Purge Cycle when inserting new Ink Cart. What Purge Cycle?

Photographic Memory

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So the general consensus is when it is required to swap out an empty cart we should have a whole set ready to switch over in order to minimize Ink "wastage" due to what obvious SOUNDS like excessive purging when a new cart is inserted. Makes sense, the ix6550 used to drive me nuts, sounded like it was flushing the toilet, running a bath, and doing the dishes all st the same time. Back then I was none the wiser, only a few months ago, I would run Deep Head Cleaning Cycle and drain half my Carts in the hope of unclogging Nozzles (didn't even know about removal of Print Head and washing that sucker (pun!) myself…

Now hear me out. Please…

As some of you read my other thread a couple of days ago, I was in panic mode as my first batch of newly filled CLI-42's were popping out the Silicone Plugs. Turned out, we think, due to them being sealed in an airtight tupperware box sitting on a thick kitchen towel doused in Isopropyl Alcohol. Those fumes were potent when it came to opening the box after 3 days.

Here's my point… I was willing and went ahead and used those [possibly overfilled] Carts no problem at all. But here's the thing. I knew there was a POSSIBILITY (at the time) of the Carts being overfilled so to play it safe (which would have meant not inserting them into the Printer in the first place!), play it safe by having the Printer use up as much Ink without wastage hopefully, but by all means yes please a Purge Cycle would definitely be welcomed in this instance.

So I had four Prints lined up, all ready to print in succession. Dark black Prints as it was the Black and Light Grey that I had inserted and was looking quite possibly overfilled.

As soon as I inserted the Carts I immediately went to Print. 1 by 1. And then I noticed something…

No Purge Cycle. In fact I was hoping for one and the longer none took place the more apprehensive (?) I became. Well this was yesterday, since changing out for Carts I notice that the Printer (my one at least, Pro-100S) does NOT run a Purge Cycle every time we insert new Cartridges.

Ironically twice I ran out of Paper yesterday, blinking orange light and in my haste to put new Paper guess what, within 10 seconds if the Paper is not put into the Tray it runs (what sounds like) a Purge Cycle. So now I make sure there is always paper, but this makes me think that these Printers are more "intelligent" that just running a Cycle for the sake of it just because it detected a new Cart.

And a thought just came to me on the back of that, IF we inserted a CLI-8 with Yellow because we didn't want the OEM Yellow to mix with it, I brought up a point what about the OEM Yelliw still in the Print Head when we first use 3rd Party Yellow… well yes, exactly…

What are other peoples experiences with automatic / "random" Purge Cycles? Have they been studied/documented?
 

Ink stained Fingers

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There are slight differences between printer models and Epson and Canon etc how they have programmed the purge/cleaning cycles into the firmware but the principles remain. There is a type of purge cycle which consumes ink - to free up nozzles - and a cleaning cycle which starts the pump as well but does not consume additional ink - stray ink collects on the nozzle plate during printing, and the firmware is wiping it off at the rubber lip of the purge unit and then runs the pump to move that ink into the waste ink reservoir. This activitiy typically takes place during or after a longer print job. You would need to watch the head movement carefully and the timing of the pump whether the pump starts running when the head is lowered onto the purge unit or the head is wiped off first, then lifted up a little bit or moved away again and the pump starts only then. You may look into the maintenance manual for your printer, that will most likely provide some more details about these activities - ink consumption during a purge cycle, purge cycles with different intensity levels , timing etc
 

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Yes, your printer is intelligent to some extent, but not as intelligent as you hopefully, the printer will always run a purge cycle when a cartridge is changed, but and here’s the interesting bit, this can happen for several reasons or it may not !

When your printer is showing low ink on a single cartridge, it will when you insert a replacement cartridge run a purge cycle, or if you run the cartridge empty and then replace the cartridge for another one, it will also run the purge cycle.

In your case you probably replaced a full or nearly full cartridge with another one, which didn’t trigger the automatic purge, but this can also depend on when your printer last ran a cleaning cycle.

The printer is timed to run some sort of cleaning cycle in its internal clock day or night, that cannot be stopped or if the printer has just been powered on, that too will bring on a pre-scheduled or missed cleaning cycle.

It may for instance, run one if you only lift the top lid to check on the condition of your cartridges or it may not, (Time dependant) there are several different clean / purge cycles, and your printer is timed to run which ever one that is scheduled in its memory.

The printer has only one purge unit, so it must run a clean cycle on every cartridge at the same time, so changing one cartridge at a time is deemed wasteful, (By this forum) and the printer doesn’t waste your ink, it’s used to keep it in good condition and ready for the next print run, believe it or not.

So now you have even more information to digest, enjoy... ;)
 

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Ironically twice I ran out of Paper yesterday, blinking orange light and in my haste to put new Paper guess what, within 10 seconds if the Paper is not put into the Tray it runs (what sounds like) a Purge Cycle. So now I make sure there is always paper,
There is no known connection between paper and purges. The lack of paper afforded a moment of down time to do a scheduled maintenance clean or purge.

I brought up a point what about the OEM Yelliw still in the Print Head when we first use 3rd Party Yellow… well yes, exactly…
If I understand your point, you are worried about Yello Gello forming in the print head. In the scenario you present it is not an issue. Use the printer and the OEM CLI-42 Yellow ink will be flushed and replaced with the refill ink rapidly. Yello Gello issue centers on the interaction/reaction in the sponge of the cartridge. That is why you use the CLI-8 cartridge or thoroughly flush the CLI-42 cartridge when using third party Yellow.
 

