Update, it’s now out of Cyan ink - mainly due to my inability to convince it to print a black & white poster using black ink only 
I haven’t found a way to convince it to get going without a Cyan ink, even if all you want to print is B&W 
[if someone knows the admin password to the web interface, maybe there’s a way to override this?]
Happy to contribute to a pledge towards ink replacement - what’s the process to get this going?
Ahh, that rather nixes my desire to come and give it a test print. If it’s anything like smaller printers I’ve used in the past you can sometimes gently squirt a dilute detergent mix through it with a syringe and rubber hose, not sure if this one would behave in the same way. These things just need regular use though, long periods of inactivity with ink in nozzles is a sure fire way to ruin them.
this would probably be worth a try, but I would warrent that a new set of heads is probably needed.
Edit: I’ll come and give it some attention next week and see if I can get it behaving…
I have a kit for doing some nozzle squirting I’m happy to bring in if you want to give it a go.
In the meanwhile, I’ve updated the Wiki page with what I’ve learnt about the printer so far, including a link to the manual:
Unfortunately this seems to be the case in recent years. I wonder if there’s a way to flush them before leaving for long periods? And/or cleaning the head, especially if it’s removeable.
They actually use a small amount of ink to clean the heads every time it’s used. Which is why it refuses to print with any colour being empty. Inks can even run out if you don’t use them at all. You can sometimes trick it into ‘thinking’/detecting that all tanks are full. Depending on how it does this.
I’ve got a super old printer which just works however long it’s left, although I haven’t tried it recently.
Excellent, thank you.
That’s weird I used it last week to print in black and white and it was showing half full.
Also, happy to contribute to ink.
Might be that the cleaning cycle I tried ended up using a lot of ink
Ahh ok.
Sorry, I’m not clear on the outcome of this thread. I tried to print some items for screen printing and you can’t overide the no ink issue. Is this on order?
Also for the small Lexmark printer is paper on order, is this something that we (members) need to purchase ourselves?
I’m using acetate but noted there is no normal paper.
Cheers
Tesco was £2.50 per ream (500 sheets) of A4 last time I had to get some about 2 years ago.
You can probably get a similar price online if you buy a few reams. ie. About £10 for 4 reams including postage
Uhhh, thread resurrection! after this https://discourse.southlondonmakerspace.org/t/halp-ive-jammed-the-large-format-printer/11151
Is the large format printer currently OK (other than things being inside it)? And is there a roll of transparency I could use? If so, what size is it?
Thaaaanks 
I hate printers.
I hate falling into the sunk cost fallacy.
This printer refuses to do anything if it thinks any of it’s six cartridges are empty.
It was sulking due to the cyan being empty. I got one cheaply on ebay.
After printing a dozen test pages and cleaning the print head it was doing good black prints and streaky colour prints (blocked cyan nozzles).
It now thinks that the yellow cart is empty and won’t do anything until it is replaced.
If a good soak in IPA/meths/whatever does not unblock the print head then it will never print colour properly because a new print head is £300.
Personally I’d happily set it on fire in the yard and reclaim the space it is taking up, a printing by post service works out cheaper.
There is a 24" wide roll of transparency.
There was (or at least I left) a head-unblocking kit, that IMO smelled significantly like cat piss, but is apparently a good thing, near the LFP.
Personally I’d happily set it on fire in the yard and reclaim the space it is taking up, a printing by post service works out cheaper.
if this ever was the plan, I’m happy to take the machine back
No!
Printers always do this if they’re left unused for a while. Can I propose a possibly fruitless but well intentioned attempt that someone prints something at least once a fortnight once we do this? I’m away in scotland for a week but I’ll try and clean the nozzles next time I’m in the space so we can get it working again, I’ve been wanting to make transparencies on it for a while.
don’t worry! I have no real interest in taking it away; but if it ever does seem to be destined for the bin, I’d rather reclaim it than see it scrapped.
Is there no software that can do this automatically? (Would be useful for my printer as well)
There really should be. I’ve had inkjets print heads non repairable after only a few weeks…it’s nuts