In May 2012 I bought a Dell V725w. I’m getting a “Printhead Not Supported” message whenever I turn it on. Fresh cartridges, cleaning the printhead, etc. used to bring the printer back to normal, but no more.
My questions:
1. Do printheads always wear out in less than five years?
2. Could the error message be caused by some problem other than the printhead? I bought the printer to print materials in black, thinking the colored cartridges wouldn’t be a problem because I’d never use them. I didn’t learn until later that the printer will not print without the colored cartridges (this was not mentioned in any of the marketing materials, and only obliquely in the manual). I’m wondering if printing only in black (except for the printhead alignment required every time I use the printer) has caused the problem, and if there’s some remedy other than buying a replacement printhead?
3. The price for a new printhead for Dell’s V715w printer is $149 from a vendor on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0055TL2EO/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new , but they say they can’t be sure it’s compatible with the V725w. So far I haven’t found a vendor with a printhead compatible with the V725w—any suggestions?
4. Rick mentioned the Lexmark 100 (part# 14N1339) several times as a replacement printhead. His guidance is always excellent and a printhead seems pretty basic, but I’m wondering about the difference in price. Can the $31.50 Lexmark printhead perform as well as the $149 Dell printhead, or is there some fundamental difference I don’t understand?
Thanks for your thoughts and ideas,
anima_in_LA