My Epson ET-8550 Keeps Switching Off, Why? Voltage Compatibility And Their Solution
- By Kevin Day
- On Dec 20, 2024
- Comment 0
Question:
I bought an EpsonET-8550 printer from Amazon, but I live in South Africa. In this case, when the printer is powered on, it turns ON but goes OFF after 10 seconds. As it has a U.S. power plug, I used a power adapter to connect it. I realize that South Africa and the U.S. have different voltages, but shouldn’t the cable regulate the voltage? I hope you can help.
Answer:
Welcome to BCH Technologies. Thank you for contacting us! We are sorry for the delay in responding to your query. We know that printers can be an absolute pain, and we do our best to give you correct and considerate responses. We are incredibly grateful for your support and engagement through our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies), which allows us to continue enhancing and sharing technical knowledge.
Now, let’s get on to your issue.
Your issue is most likely due to a voltage mismatch. South Africa uses a 220V system, while the U.S. has a 110V system. This means that the power supply that was bundled with your printer is not rated for your local voltage. This will explain why the printer will turn on and then shut off shortly thereafter—it is probably protecting itself from incorrect input voltage. The Epson ET-8550 (US version) uses a power supply unit marked EPS-145. If you want to use it with 220V, you'll need the EPS-145E version. The only difference is the “E” in the name, meaning it’s set up for 220V regions. Regrettably, we are a US company and do not sell the 220V version of this power supply. It should also be locally sourceable in South Africa or via an online marketplace that supplies them to your part of the world. For now, don't use power adapters as a stopgap measure. These do not control voltage, and this kind of usage would eventually damage your printer. The safest and most reliable solution is to source the correct power supply unit.
Printer issues can be a bit tricky because the problems are physical. Therefore, we cannot offer remote troubleshooting, recommendations, or printer repair assistance. Locally, we provide an over-the-counter diagnostic and repair service (https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service). Due to high demand, we also have a first come, first serve policy. So we might have to wait a few weeks before getting your printer to leave it off.” We categorize our services as repairing the whole printer or its parts and how to do so. However, we realize we do not have the cheapest rates out there. So, we strongly suggest that you employ self-help through online research. You should go ahead and do it right now. Head over to YouTube or go to the landing page of our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies) and explore videos by clicking on the search icon next to the "About" option on the right-hand side of the menu bar. I get dozens of questions every day about videos on particular subjects. Over the last nine years of making videos, tracking them all is hard. So, the best way to find what you want would be to use YouTube’s search function. Then YouTube may recommend related videos posted by other channels to help you.
Once again, thanks for contacting us. Hopefully, this will help you solve your problem and get your Epson ET-8550 working again! If you have more questions, let us know, and we’ll try to help.
I bought an EpsonET-8550 printer from Amazon, but I live in South Africa. In this case, when the printer is powered on, it turns ON but goes OFF after 10 seconds. As it has a U.S. power plug, I used a power adapter to connect it. I realize that South Africa and the U.S. have different voltages, but shouldn’t the cable regulate the voltage? I hope you can help.
Answer:
Welcome to BCH Technologies. Thank you for contacting us! We are sorry for the delay in responding to your query. We know that printers can be an absolute pain, and we do our best to give you correct and considerate responses. We are incredibly grateful for your support and engagement through our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies), which allows us to continue enhancing and sharing technical knowledge.
Now, let’s get on to your issue.
Your issue is most likely due to a voltage mismatch. South Africa uses a 220V system, while the U.S. has a 110V system. This means that the power supply that was bundled with your printer is not rated for your local voltage. This will explain why the printer will turn on and then shut off shortly thereafter—it is probably protecting itself from incorrect input voltage. The Epson ET-8550 (US version) uses a power supply unit marked EPS-145. If you want to use it with 220V, you'll need the EPS-145E version. The only difference is the “E” in the name, meaning it’s set up for 220V regions. Regrettably, we are a US company and do not sell the 220V version of this power supply. It should also be locally sourceable in South Africa or via an online marketplace that supplies them to your part of the world. For now, don't use power adapters as a stopgap measure. These do not control voltage, and this kind of usage would eventually damage your printer. The safest and most reliable solution is to source the correct power supply unit.
Printer issues can be a bit tricky because the problems are physical. Therefore, we cannot offer remote troubleshooting, recommendations, or printer repair assistance. Locally, we provide an over-the-counter diagnostic and repair service (https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service). Due to high demand, we also have a first come, first serve policy. So we might have to wait a few weeks before getting your printer to leave it off.” We categorize our services as repairing the whole printer or its parts and how to do so. However, we realize we do not have the cheapest rates out there. So, we strongly suggest that you employ self-help through online research. You should go ahead and do it right now. Head over to YouTube or go to the landing page of our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies) and explore videos by clicking on the search icon next to the "About" option on the right-hand side of the menu bar. I get dozens of questions every day about videos on particular subjects. Over the last nine years of making videos, tracking them all is hard. So, the best way to find what you want would be to use YouTube’s search function. Then YouTube may recommend related videos posted by other channels to help you.
Once again, thanks for contacting us. Hopefully, this will help you solve your problem and get your Epson ET-8550 working again! If you have more questions, let us know, and we’ll try to help.