Switch Epson printer on or off when it is not used? What is the best way to avoid clogging?

This question comes up from time to time in the forums.

#1 print and sell photos every day.

#2 try the following:

To avoid clogging of the print head I recommend the following,

in case the printer is not used for a time longer than a week.

(1) Connect the power cable of the printer to a time switch.

(2) Program the time switch that it is automatically ON for 10 minutes every second day, e.g. MO, WED, FR 07:00 a.m.

(3) Of course switch on the power button of the printer

(4) Fix the load/eject-button on the printer the way that it is pressed down. This causes printing a test pattern, when the printer is switched on. I took a cover plate from a computer for that and bend it the way that the button is fixed. So there is no need to drill a hole and you can easyly detach it, if #1 occurs...

(5) Put some old/used paper in the paper tray.

So the printer will switched on every 48 hours for a short while and print a nozzle check pattern.

This will use a veeery small amount of ink, but it is nothing compared to a cleaning cycle.

Tested on Epson 1400.

It will also work on Epson r1900, r2400, 2880... which have the same setup for the buttons (especially the load/eject-button).

Aida Blue launching ceremony Feb 2009 in Hamburg.

As one can see, the printer's top lid is closed.

Some people on dpreview asked for a CISS setup. Instead of long explanations, this is it:

A small digression concerning Non-DSLR Cameras (part1):

This picture was taken by using a Sony Ericsson C510 (3.2 MP). Its a panorama where 4 files were stiched. Not to bad for a cheap(er) cell phone!

How to get high quality b/w prints from an Epson 1400 A3 printer:

Problem:
When printing photos usually all colour cartridges will be used, even when the printer is set to grey-scale. This leads to a colour shift or tint (green or yellow).

Solution 1:
Calibrate the printer by using Colormunki or Spyder. This makes colours more accurate, but the tint is still there.

Solution 2:
Set the printer driver on the advanced page to
Paper type=plain paper (even if you use glossy photo paper)
Quality=fine (best possible setting when plain paper is selected)
high-speed=off
grey-scale=on
Edge smoothing=off (if you like)
Gamma=1.8 (default)
set contrast and brightness as you like

The result will be true bw prints, only the black cartridges will be used (emptied...). The dye ink has a slightly wider gamut than pigment inks. It is a really deep black and the contrast will be better than the contrast of an Epson r2400 or r2880 – I tested it! Due to the fact that only the nozzles from the black printing section of the print head are used, the resolution will be a bit lower, but in case of printing on format larger than A6 this does not matter.

This is Frieda, my lovely St. Bernhard. She now lives with my parents in Ellund near Flensburg due to strong illness.

Another HDR-Shot from the Waltershofer Hafen, I simply rotated the tripod...

3x HDR at the Waltershofer Hafen - part of the port of Hamburg. The Picture was taken by using a cheap Fuji s9600, the s3 pro had a battery failure.

One of the last pictures I took with a horrible Nikon 18-135 IF-ED zoom lens before I sold it. It was mounted on a Fuji S5Pro during my trip in Paris.