Photographic Memory

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I think I will make a video of exactly what I witness.
Typical scenario:
I
nsert 3 full refilled Ink Cartridges - take out the 3 they are replacing - 1 or 2 are warning Ink Low, the other is on its way there so replace now. Remaining Cartridges still showing full or, at least 3/4 full.

No Purge! (Bear in mind I have 3 or 4 Prints lined up on Screen ready to print immediately, all Processed: Image Size, Paper Type, Relative Colorimetric/Perceptual, etc.)

No Purge.

Yet…

Send an image to print, I hear a click (mild thud) and then blinking Orange Light and Warning on Screen telling me "Printer is out of Paper, Insert Paper and Press Resume".

I use profanity and "panic", meaning darn it, hastily try and get Paper (quality Ilford Silk) out the packet and into rear of Printer in Feed Tray even though the flap thingy is down. I think I made it in time, but no, I was 2 seconds too late...

Runs Purge Cycle.

This has happened more than once, else I wouldn't post about it on here. Trust me, I just received a 3rd set of OEM CLI-42 Carts from OctoInk, I am all for swapping out all 8 Carts every time. The last thing I want is to unnecessarily use up Ink and hence fill up Waste Tray. I want to preserve my Pro 100S including Print Head as best as possible.

But this is what I have witnesses.

And now I have settled down more I WILL swap out all 8 Carts, just been easing into my new Hobby that I adore especially thanks to you all. Just some Carts, namely Light Grey seem to be needed replacing twice as often as other Colors.
 

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you are mentioning the high usage rate of the light gray, that is easy to explain, that ink is not just used for grayscale printing but the driver is mixing gray and color inks to generate a wider range of non-saturated colors - a process which is called UCR - under color removal. A color, any color can be described in the RGB color space with the resp RGB values, but you can change over to the Lab color space - as well with 3 variables - L for the luminance, the gray level of a color , and two color values a and b, this shows easily that you can mix a color with an ink with the L - gray value and a percentage of the a and b colors, and by doing this you will actually use less ink overall - the volume drops slightly. The actual mixing - color and gray inks - is embedded in the driver and firmware and not accessible for the user.
 

Photographic Memory

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you are mentioning the high usage rate of the light gray, that is easy to explain, that ink is not just used for grayscale printing but the driver is mixing gray and color inks to generate a wider range of non-saturated colors - a process which is called UCR - under color removal. A color, any color can be described in the RGB color space with the resp RGB values, but you can change over to the Lab color space - as well with 3 variables - L for the luminance, the gray level of a color , and two color values a and b, this shows easily that you can mix a color with an ink with the L - gray value and a percentage of the a and b colors, and by doing this you will actually use less ink overall - the volume drops slightly. The actual mixing - color and gray inks - is embedded in the driver and firmware and not accessible for the user.


Fascinating. Truly an awesome Printer, even with OctoInk 3rd Party Ink I was expecting to see a dulling of Color compared to the OEM Ink, but with my custom ColorMunki Profile and this luscious Ilford Silk Paper the Prints still have some pop to them.

Thank you for explaining as such, have heard about LAB, but a lot of it is way over my head in terms of all this Gamut/Color Space, etc.

They should have made the Light Grey an extra large Tank like the 526 (or 525?) Pigment Black was on the ix6550


Thank you again for such a wonderfully concise description of why Light Grey is being used up (seemingly) quicker than the others, yet as a side effect it means the other Colors are not used up as frequently.
 

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there is always a little bit more to it, adding a gray ink may reduce the usage of other inks slightly and keeps the look of grays more stable under changing light conditions with different color temperatures , but as you started this thread with questions about the purge activities - adding an ink into the printer just implies that one more cartridge can run empty and trigger a purge cycle consuming some of all the other inks , and more inks just imply more cleaning cycles unless you take the opportunity to swap all other cartridges as well against full ones at the same time. So some (small) savings during printing may just be offset by the cleaning of more cartridges. It's a tricky situation overall.
 

Photographic Memory

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OK, you were right. Go on, "we told you so", or rather, "yes we know we are, we've doing this for literally decades and this is your first refill doing this, this isn't a conspiracy, we're not out to get you, we are on your side and want to help you, really, trust us!"

I put 5 Carts in last night (yes, I am using a lot of Ink, I am addicted to printing, building up an A4 album, trying to get off the darn Screen and back on to good old fashioned Paper! "

Well the 5 I replaced were in need of Refill. The Yellow actually, I only have ONE CLI-8 prepped, and that is in the Printer, so had Resetter ready, PVC Tape cut and ready, Yellow Squeasy Bottle with Needle ready, and… go!!

Managed to do it before Print Head went back in. 5 Carts replaced AND Yellow refilled.

The remaining 2, Cyan and Black were only 3/4 full so I left them.

Lo and behold, a "small" Purge Cycle, BUT it then showed the Cyan and Black were now more than half empty (or full, same thing)…

Wouldn't you know it, I replaced them too, and again, SMALL Purge Cycle or whatever it does.

OK, I get it now, nothing nicer than seeing ALL Cart levels full :)

Guys, forgive me. Even if I was right and there isn't necessarily a purge cycle guaranteed every time a new Ink Cart is replaced :p


But you are more right than me. Friends again? :)
 

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