Maxify PGI-1200 Refillable Cartridges - Leaky Blue?

[pharmacist]

What about the cyan (not blue, because blue is composed by mixing cyan + magenta) catridge is by accident just broken and is causing slight leaking ?

 

[nobb]

What about the cyan (not blue, because blue is composed by mixing cyan + magenta) catridge is by accident just broken and is causing slight leaking ?

Yes I meant cyan. I'm using the terms blue and cyan interchangeably because I'm a noob. This printer only has 4 colors.

I ordered some replacement ink and we'll see what happens. Interesting theory that maybe the cartridge could have an air leak. But interestingly when I take out the print head assembly with the cartridges installed, the cyan literally drips out from the head with very little effort. Like I put a paper towel just touching the head...and the towel starts sucking up cyan. That's leading me to believe it's the ink. Which is strange because none of the other colors are doing this and this exact ink brand/combo is printing just fine in my Brother.

 

[Redbrickman]

Do yourself a favour and get a set of empty OEM cartridges, a set of ARC chips from Aliexpress and refill the original cartridges. Far less trouble with leakage and other odd issues when you use the original carts. I spent sevral years with a Maxify and after messing around with the 3rd party refillable carts I went back to the original and life was a lot easier.

Having said that becasue I don't print regularlty now I replaced the Maxify with a Brother laser and am happy

 

[nobb]

Ok so looks like I finally got this working. I ordered replacement DYE ink that was advertised as being compatible with Canon PG/PGI series. Sucked out all the old ink from the cartridges and filled with the new ink. But this time instead of filling the cartridges 80-90% full, I only put 15 mL color and 35 mL black to match the OE volumes (about half full).

Printed about a dozen pages and they all came out perfect. Not sure if it was the new ink or only half filling the cartridges that fixed it, but I guess time will tell.

 

[PeterBJ]

Overfilling a cartridge can/will cause leaking.

 

[Artur5]

@nobb, I don't want to rain in your parade, but Maxify printers don't seem to like refillable carts and third party inks, specially dye inks. Even OEM cartridges refilled with Canon inks give problems now and them.
If you refilled only to half volume, the ink levels on screen won't match the real amount of ink remaining inside the carts. That might foul the printer. Therefore, be on your guard for unexpected errorrs that might pop on screen and watch carefully your prints/nozzle checks.

 

[palombian]

Can confirm previous experiences.
Since I refill the OEM carts with ink from GI-56 bottles (for the ink tank Maxify types) everything works quite well.
Only issue remaining is cross-contamination when the ink levels differ too much. I solve this by printing a number of sheets with the infected color until it clears (this way the ink doesn't go in the purge pads).

 

[Artur5]

Yes, that's one of the Maxify weird "features"... after a while you get used to it.
"Infected" color is a bit strong, though

 

[nobb]

Can confirm previous experiences.
Since I refill the OEM carts with ink from GI-56 bottles (for the ink tank Maxify types) everything works quite well.
Only issue remaining is cross-contamination when the ink levels differ too much. I solve this by printing a number of sheets with the infected color until it clears (this way the ink doesn't go in the purge pads).

Do you know why this happens? It's so weird, I've somewhat noticed this too. It is that sensitive to the liquid level in the cartridges? It seems it is possible for different colors to leak out from the print head then get absorbed back to the adjacent one.

 

[palombian]

Do you know why this happens? It's so weird, I've somewhat noticed this too. It is that sensitive to the liquid level in the cartridges? It seems it is possible for different colors to leak out from the print head then get absorbed back to the adjacent one.

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 ?