Troubleshooting Blank Prints on Epson ET-8550: Causes and Fixes

Question:

The printer is printing blank pages. From there, the ink comes out, goes through cleaning cycles, and goes into the waste tank, and the ink levels are full, so clearly, the printer is not clogged. They have changed the printhead and the FFC cable but still can't get any ink to print on the paper. During startup, although the printer turns on, it takes longer and eventually gets the "You turned off the printer wrong. Please perform nozzle check" message. The customer is asking for advice about a possible mainboard issue and if he can send it to be fixed.

Answer:

Investigating the Blank Print Problem

From what you’ve said, it sounds like there’s a more serious problem with your printer. So, let us examine the potential contributors and fixes:

Printhead Delamination:  One common cause of blank prints is printhead delamination. This is when the piezoelectric membrane within the printhead has been damaged or detached, leaving the printer sound like it’s operating normally, yet ink is not ejected correctly. This is the same case with the ink section of printers that have been through too many cleaning cycles because many cleaning cycles can destroy the piezo head. Unfortunately, a printhead replacement would be needed if delamination happens like this. But this is not always the case, so let’s look at other possible culprits.

Cleaning Cycles and Ink Pressure: You said you ran cleaning cycles. Ink is dispensed into the waste tank, but the printer prints nothing on paper. A sticky printhead will drastically hurt your prints (and false cleaning cycles could damage the piezo elements on the printhead and make the matter worse). We advise installing a pressure gauge to check the cleaning pressure on it, as it should be within the recommended range. Generating too high cleaning pressure can damage the tool, especially if the cleaning fluid is not flowing correctly.

Mainboard and Fuses: Even though you do not see any error codes, I’d recommend looking hard at the mainboard. Certain things on the board can sometimes be failing and not give a direct code either. Now, these are on the mainboard—look at the F1 and F2 fuses. For example, a blown fuse may lead to improper communication between components and cause issues like printing blank pages. Also, check the print drive chip and Inferion MOSFET. These pieces manage the ink flow and can result in printing problems if they break down. If any of these get damaged, they might not throw an error code but can still be behind your issue.

Printhead and FFC Cable: You’ve already replaced the printhead and FFC cable, the major components, so it’s good that those potential problems have been eliminated. But please make sure that the FFC cable is not loose. Intermittent issues can also be caused by loose connections (even slight ones), which may explain why you see no ink on paper but still see ink being sent to the waste tank during cleaning.

Repair Options

If you think the problem is due to the mainboard or any part of it, you can send it over to us for troubleshooting. We provide board repair services for many printers, including the Epson ET-8550. We don't repair the printhead itself but we can check and repair the mainboard and its components in case this solves the problem.

Other Considerations

If you feel like getting a little more creative without spending too much cash, we recommend trying a couple of troubleshooting methods, such as factory-resetting the entire printer (this can sometimes be enough to resolve such erratic behavior), closely inspecting the printhead for damage, and monitoring the cleaning cycles so they don’t get overused.

We can either repair the entire printer or just a specific part while also guiding you through the entire process. We are not the cheapest service, so we encourage you to seek self-help via online resources. If you are looking for solutions, you can follow us — at BCh Technologies https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies to see some relevant tutorials regarding printer problems. The search function on YouTube will help you find specific videos, though you may also stumble upon suggestions from start creators that might help you.

Thanks again for reaching out, and I hope we can get your printer back online! Let us know if you need any help.