Red horizontal lines on print-outs. How do I fix this?

Question

Epson Stylus 600. Ran printer checks, cleaned head nozzles, all of it, but still get red horizontal lines. Just replaced both ink cartridges, but this was happening before I replaced them.

Answer 1

Questions...

Are these printed lines or nasty smears? If they're nasty smears then it may be worth seeing if you can find the puddle of ink that's causing the problem. If printed lines... read on.

Does this happen when you print out a test page from the printer as well? If it does it looks probable to be a fault in the printer somewhere. If you've replaced the cartridges then that rules out a cart fault. Try cleaning the contact pads the carts sit against. If you can take the cover off and check all cable seating.

If that doesn't fix it, the printer needs to go to a repair shop... but the really sad thing is that it's probably not worth getting it repaired... price up an equivalent new printer before you get a repair quote!

If the test page prints clean and the problem only happens when you print pages... check the connectors on the lead that connects the printer to the PC. Take out & replace the connections. If the problem still happens then can you try with another PC / another printer lead to isolate the problem to the PC, the lead or the printer? If it's the lead, buy a new one. If it's the PC, ... well, you can probably find a new printer port card to fit in it or use a different USB port if it's USB. If it's the printer... see above.