I cleaned the print head four times, but my printout still has white or dark lines running through it. What should I do?

• If you still see white or dark lines or missing colors in your printouts, even after cleaning the print head several times, you can flush the ink tubes.

  Flushing the ink tubes replaces all the ink inside the tubes, so flush the ink only if you cannot improve print quality by cleaning the print head several times.

  Caution:Flushing the ink tubes consumes a lot of ink. Before flushing the ink tubes, make sure there is enough ink in the ink tanks. If necessary, refill the ink tanks before flushing the ink tubes.

  Flushing the ink tubes affects the service life of the ink pads by causing them to reach their capacity sooner. Contact Epson to purchase replacement ink pads before they reach the end of their service life. When the ink pads reach the end of their service life, the product stops printing and you must contact Epson for support.

  Flushing the Ink Tubes Using a Computer Utility

  You can use the Power Ink Flushing utility to flush the ink tubes.

  Before you begin, make sure there are no warnings or errors indicated by the product control panel.

  1. Make sure the transportation lock on the ink tank unit is set to the unlocked (printing) position: .
  2. Do one of the following:
     • Windows: Access the Windows Desktop and right-click the product icon in the Windows taskbar. Select Printer Settings and click the Maintenance tab.
     • OS X 10.6/10.7/10.8/10.9/10.10: In the Apple menu or the Dock, select System Preferences. Select Print & Fax, Print & Scan, or Printers & Scanners, select your product, and select Options & Supplies. Select Utility and select Open Printer Utility.
     • OS X 10.5: In the Apple menu or the Dock, select System Preferences. Select Print & Fax, select your product, and select Open Print Queue. Select Utility.
  3. Click the Power Ink Flushing button. You see a window like this:
     
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to flush the ink tubes.
  5. When you finish flushing the ink tubes, run a nozzle check to check the print quality. If necessary, also clean the print head.

  If you don’t see any improvement, turn off the product and wait at least 6 hours. Then check the print quality again. If quality still does not improve, contact Epson for support.

  Related concepts
  Print Head Nozzle Check
  Print Head Cleaning