Problem with refillable ink cartridge on an epson wf3620

[djkokalis]

Hello there.
I have used refillable ink cartridges on my epson wf3620 for a few years now and I didn't have any issue with them. The past few days the black colour doesn't print correctly. I have tried the head cleaning utility but it doesn't seem to work.
Is there anything else you think I should do to fix it?
I am attaching both photos of the Nozzle check and the ink cartridges themselves. I am using dye based ink

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

is the black ink as well a dye ink - or pigment ink like in lots of Epson home office printers ? You may download
and use the WicReset utility which offers you a function 'Ink charge' which is effectively a long cleaning cycle. Don't use it multiple times unless you see a real improvement, it otherwise just fills up the waste ink bin. Please print a nozzle check before and after each of such cleaning cycle to check for two details - does the number of missing nozzles drop and are the still missing nozzles at the same location or do they move around ? Missing nozzles moving around are not really clogged in most cases but there is an issue with the ink flow or small air bubbles trapped here or there .

 

[djkokalis]

is the black ink as well a dye ink - or pigment ink like in lots of Epson home office printers ? You may download
and use the WicReset utility which offers you a function 'Ink charge' which is effectively a long cleaning cycle. Don't use it multiple times unless you see a real improvement, it otherwise just fills up the waste ink bin. Please print a nozzle check before and after each of such cleaning cycle to check for two details - does the number of missing nozzles drop and are the still missing nozzles at the same location or do they move around ? Missing nozzles moving around are not really clogged in most cases but there is an issue with the ink flow or small air bubbles trapped here or there .

All inks are dye based. Both black. Will try wicreset utility as soon as I can and will come back with updates. Thanks for the tip

 

[djkokalis]

is the black ink as well a dye ink - or pigment ink like in lots of Epson home office printers ? You may download
and use the WicReset utility which offers you a function 'Ink charge' which is effectively a long cleaning cycle. Don't use it multiple times unless you see a real improvement, it otherwise just fills up the waste ink bin. Please print a nozzle check before and after each of such cleaning cycle to check for two details - does the number of missing nozzles drop and are the still missing nozzles at the same location or do they move around ? Missing nozzles moving around are not really clogged in most cases but there is an issue with the ink flow or small air bubbles trapped here or there .

You were right and thank you so much. I have tried the ink charge once and works perfectly. This is before and after the ink charge

 

[djkokalis]

I have the same problem again. I have followed the principle that @Ink stained Fingers mentioned again but after a few prints I have to do it all over again. Is it possible that the refillable cartridge has some some sort of problem? I have seen in this video that I have to fill the meter to create a vacuum. I have done this so many times but that didn't help. Should I buy another one?
Thanks

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Priming a cartridge with vacuum as shown in the video would be necessary one time only - before first use. The ink charge command does something similar getting air out of cartridges or tubes in CISS-type printers, Ecotank models or with a 3rd party CISS system.
There might be more contaminants in the ink channels of the printhead, a typical cleaning method works with a syringe as shown in this video, the 2nd part
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snp2whsKHLs
Yes, it could be the cartridge itself causing some problems but that's rather rare to my experience. There is a small and fine mesh wire filter in the ink flow inside, visible in most cases if you remove the side cover. But such filter may only clog after a pretty long usage time. It could be the ink in a few cases, so there are several aspects to the problem. There is one detail you should observe - whether clogs move around between nozzles when you do several nozzle check prints - or they stay at the same place - but their number may increase from test to test.

 

[djkokalis]

Priming a cartridge with vacuum as shown in the video would be necessary one time only - before first use. The ink charge command does something similar getting air out of cartridges or tubes in CISS-type printers, Ecotank models or with a 3rd party CISS system.
There might be more contaminants in the ink channels of the printhead, a typical cleaning method works with a syringe as shown in this video, the 2nd part
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snp2whsKHLs
Yes, it could be the cartridge itself causing some problems but that's rather rare to my experience. There is a small and fine mesh wire filter in the ink flow inside, visible in most cases if you remove the side cover. But such filter may only clog after a pretty long usage time. It could be the ink in a few cases, so there are several aspects to the problem. There is one detail you should observe - whether clogs move around between nozzles when you do several nozzle check prints - or they stay at the same place - but their number may increase from test to test.

If I understood correctly I can make my own cleaning fluid using 80% distilled water and 20% ammonia? Where I can buy ammonia?
Last but not least yes the clogs move around after making a head cleaning

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Depending on your country you can find household cleaners with ammonia like Windex ; another recipe would be this one
https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/cleaning-solution-the-ultimate-test.5296/
I would think that 20% ammonia is a big overkill.
MIssing nozzles jumping around can indicate a poor inkflow e.g. insufficient ventilation of the cartridge - the plug on the vent. hole is not removed. And that's a situation where cleaning won't help.

 

[stratman]

I would think that 20% ammonia is a big overkill.

Yes, according to Pharmacist's mixture.

20 drops of Ammonia is equal to 1 ml.

So, 1 ml of Ammonia (20 drops) in 99 ml water to make 100 ml of solution means Ammonia concentration is 1%.

 

[davidblakey]

Just adding my two cents here. Maybe you also need to avoid exposing your printer to extremely cold or extremely hot temperatures. Extreme temperatures can clog up your ink cartridge.