New Printer
-
Well, my Epson Stylus R200 finally had a terminal failure at the age of 2 years 2 months, and after having just over 200 print jobs processed. It made an electronic frying sound, and a little wisp of smoke rose from the back of the unit in the area of the power chord. I only used that printer to print CD/DVD labels, but still, the printer had seen very little use, and I'm a bit twisted over having to replace it so soon. I went out today and got another Epson, but this time it's a Stylus 1400 (the R200 is long-since obsolete, and not for sale anymore). It's certainly much larger than the old one, and it lets me print directly to CD/DVDs, so I'm up and running again, albeit $250 poorer in the process.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Well, my Epson Stylus R200 finally had a terminal failure at the age of 2 years 2 months, and after having just over 200 print jobs processed. It made an electronic frying sound, and a little wisp of smoke rose from the back of the unit in the area of the power chord. I only used that printer to print CD/DVD labels, but still, the printer had seen very little use, and I'm a bit twisted over having to replace it so soon. I went out today and got another Epson, but this time it's a Stylus 1400 (the R200 is long-since obsolete, and not for sale anymore). It's certainly much larger than the old one, and it lets me print directly to CD/DVDs, so I'm up and running again, albeit $250 poorer in the process.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
Your printer died after printing just 200 jobs and you went out and bought another one from the same manufacturer? :confused:
I hate HP drivers as much as the next guy, but all my printers last me years and then get given to someone else to last years.
_________________________ Asu no koto o ieba, tenjo de nezumi ga warau. Talk about things of tomorrow and the mice in the ceiling laugh. (Japanese Proverb) John Andrew Holmes "It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others."
-
Your printer died after printing just 200 jobs and you went out and bought another one from the same manufacturer? :confused:
That was actually my first bad experience with anything from Epson. Truth be told, the printer spent about 6 months during the hottest part of the Texas summer boxed up and in our storage shed. I just recently pulled it out of storage and pressed it back to service. The real bummer is that I'd just spent $75 on new ink cartridges. :( [EDIT] Beyond all that, most consumer-grade printers are throw-aways anyway - it costs less to buy a new printer than it does to buy ink.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001 -
That was actually my first bad experience with anything from Epson. Truth be told, the printer spent about 6 months during the hottest part of the Texas summer boxed up and in our storage shed. I just recently pulled it out of storage and pressed it back to service. The real bummer is that I'd just spent $75 on new ink cartridges. :( [EDIT] Beyond all that, most consumer-grade printers are throw-aways anyway - it costs less to buy a new printer than it does to buy ink.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001I, too, have had universally good luck with Epson printers, since my first - an Epson MX-80 dot matrix unit I used with the Apple IIc. For one to fail so early surprises me. The symptoms you describe lead me to believe that there might be a fairly simple fix. The sound and smoke are indicative of a capacitor failure in the power supply, and the storage conditions you mention could certainly cause an electrolytic power supply filter capacitor to dry out and short. If you feel like spelunking, crack the case and look for an overheated capacitor near the power line entry point. You may still be able to read the label of a blistered capacitor, and you can probably find a replacement at Radio Shack. The WVDC rating should be equal to or a bit higher than the one you're replacing, and the capacitance in uF should be at least as high as the original, preferably the same. Electrolytics are still rather large, compared to everything else in the case, and it should be fairly easy to unsolder the beast and replace it. Whether the failure damaged anything else is impossible to tell, of course, but it really might be that simple to fix. Printers are so cheap these days it might not be worth your time and effort, but it might be fun to do just on principle. If you'd like, I'll take a crack at it - no guarantees. You already have my address; if it works I'll send it back. If not, I'll toss it for you. Let me know...
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
-
Well, my Epson Stylus R200 finally had a terminal failure at the age of 2 years 2 months, and after having just over 200 print jobs processed. It made an electronic frying sound, and a little wisp of smoke rose from the back of the unit in the area of the power chord. I only used that printer to print CD/DVD labels, but still, the printer had seen very little use, and I'm a bit twisted over having to replace it so soon. I went out today and got another Epson, but this time it's a Stylus 1400 (the R200 is long-since obsolete, and not for sale anymore). It's certainly much larger than the old one, and it lets me print directly to CD/DVDs, so I'm up and running again, albeit $250 poorer in the process.
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass..." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
-----
"...the staggering layers of obscenity in your statement make it a work of art on so many levels." - Jason Jystad, 10/26/2001I have no idea how I've managed this, but I'm using the same NEC Laser printer I bought in 1995. Still has the original toner cartridge as well. I couldn't even begin to count how many pages it's printed. Not bad for a $260 investment.
Josh Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have a back-ache...
