I'll answer my own question in case anybody on this forum is still breathing and interested in this issue.

After being told by Epson twice via support email that there was nothing wrong with my printer and that I could return the product within 30 days if I didn't like the way it behaved, I called support. Talking to support in the Phillippines was impossible because of extremely bad connections, but above the static they were able to understand that I wanted to talk to someone in the US and switched me through. Same audio problems, but the guy called me back. He was very helpful and didn't give the standard answers from the playbook.

The issue more than likely is the Power Clean cycle. It is the most rigorous cleaning tool for this printer to try to cure stubborn nozzle clogs and involves massive ink dumps taking minutes and consuming about 10% of the ink. It is performed when power is first applied to the printer, when power to the printer is restored after an interruption of any length of time while the printer was on and when more than a couple of normal head clean cycles don't unclog the nozzles. In my case power to the printer may have been temporarily interrupted by a intermittant power strip, causing the Power Clean cycle to begin. I followed his advice to plug the printer directly into a wall outlet and hopefully that's the end of the story. Epson was nice enough to send me a full set of ink cartridges free of charge.

Lesson 1: escalate if you don't get the support you think you deserve and lesson 2: plug your printer directly into a wall outlet and 3: never unplug the printer, whether it is on or off.

Even unplugging the printer while it is off will reset it and next time you print something it will do a Power Clean first. Because I was prepared, I timed the Power Clean: it lasted 3.5 minutes and took this time about 5% of the ink.

OH NO! The printer did another Power Clean, this time wasting about 15% ink or $15 worth! I'm getting really sick and tired of this. Epson's recommendation to plug the printer directly into a wall outlet didn't solve the problem. There hasn't been a power outage since I plugged the printer in directly, so what the dickens is going on? I'll let you know what Epson support comes up this time. Needless to say I'm getting pretty frustrated.

Google the issue and you'll see you are not alone. Some think it's the new drivers; some going into Advanced BW mode; some faulty models; some find it sporadic. In all a frustrating experience. I will check with the epson folks when I see them.

George,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I googled the issue till I saw the proverbial blue in the face. Epson has ensured me that it has nothing to do with drivers or advanced B&W mode. They suggested I plug the printer directly into a wall outlet, which I did and which did not help, so I'm at the end of my rope. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Hi Franz -

To some extent, this is an issue with the R2400 which preceded your scanner. With that said, it sounds like your scanner is dumping way more than usual. With the R2400, there were quotes on the net for just a few % being used when the cycle was run. Maybe it is a driver issue versus a hardware issue. Only Epson can tell us. Can you try an older driver version? It makes me a bit scared to load up the 64 bit drivers for my new PC build and the R2400

Doug
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www.BetterScanning.com

Hi Doug,

I'm not going to wast another $10 or $15 by diddling around with different drivers. I'm using the driver that came with the printer 3 weeks ago. Epson has said that this issue is not related to drivers, advanced b&w printing or the premium profiles I downloaded from the Epson website. The lower Epson support echelons keep repeating that there is nothing wrong with my printer, ie it's "normal" that I loose 10 to 15%, $10 to $15, everytime the printer goes through routine maintenance cycles when you haven't printed for 2 days or more. This would mean that I used up a whole set of ink, $100 if I print 1 image every other day for a total of 7 to 8 prints. This of course is ludicrous, but Epson keeps repeating themselves that it's the way the printer was designed. Higher level support is going to call me back in the next couple of days. If this behavior is normal, they'll get their ink sales cash cow back and I'm up the creek without a printer! If somebody at Epson wakes up and realizes this is not normal behavior, something I hope for very much but don't expect, I would want a replacement. I'm afraid I'll soon be without a means to print my images.

Even Epson would not intentionally program a printer to automatically drain 10-15% during regular cleaning cycles. If this were common, we would see a lot more complaints about this because lots of people use that printer. I think you are getting bad technical support. Just return the printer to the store and get another one. If that one does the same thing, then return it and move on to a Canon or HP.

Doug
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www.BetterScanning.com

Doug,

I completely agree with you. It's baffling that Epson support keeps insisting it's "normal" and yes, there would be a whole army of people complaining. I yet have to be called back by a higher-level support person.

Epson refered me to B&H, where I bought the printer, to arrange for a refund or replacement. I asked B&H to authorize a return, which they have refused because they have a 15 day return policy and refered me to Epson. For a moment I thought I was dealing with the government! Epson said there was a 30 day return policy and because of their dragging their feet in giving me sensible answers we are now past B&H's 15 days.

Epson better gets their act together and fast!