Broke my new C88

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I finally got the refill kit for my C88, added the waste tank mod, and got it printing perfectly.

Then the colors started getting mixed together, and the black ink had a lot of very wide white bands through it.

If it was the refill cartridge not supplying enough ink, I would think that the black would fade out, but the black parts between the lines print fine. Is there any way to fix this, or have I just lost another $70 printer?

Edit:

Upon trying another test print, I find that the colors are mixed up again. I guess the printer is ruined.

Edit:

I had thought maybe there was a defect with the printer, or that a paper jam had damaged the printhead, but upon putting the Epson ink carts in that I had planned on selling, the printer worked fine. I guess the refillable carts that I got (from InkJetCarts) simply don't work well.

 

[mikling]

I think you did not refill the cartridges properly and you have massive air in the lines within the cartridge & head. Also check that the cartridge is properly seated in place. Finally, let it rest overnight and see. My inlcination is your refill method. Is your refill kit pigmented ink?

 

[mikling]

you posted just as I was writing.
Did you prime the cartridges yourself? & do the cartridges sit nice and snug?
I've had it with the chinese crap that hardly ever fits properly yet proper fit and seal is critical in an Epson system.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Yes. I followed all the instructions given by the seller, including to pump air into the air vent while holding the base open in order to prime the cartridge, and by letting them sit for half a day. It is pigmented ink. I looked inside the printer - there is ink leaking /everywhere/, it's all over the rollers and gears, I suspect that the cartridges either have an air leak or are the older spongeless type that didn't work well.

Edit:

I really need to find a printer and refill kits that WORK. So far:

HP 1100d + MIS refillable tanks and ink: Major, major clog.

Epson C88 and InkJetCarts refillable tanks and ink: Major leak.

I need:

1) A printer that can be refilled /easily/. Preferably resettable, but not required. Will be doing about 500-1000 pages per month.

2) A reputable supplier that's /affordable/. MIS' refill kit for the Epson C88 is only about 20% cheaper than buying Epson OEM ink. That's not even worth the hassle bothering to do it. WeInk is about 3x more expensive than that.

I am not in any position to buy a laser printer at this point. I'm considering the HP K550, but MIS' ink clogged up my last printer, and I'm not too keen on ordering from InkJetCarts again.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

Looking at the printer again before boxing it up, I think the paper jammed /because/ of the leaking ink. I suspect that a big 'drop' of ink formed under the printhead, and when the paper hit it, it got all wrinkled up and curled and jammed in the printer.

Finding decent refillable ink tanks for Epsons seems to be an extreme hit or miss scenario. Has anyone here bought any /reliable/ empty tanks (that come with auto-reset chips) for a decent price?

 

[fotofreek]

Canon carts are, by far, the easiest to refill, and refilled carts nearly always work flawlessly. If you can possibly find an ip4000 or ip5000 the carts are not chipped. If your budget can stand it there are some i9900 printers, the wide format units, available at a very good price. These printers were originally about $500 and I believer they can now be purchased for under $400 after rebates. The IP4000 and 5000 printers are more economical as they don't use the light dye-load photo cyan and photo magents inks. In addition, the i9900 has red and green carts.

I use MIS inks in my i960 and ip5000 printers and they are quite good. Others on this forum use Formulabs or Hobbicolor inks and report successful results.

The ip4200 carts can be refilled but from what I've read you will have to accept Canon's nag screens, their disclaimer if you continue using refilled carts, and the need to visually inspect the (transparent) carts to be sure they don't run empty. Once the cart has signalled that it is empty via the chip it will not monitor the ink levels. With a little luck someone will ultimately come up with a chip resetter and perhaps some aftermarket carts for these printers. In the meanwhile, there are some refill inks for them.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I still wish I could have gotten the C88 working, since I really liked the pigment ink. The prints that did work, though quite a bit color-shifted from the graphics I had set for the HP 1100d, were very sharp and clean, and MUCH more waterproof than the HP. Actually the black was the least waterproof, while the colors were almost 100% waterproof. On the HP, the black was semi-waterproof, while the dye seemed to run if you looked at it the wrong way.

I'm considering keeping the refill kit instead of asking for a refund, and getting refillable blank cartridges from MIS. Has anyone /recently/ bought MIS' cartridges and had good results with them? MIS wants $5.50 per blank cartridge, but $60 for a set of auto-reset chips, while this entire refill kit with carts, chips, and double the ink of a MIS kit, only cost $50. I figure I can just keep the auto-reset chips from these and buy /good/ refillable tanks, but it seems to be such a hit-or-miss as to whether you can get a good one, I'm still unsure. It would be far easier than having to go buy /another/ printer.

Luckily, I haven't 'spent the cost of a laser' fooling around with refills, the C88 was the first 'good' printer that I've ruined. It seems to me that most lasers under $1500 or so have toner carts that are not very competitive to inkjets, especially if you refill.

 

[websnail]

Hold up a second... it sounds a lot like the waste ink tank modification has been borked somewhere along the line as the symptoms you describe are classic back flow issues..

Couple of things to check:

1. The waste ink tank is located such that the top of the tank is no higher than 2 inches above the bottom of the printer.

2. That the tubing is not blocked and/or isn't too small an inner diameter

3. That the tubing is also not going any higher than 2 inches from the bottom of the printer.


The reason for this is pure and simple gravity as not all of the ink will flow to the waste ink tank and ultimately flows back to the sponge pad that sits under the printhead which then produces the results you've seem..

There could be an additional issue with the cartridges but to remove this as a variable I'd recommend using the Epson originals while you debug.

If you want I'd be happy to help you if you can take the printer back out of the box and set it up again as before but taking some pictures of it all... It'll take some time to diagnose if I'm right or not but I'm happy to do what I can...

Oh and for the record you're going to need some distilled water, and lint free cloth but if I'm right you haven't toasted the printer at all, just a correctable issue.

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

The waste tank mod is fine, the hose goes straight out the back of the printer without any bends or turns, and is lower than the printhead. It's obviously not disconnected, as the printer spends about 8-12ml of ink per cleaning cycle. I don't have a digital camera. The printer has so much ink smeared all over the inside of it, on the rollers, and the gears, and some of the electronic components, where the ink is definitely /not/ supposed to drain, that it's ruined, I would have to wash it out to use it now. I can see the ink on the inside of the print carriage and I'm definitely sure that the cartridges did not make a proper seal on the inside, and instead of going into the printhead, it leaked all around it and dripped all over the inside of the printer.

 

[mikling]

Go ahead and wash it out. Unplug it first!!!!!!!
Move the head to a cartridge change position, keep cartridges in. Then unplug. Wash it out gently with warm water and thoroughly wash the resting area. Drain, rinse with distilled water. Push the head back to resting position on the far right. Point a fan at it for 24 hours or until thoroughly dry. You should be good again.