# (resolved)epson stylus colour 880



## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

hi
all the lights on my epson 880 priner are on. the paper and main light are flashing, the colour and black ones are on permanently. there is no paper jam and i just replaced the black cartridge. The colour cartridge is new although was replaced before it stopped working. im not sure if ive used it since i changed the colour cartridge, but i dnt want to waste a full colour cartridge. so if anyone has nay ideas, they will be greatly appreciated.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

This may be a call for your waste ink pad to be serviced.
Every time your printer goes into a cleaning cycle ink is pulled through the head and stored in this waste ink pad.
There is a procedure for this but it is more involved than the average owner will want to get.

A way to temporarily silence the flashing until the printer can be serviced may be :

"Turn the printer on while holding down both the ink and paper buttons. When the paper light flashes release both buttons, then press and hold down the ink button for 10 seconds. This allegedly resets the printer to "new" condition."

Thanks catman.


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

i tried that. it does seem to reset the printer, but doesn't fix the problem.
thanks for that advice anyway


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

This is from the Epson site.

Carriage error 

The print head is obstructed by jammed paper or other foreign material and cannot return to the home position. 
Turn off the printer. Open the printer cover and remove any paper from the paper path by hand. Then, turn the printer back on.

If the error does not clear, contact your dealer. 

Here is the full diag page.
http://files.support.epson.com/htmldocs/sc880_/sc880_u1/TRBLE_2.HTM


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

thanks for that, although still no luck
there doesn't seem to be anythign stuck in it


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Is the printhead carriage in the "Park" position, which is usually to the far right ?


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

no its far left. 
when i switch it off it stays there.
when i switch it on again it slowly moves side to side for a while, before stopping on the far left.

any ideas?


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Look for something that might be blocking the printhead from going to the far right. If it can not get to the home position, it will not work.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

The carriage should park on the right.
When you open the cover while powered, the carriage will make a few motions and then park where the ink tanks are accessible (for changing).

With the printer powered and quiet, power down the printer and you should find the carriage parked to the right.

Has this printer seen heavy use ?


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

the printer can get to its 'park position'. theres nothing stopping it. when the printer finishes its start up routine it doesnt stop on the right, it stops at the left. Usually it does stop at the right (ie when it was working). The startup also takes a lot longer than normal.

STARTup Routine:
it slowly moves from the right to the left, than quickly back to the right. It does this twice, then finishes off by moving from the right to the left. (so 2 and a half times, if that makes sense!). Then the ink lights come on, and the other two flash.

the printer is home used, i dont think theres been too much heavy use. although it is 7 years old, but it was working fine around a week ago.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*



rkrulez said:


> hi
> all the lights on my epson 880 priner are on. the paper and main light are flashing, the colour and black ones are on permanently. there is no paper jam and i just replaced the black cartridge. The colour cartridge is new although was replaced before it stopped working. im not sure if ive used it since i changed the colour cartridge, but i dnt want to waste a full colour cartridge. so if anyone has nay ideas, they will be greatly appreciated.


"i just replaced the black cartridge"

After re-reading your 1st post I'm led to believe that this problem occurred after replacing the black ink cartridge.
Was it a new, genuine Epson cart ?
Maybe you rec'd a bad cartridge. Do you have another to try, or even the old one to see if the error code changes.

Here's the other possible fault with your error code from Terrister's link :

Fatal error

"The yellow tape seal has not been removed from the ink cartridge.
Turn off the printer, then turn it on again. The ink out lights come on and the print head moves to the left. Replace the ink cartridge with a new one. If this error occurs again after turning on the printer, contact your dealer."

So this reinforces the idea that there may be a problem with that black ink tank.


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Sorry i dont think i explained myself properly. The problem occured then once i read the manual and it said it could be because of the ink cartridge, i replaced both of them, teh black and the colour. So the problem was there before i replaced the ink cartridges.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

OK, thanks.

I'm running out of ideas...
Have you tried un-plugging the printer (vs. using the panel switch) for 5 min or so and then repowering?
Might as well do the USB cable while you're at it.

SSC Service Utility
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

The above is a must-have free utility for Epson Stylus printer users.
D/L it and try the SSC reset feature .


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Hey
tried unplugging the printer
my mate came around, he opended it up and gave the printer heads a bit of a clean.
the thing with the program is that it can't find the printer. This seems to be a general error, even if i try to print something, it says their is a 'general error' and to check the printers connected and theres no paper jam or anything.

Also, the program says my ink levels are at the old level, ie before i changed the cartridges. So i think that the computer isnt able to talk to the printer anymore.

Thanks a lot for all your help! I didn't realise there was this many things i could try. If you get any other ideas, then i will be grateful for them.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Well that's interesting.
Have you done anything software related just prior to the printer troubles?
Like adding or removing anything...

What does Device Manager show in regards to your printer and printer driver ?

After you sort out the above, you could try uninstalling/reinstalling the printer driver.

Also, if you have another USB cable lying around, try that.


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## 8210GUY (Aug 29, 2006)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

I've just read through this and as I was forming a theory your last bit shot me down lol.
Are you having more than 1 problem with this printer ?
Thats what I seem to be understanding from the above, so I'll offer a couple of ideas based on that treating them as separate.

