Maxify PGI-1200 Refillable Cartridges - Leaky Blue?

[nobb]

I suppose this is what happens (when you do not print enough).

As @Artur5 found out, the printhead has a buffer with a few ml ink for every colour. Most of the time the contamination does not rise into the cartridge.
Why doesn't this occur with fresh OEM carts (or does it) ?
Maybe they are filled with a certain negative pressure ? What is the function of the ventilation aperture of the cart ?

I've taken apart the print head before for manual cleaning, it's moreso that there's a bit of volume inside where old ink from each color could reside as a "buffer". The print head PCB and head can be unscrewed and separated from the cartridge carrier and there's some seals inside, but otherwise there's no fancy venting or whatnot within the print head assembly itself. That's why I presumed the only way for contamination to occur is for one color to seep out through the nozzle, then get absorbed into the adjacent nozzle. I agree in that it would be very unlikely for the contamination to seep all the way back into the cartridges themselves.

 

[palombian]

I've taken apart the print head before for manual cleaning, it's moreso that there's a bit of volume inside where old ink from each color could reside as a "buffer". The print head PCB and head can be unscrewed and separated from the cartridge carrier and there's some seals inside, but otherwise there's no fancy venting or whatnot within the print head assembly itself. That's why I presumed the only way for contamination to occur is for one color to seep out through the nozzle, then get absorbed into the adjacent nozzle. I agree in that it would be very unlikely for the contamination to seep all the way back into the cartridges themselves.

The contamination is related to the time of inactivity and the ink level differences (ink of full cartridges will seep into the more empty ones).
In my printer it is almost always magenta being invaded by cyan. Strange enough with yellow, even low, I didn't observe it since long.
To be clear, I only refill a cart when the autoreset chip shows empty and I can remove the cartridge the official way. So I can have very different ink levels (as someone who buys new carts).
This points to physical differences in the (refilled OEM) carts. There is a kind of vent in them with a second hole beside the ink outlet. Maybe it isn't functioning anymore as designed in my magenta cart in use (or vice versa in the cyan and yellow - black doesn't play with in this game) ?

 

[nobb]

As an update (also for my own future records), I discovered the cheapo generic aftermarket cartridges (NOT the refillable style) also have the same internal spring in pouch design as the OE, which allows them to work and be refilled the same way as the OE cartridges. I picked up a free MB-2720 to be used for some family members, but didn't want to spend the $100+ for a set of OE cartridges so this was a nice discovery. In general, the refillable style cartridges are only a simple container with NO spring to provide the correct negative pressure in the chamber, which is likely why ink will be leaky if these are used.

On my own unit (running refilled OE cartridges + aftermarket resettable ARC chip), the printing has been fine for the last year but the cyan ink level just started to show an error "?". It still prints fine and there is ink left. Not sure how the self resetting mechanism works on these chips. I tried a bunch of things and couldn't seem to get it to detect any ink level, yet there is no issue printing. It would be nice to get a level so that I don't inadvertently run these dry and burn the print head.