely,
but I at least try to give the printer a fighting chance. ;-)

The people I really worry about are those who send me a copy of the
manual back in their reply (often just a "thank you"), not only because
the manual is over 60 Kb now, and I don't need to store thousands of
copies in my archives, but because this statement is the first thing
they see in CAPITAL letters.


SHOULD YOU WISH TO ENGAGE IN FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE PLEASE DO NOT
SEND A COPY OF THE MANUAL BACK TO ME WITH YOUR RETURN EMAIL.

PLEASE EDIT IT OUT SO IT IS NOT QUOTED IN YOUR REPLY. THANK YOU.


When that happens, I send a quick email stating that if they can't
comprehend the first two sentences they should probably NOT use the manual.

Art
 
I think you aren't understanding the concept. The idea is to keep the
moisture level up during longer periods when the printer is out of use,
such as during the summer months at a public school.

You take a large plastic bag, big enough to fit the printer, you place
the printer in the bag, placing a wet sponge near to it in a small
container or dish, then you close the plastic bag well with the sponge
inside the bag next to the printer. The sponge acts as a humidifier.
Since the bag is sealed, some relative humidity level will be achieved
and maintained by the moisture from the sponge. The idea is just to
keep the humidity level up, not to drown the electronics or other parts
in moisture.

It's just to keep the ink within the heads from completely drying out.

I live in a relatively humid area of the world, and my Epson printers
rarely clog up. People who live in dry areas or who use a lot of dry
heat in their homes often complain about their printer heads clogging
up. Maybe that explains the difficulties you ran into.

I am not implying that inkjet printers don't need to be designed for
variations in weather conditions or climates, but they do tend to clog
more often in low moisture areas.

Art
 
The idea is not to soak anything, just to maintain a nominal humidity
level. I have an Epson printer that is at least 8 years old, which
lives in a 40-50% relative humidity level about 8 months of the year (I
live on an island in a temperate rain forest). The electronics are just
fine. You think Epson printers fail regularly in places like Thailand
from the humidity levels? I agree that corrosion could be a problem
with very high humidity levels, especially in warmer climates, but I
rarely encounter electronics failures and I have a lot of older
electronic items I use.

Art
 
Arthur Entlichwrote:
quote="Arthur Entlich"]I think you aren't understanding the concept.
The idea is to keep the
moisture level up during longer periods when the printer is out of use,
such as during the summer months at a public school.
Click to expand...

I couldn't see how the water could keep evaporating, turning back to
water over the school holidays, I know its a slow process and was
under the impression it would dry up pretty quickly.

Davy
 
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