Printing & Copying

Struggles with my printer…

I currently own an Epson Stylus Pro 4000 printer which I use to print my photographic images.  At the time I purchased it (about 5 years ago), it was the “bees knees” in printers.  It has always produced (and continues to produce) excellent quality prints of my photographs.  I have no complaints on that front.

My problems are with the heads clogging.  This has been getting worse over the years that I’ve owned the printer, and is now at a point where my frustration levels are such that I’m considering a new printer.  Every time I use the printer now, if I’ve left it alone for even two or three days, the heads have clogged.  Unfortunately, to unclog them requires a head cleaning cycle – on all the heads, since this can’t be done selectively.  This wastes VAST amounts of ink.  At this point, I must perform ten to twelve head cleanings each time I want to use the printer.  Given the high cost of ink (CAD $75 per 110ml cartridge, and 8 inks in the set),  I think a new printer would pay for itself fairly quickly!

I have Googled to see if anything could be done to rectify the problem – time for a service call to Epson perhaps?  The information I find out in cyberspace tells me that I’m not alone with the head clogging issue; it’s a fairly common Epson problem.  And there really is not satisfactory solution.  Those who have tried to get it serviced have not had their problem cured.

Has anyone else out there experienced head-clogging with Epson?  Any thoughts or advice to share?  I’m disappointed at the thought of giving up an otherwise excellent quality printer over this issue, but my frustration at the time and ink wasted has pretty much pushed me to this point.

I’m considering a Canon, since I’ve not yet heard from any unhappy Canon owners!  I’m tempted by the 24” format iPF 6100.  I’d love to hear any feedback from owners of this one – good or bad!

It seems this printer has been on the market for a while (I see a review from 2007).  Is it still a good investment?  Should I wait for bigger and better things?  I welcome comments and advice.