Ink or cartridge - which is the culprit

[strobemonkey]

Returned my iP4700 yesterday and got my Epson P50 today. Now I'm a very happy camper! Disc printing is brilliant.

Now, I tried my old ink carts with auto reset chips. They get detected as oem inks! But after printing a few pages and doing a nozzle check, I see bands on the test prints. I tried a couple of head cleaning which didn't help. The bands were in the same places in all colors except magenta. I put the OEM cartridges back, did a head clean, followed by nozzle check which yielded a good result, no banding.

As far as I can remember, I had this persistent banding problem with my then RX685. I just kept doing head cleans until I got a perfect nozzle check, then after a few days, I get the same problem.

I'm trying to think which is the culprit. Is it the cartridge, or the inks (jettec) ???

Here is the actual cartridge I'm using:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/REFILLABLE-INK-CARTRIDGE-R265-R285-R360-RX585-RX685-/170457656327?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CamerasPhoto_Printing_PrinterInkCatridges_JN&hash=item27b0116c07

 

[mikling]

If you are using spongeless cartridges it is the way you are filling the cartridges. You are not properly priming the cartridges to eliminate the ingestion of air into the printhead. Once properly primed, they are as reliable as OEM ones which are primed at the factory during manufacture.

 

[strobemonkey]

Hi mikling, do you mind telling me how to properly prime the cartridge then please? I've searched in here and youtube, but all I see is priming ciss kits. Thank you.