Epson ink-jet printer repair?

[ron_newman]

My Epson CX4200 ink-jet printer/scanner/copier is intermittently failing with all red lights flashing and an "E" in the LED numeric display.

Can anyone here recommend a place or person who can fix it? Micro Center doesn't fix printers. The nearest authorized Epson service center is in Weymouth, which would not be an enjoyable trip on public transit. The printer is 9 years old, so it's long out of warranty and "authorized" isn't important to me.

Comments

[paradoox.livejournal.com]

A new ink-jet printer will probably be cheaper (and certainly simpler) ...

[ron_newman]

Possibly, but I don't like throwing things away that can be fixed.

[smammy]

It's probably not what you want to hear, but multifunction laser printers are getting affordable lately and the cost per page is almost certainly lower.

[wintahill.livejournal.com]

I looked online and it seems to indicate that this error could mean one of two things:
1. A paper jam or obstruction in the printer. Look inside and make sure nothing is stuck in the paper path.
2. A condition that can only be fixed by resetting the "protection counter" which is normally done with a proprietary application at the service center

You can try this third party freeware utility that claims to be able reset the protection counter. (This is not my software and I assume no responsibility if it does not work or damages the printer)
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

[ron_newman]

Unfortunately, I don't see an obvious way to run that program in MacOS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). If you have advice on that too, I'm all ears ;-)

I don't see a paper jam.

[agharta75.livejournal.com]

Here's one for Macs. (Again, not mine, never used it, haven't checked out reviews, might be a virus, etc)

http://www.wic.support/

Or you could connect the printer to a Windows machine and run the other utility.

[ron_newman]

Thanks. I ran it, but it told me that my Waste Ink Counter was "OK" (48% full) and did not need to be reset. :-( It did not offer any other diagnostic functions for my printer model.