How to repair and install printhead lock on Epson printers

Today we will talk about this printhead lock, what it is and how to troubleshoot it and how you can install a new one if you have to. The printhead lock is a piece of plastic that prevents the printhead from moving towards the left. A common way to unlock it is by turning on the power. As soon as you see the lock moves, you'll cut the power off. See, it has released. This plastic piece is easy to get damaged because the printhead moves at high speed; if you get unsynchronized, the printhead might strike this plastic. Also, during a paper jam, you may be fighting the printer and damage this plastic.

Let me show you how it works. The lock is right here, and those two gears control it. If you see that the bolt on the bigger wheel, that bolt pushes the lock to be in a position to lock the printhead. When you buy from BCH, you get a lock, and you get a little spring. The spring connects those two hooks, so I can put the lock back in unlock position when the big wheel turns on the big bolt that will push the lever and unlock the printer.

Any time that bolt is not in there and the spring will pull the lever back, so most of the time, it's unlocked. The part would turn those gears from the printer's left side, and it turns this rod that connects to this small wheel. This little wheel is going to connect to this wheel, a small wheel, right here. However, you can see I'm turning the wheel counterclockwise, but that the printhead doesn't move at all. No matter how I turn this wheel, that bolt doesn't move at all. This wheel is split into two parts.

The bottom part of which is to control the lock. It never turns, no matter if you go clockwise or counterclockwise. It doesn't matter, no matter how many times you turn. If it goes into the wheel, this one doesn't move at all, so you need to move to your right a little bit to release this inner wheel, so now it's turning. What we need to do is we need to move this to the right a little bit. Now, if you turn it counterclockwise, it's going to lock the printhead. If you turn it clockwise, it will release the lock.

Let's do it on a real printer. We're going to turn this wheel counterclockwise by pulling on the cables. It's unlocked. Now I'm going to turn on the power. You can watch the wheel turning, and that unlock, how that lock works.

To decide there's clockwise or counterclockwise, you can pay attention to this lighter wheel, and it does the same direction as the bigger wheels turning. I forgot to say is the wear and tear cause another lock malfunction. You've got two pieces of plastic pushing against each other. Also, you have that little spring, and that can also get loose.

With this knowledge, you will be able to install a printer lock and test it. Be careful of this little spring. I don't know how many springs I have lost. I'll put the spring on the lock first; then I'll loop it through the base's black hook. It's better to make the small spring-loaded. I'll put it in the lock position. I'll use the piece of a rubber band to help me to put a lock. Here's what an assembly looks like, and I'm sliding in.

Pay attention to that leather wheel, make sure that the leather wheel is connected to the assembly, and transfer the power to that assembly. When you hear a click, you can remove the rubber band.