How to fix an Epson Printer C45 stripping gears noise problem

Most problems that occur in an electromechanical equipment is caused by mechanical rather than electrical defects. And most mechanical defects reveals itself by performing a visual inspection of the mechanical parts. Being able to open the equipment and looking at the parts under the cover is almost halfway to solving the problem.

Take the case of a problem with an Epson C45 printer which I have encountered just recently. The ink cartridge carrier will move to the left side slowly then back to the right side again. As the ink cartridge carrier nears its park position a stripping gear noise is heard and the cartridge carrier appears blocked in completing its travel.

From here on there is no other way to go but to open the unit and inspect what the problem is from inside.

To open the printer I removed one screw located between the label and AC plug terminal at the back of the machine.



To remove the top cover there are four locks that need to be unhooked using a small flat screw driver.

Two of the locks can be found at the back on the lower left and right side of the unit. These locks can be unhooked by pushing through the small rectangular holes.

The other two locks are located at the front and can be accessed through the small rectangular holes located at the bottom corners of the base cabinet. I inserted the flat screwdriver blade through the holes and pried the hooks loose.

After the four locks have been unhooked...




















... the top cover can now be removed.

Once inside the machine I noticed the ink cartridge carrier pressing against a white lever which must be the object preventing it to reach park position.


I pushed the ink cartridge carrier a little bit back...



... then pushed the lever towards the cartridge...



and it snapped into place, no need to use force.
















I plugged the printer to AC outlet, pressed the power button, tested the unit and found it to be working just fine.