I'm continuing to investigate the 0088 problem which I expect will be as the Epson tech described i.e. clock related, most likely battery.

What I've clarified today:

- The printer clock works while the printer is turned on
- The printer clock works while the printer is turned off but mains power is on
- The printer clock does not work when the printer is turned off and mains power is off

One conclusion you could draw from that is the clock battery is faulty/dead.

A short term workaround would appear to be leave the mains power on even when the printer is turned off e.g. overnight. The problem I have with this is that we live at the end of a (power) line that gets reset up to once a week by the power corp, this usually happens in the early hours of the morning. While I use a good surge protector I habitually unplug the main powerboard for my computer, printer etc each night just to be sure - our neighbour for example has had numerous appliances toasted due to the resetting.

We'll see what Epson and the supplier have to say on Monday!

0088 continues. Changes to the date format appear to have made no difference. What is interesting is that when turned on this morning the printer clock showed yesterday's date/time - approximately I'd guess when I shut down everything to head out to a job, suggesting that perhaps it is related to the clock battery as suggested by the Epson tech. I noticed the same glitch the previous day also.

So we'll see - it'll be a good test case for customer support, the quality of which often seems to decline once a purchase has been made... keen to sell, not so keen to fix. I'll speak to Epson and the supplier on Monday.

As a side note, I thought I'd fire up the 2100 again in the event of the 4800 being out of action in the coming weeks. It hadn't run once since late May and fired up yesterday without a hiccup - nozzle check fine, good stuff.

The 0088 maintenance code continues - the resetting of the printer clock didn't solve the problem.

According to Epson the next step is to replace the clock battery, but speaking with the supplier yesterday they mentioned problems with the 4000 based on the date/time format, where differences between the date/time format on the printer vs PC had caused problems.

I checked the printer's time/date this morning and it was a few days out, wrong time also - which is interesting given I'd reset it via the remote panel the other day. I would've expected it to be the same time/day as my PC.

Regarding formatting, the date/time format the printer is using is MM/DD/YY - my PC has been using DD/MM/YY, so I've changed that over.

Understandably the supplier is reluctant to get a tech out as that would be a costly exercise. Getting the printer into the attic was no small feat, I'm extremely reluctant to go through the process of getting the printer down from the attic and into Melbourne. Costly exercise no matter what.

So we'll see, hopefully what I've done today resolves the problem - I won't know until I switch the printer on tomorrow.

I called Epson support today regarding MNT REQ 0088 - apparently it was the first call relating to maintenance codes Epson Australia have had for the 4800, lucky me! Great service from the tech guy, who called back promptly with the details.

0088 refers to the printer clock/clock battery/clock time, the resulting effect being the printer cannot keep track of time and that is why it continues to ask for a power clean - not that it is detecting any blockages, but because it doesn't know how long it has been since the printer was last used.

The problem could also have been caused by a power surge. I use a good surge protector as we are at the end of a line here which gets reset by the power company regularly (we gave up on digital alarm clocks a long time ago). The surge protector is reporting everything is AOK.

The solution initially is to reset the printer clock, either via the LFP Remote Panel or via the printer itself. I've done that today. If the problem persists a tech will need to come out and replace the clock battery.

While talking to the tech guy I checked on a few other related things:

* He recommended turning the printer off when not in use so the head is capped (not inbetween prints, but when you are done for the day). There is no reason from Epson's point of view to leave the 4800 turned on when not in use. This makes sense to me and is something I always did with the 2100 which never skipped a beat in three years.

* He said changes to the ink tanks in the 4800 should address air bubble problems users experienced with the 4000.

* He said leaving the printer off for a week or two shouldn't cause any significant problems (it is definitely fine to leave for a few days e.g. the away for the weekend scenario). But he also said turning the printer on every now and then when you're not using it is a good thing to do. Not necessarily print anything, but let it cycle through the checks etc it does on startup and go from there as needed.

It is interesting to note that Jack Flesher reported an air bubble after his 4800 sat idle for a couple of weeks, and 4000 users have mentioned doing a nozzle check print each day to keep everything running smoothly. I think this is something to watch - there's bound to be a significant number of 4800's that end up sitting idle for long periods - so we'll know soon enough what the real deal is.

If/when I speak to tech support again I'll check more on the Power Clean request - as it seems to be based on both how long it has been since the printer has been used as well as the printer detecting a blockage/problem that needs fixing.

If the 4800 turns on tomorrow without the 0088 code problem fixed. If it displays the code I'll get the battery replaced.

I do intend to be a little more mindful of the printer though - and will probably make sure it's turned on every now and then during idle periods.

I hadn't printed anything on the 4800 for a few days while finishing the first stage of my library application and on starting up the printer suggested I run a Power Clean. I said no, but it persisted, saying MNT REQ 0088. I ran the Power Clean but the LCD still showed MNT REQ 0088 which I guess refers to something else. I turned the printer off and on to see what it would do - it happily cycled to its Ready state. I printed several files and everything looked ok. All done, right?

I returned the next day to print a few more files and again on startup it suggested I do a Power Clean. Having done a Power Clean the day before there was no way I was going to run it again so said no, the LCD again displayed MNT REQ 0088. I turned it off and on and it cycled to its Ready State without showing any other messages. The files printed fine.

Today I turn the printer on and again it suggests another Power Clean, I say no and it replies with MNT REQ 0088. I turn it off an on, it cycles to Ready. I give in an do a manual nozzle check and everything looks fine. Just for the hell of it, I do an Auto nozzle check too. Well and truly into the swing of things, I run the Auto alignment utilities too. The prints look as fine as they did a couple of days ago.

Had a quick look around online and didn't find much info on what the maintenance code 0088 is. So I guess tomorrow morning I'll ring up Epson and find out! I'll also check on whether or not it is recommended to leave the printer powered on when not in use.