The carriage staying on the left is tantamount to it waiting to receive new cartridges, my only thoughts here are first off remove both cartridges and re-seat them, do it one at a time and take notice of if they feel and look as though they are sat right, and from memory when you first sit them in the carriage before you close the lid they don't look like they are in properly, they give the illusion that the back of it should be lower down than it actually is, are you sure you haven't seen and assumed this and tried putting them in so they sit lower to start ?

Assuming that is OK then I suggest you check the lid, I can't recall where it is, but somewhere I swear there must be a micro switch or something, because from memory when you raise the lid the carriage moves to the left ready to receive attention, as though your about to add new ink, try and locate that switch and check it is connecting to the lid properly, so as the lid closes the switch is reset so the carriage is told it is finished and moves back.

As to the other problem, follow jflan's advice above and make sure it's showing as installed properly, if it is and you can't check with another cable I believe they have a utility from memory to check the cable connection, download that and give it a go and see what it says, also do you have their monitor utility installed ? it checks ink levels and reports them back to you, I suspect you may have but thought I'd check.

Thats about all I can think of for now, it's been a few years since I had that printer so I'm going purely from memory here, but it was a great printer while it worked, but it clogged up at the end and I had to chuck it, hope some of this helps anyway.


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Alrite umm,
the catridges are being put in fine, its the same way ive done it for the last 7 years so i dont think its that.

With this printer lifting the lid doesnt signal anythign to the printer. YOu can lift the lid whilst its printing or whatever and its fine.

I looked at the printing preferences screen where it tells you how much ink is left, and it hasnt been updated since i've changed the cartridges, so it could possibly be a software problem. I'll try this.

Also, bearing in mind this printer connects usign USB, what would i be looking for under 'Device Manager'? 
Because it has 'ECP Printer Port (LPT1)' , although i dont think this is the correct port. Also the usb goes into a hub, although this has always been like that, so it couldnt have caused the problem.

And finally 8210GUY, you said that your EPSON eventually 'clogged up', what happened? and did the printer still switch on? Where in the printing process was the problem? 

Thank you


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## 8210GUY (Aug 29, 2006)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Basically it just wouldn't print, the jets got blocked up, made all the noises\motions etc but nothing came out.

As to the device manager your looking for any obvious exclamation marks as they signify a conflict, but you should see the printer installed as itself if you go down the list, if it isn't to obvious to start just expand each group in turn until you see it, if you don't see it at all that may well be what is wrong so reinstall it, and remember not to connect the cable until you are prompted to.


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

"Also, bearing in mind this printer connects usign USB, what would i be looking for under 'Device Manager'?
Because it has 'ECP Printer Port (LPT1)' , although i dont think this is the correct port. Also the usb goes into a hub, although this has always been like that, so it couldnt have caused the problem."

You should see the virtual printer port (USB) that your printer uses in Device Manager.
LPT1 is for a parallel connection. It is out of play for a USB situation.
Definitely bypass that USB hub and plug in directly. Also try whatever USB ports you have available.


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

To rule out the computer and the cords, unplug it from the computer and power it on. If it powers up normally, then you have narrowed it down to a cable or problem in the computer.


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

I've tried reinstalling it. The computer found the printer, and installed the software. So the computer does seem to be able to find the printer. Also, i disconnected the usb cable from the printer and the printer still wouldnt startup properly.

However earlier i said that it would come up with a general error message whenever i tried to print something, or do a nozzle check or head clean. Now it sends the task to the printer and is listed as 'Printing'. So the computer seems to be sending the messages to the printer, its just the printer isnt doing them. 

Hope that helps


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## jflan (May 29, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

What is the exact text in the error report ?
What lights are flashing /on now ?
Have you tried the front USB ports on your box ? (direct, no hub)


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

i tried all the different ports.
i phoned epson up adn they couldnt help, although you guys where a hundred times more useful!

I've bought a new printer, copier, scanner combo now. 
But thanks for all your help.


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*

Your welcome. Did you buy another Epson?


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## rkrulez (Apr 5, 2007)

no its a HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One. It seems to be quite good, and it connects straight ot my network, so its easier, for the other computers in the house to print.


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## Terrister (Apr 18, 2005)

Good move. I like Hp printers better than Lexmark.


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## skykeeper1 (Feb 22, 2012)

*Re: epson stylus colour 880*



jflan said:


> This may be a call for your waste ink pad to be serviced.
> Every time your printer goes into a cleaning cycle ink is pulled through the head and stored in this waste ink pad.
> There is a procedure for this but it is more involved than the average owner will want to get.
> 
> ...


Good procedure BUT it is wrong (at least for the Epson Stylus Color 740i). For the 740i the second sentence of the procedure should be: 

"When the paper light flashes release both buttons, then press and hold down the *PAPER FEED* button for 10 seconds. " 

Works fine to clear the INK PAD FULL lockup and clear ink low lights. It is especially helpful for Macintosh users where the Epson SSC utility is not available for this particular Epson printer OR Macintoshes in general. Thanks for the lead CATMAN.


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