Disassemble & take apart an EPSON printer - What are the parts of an inkjet? Repair/Fix

Disassemble & take apart an EPSON printer - What are the parts of an inkjet? Repair/Fix

Today we’re going to be taking a quick look at the different parts of an Epson printer, and I will give you a rundown on how to take them apart.

Removing the Printer Case

First, I’ll show you how to remove the top hinge part of the printer. A tab on both sides secures it, so you’re just going to pull them apart using your finger. After that, it should be able to be removed relatively easily. To put it back, just line it up and push it down.

You will have to bend the middle a little bit for the front unit, and then it should come off. Insert one of the tabs, then slide the other back into place to put it back. To continue taking this printer apart, you will need a number 2 Phillips head screwdriver.

We’ll start in the back of the printer. Near the right corner, you should see the first screw. Go ahead and remove that. There will be another one a little above that you can remove. Now you should be able to remove the cover of the fax unit.

Next, remove the screw from the top of the scanner. We also want to take out the duplex roller, the waste tanks, and the paper tray. You can find a tab on the right side of the scanner that you will push on with your thumb.

While doing this, you should be able to close the cover and lift the whole thing. If you need help figuring out how to remove the scanner, I have an entire video about it on my youtube channel.

Now we can take the cover off. You will need to remove the screw underneath the hinge, which can be difficult if you don’t have a long screwdriver. There will be a few more screws around the top edge that you need to remove.

You should have removed seven total screws. Now we should be able to remove the whole cover. We’ll have to work through a few things. First, we’ll have the power supply, fax module, and the mainboard/ motherboard. We’ll also have the printhead carriage and front panel to deal with.

The Printer Carriage and Printhead

If your printer carriage is locked, you can pull it to the right slightly, which should fix it. Now rotate the connecting rod counterclockwise. This should cause it to release on the right side. The belt controls the cartridge carriage’s movement, which connects to a pulley system. The motor that controls this pulley system is located on the right side of the printer.

You should be able to see a transparent encoder belt as well. This tells the printer how far it has moved. If you’d like more information about that, I have an entire video on my YouTube channel. This coder belt has an encoder scale read by the printhead’s sensor, so the printer knows how far it’s gone. If this belt gets dirty or damaged, it can cause significant problems for your printer.

Next, we’re going to look at those white cables. If you look at the printhead, it has two columns. Typically Epson uses one cable to control each column. You should have two white cables. You can purchase all of the parts we discussed in this video on my website if you need to replace any of them.

The particular cables we’re looking at are called 9x2 cables. If you look closely, there will be 18 pins, separated by a gap in the middle to have nine on each side. The printer will also have a few 8x2 cables, which work with the same basic concept. At the end, these are split into two 8x1 cables.

One of the 8x1 cables will go into the CR code reading sensor. Another 8x1 cable is going to go into the CR contact module. Another part of this module will be in contact with the CSIC terminal. This is commonly referred to as the nine-pin chip. This will come in contact with the cartridge that reads the ink level.

If you look at the bottom of the paper carriage, you’ll see a small, green paper width sensor. It’s a small, fragile photosensor.

Paper Feed Parts

We will locate the different parts before we start on this printer’s side. These include the rear-end paper guide, a small white thing called the stopper, the roller, the pickup arm, the paper eject sensor, and the paper guide upper assembly on the right side.

On the left side, we’ll find the paper feed motor, the timing belt, the paper eject roller, the paper feed roller, the paper encoder sensor, the start wheel assembly, and a few smaller pieces. For a visual guide on finding these parts, go to around the 6:00 mark on this video. 

Taking Apart the Paper Feed

If you have a double-decker, you’ll need to locate two screws on the top of the very outer left edge of the printer. The third screw will be more towards the bottom, and the fourth one will be a bit more hidden, located by the PF motor. The last one will be under the printhead mechanism, so we will have to take that apart. I have a more detailed video about that on my channel as well, but you can watch the video linked above for a visual aid.

When removing the printhead carriage unit, remember to take the small white locking lever off. Make sure you put it somewhere safe, as it gets lost very easily. Once you’ve removed the printhead carriage, there will be a fifth screw to undo. The seventh screw will be in a hole near there as well. Now you should be able to remove that layer of the printer.

Once you have done so, you should be able to see another motor underneath. That’s called the pickup motor, and it drives the pickup arm that grabs the paper. This pickup motor also has a pickup encoder similar to the PF encoder.

On the bottom, you’ll also see the tray sensor with a lever that gets pushed down whenever the paper tray is in.

The Sensors

Firstly, we have the paper width sensor and the PIS sensor on the star wheel. Then we have the paper eject sensor we talked about before, the encoder type sensors located in the belt, the paper feed disk to the left, and the paper pickup disk below that.

On top of the printer will be a lever-type sensor that helps the printer detect whether or not the lid is closed. Then there’s the tray lever sensor we talked about in the last section that detects whether or not the paper tray is inserted.

Motors

There are a total of three motors on your printer. These are the carriage motor, the paper feed motor, and the pickup motor underneath. For drawings of these parts, you can go to BCHtechnologies.com, choose “Printer Parts” from the category along the left side, and select the part you want to know more about. There’s a labeled drawing on the top of the page to help you decipher which parts are which, and a list of replacements you can purchase below the illustration.

We hope this blog helped you! Visit us online or stop by our store in Greensboro, NC. Happy printing!