The Epson R3000 refillable cartridge... exposed and explained.

[mikling]

Here it is the Epson R3000 refillable cartridge. Hot off my workbench,
Let's us see what it's all about.

The damper reservoir as you will see should always contain ink even when the cartridge is empty. This supplies ink to the printhead.
Ink is essentially picked up from the bottom of the cartridge and lifted up into the reservoir compartment where it is fed to the other side on a path down to the printhead.
it is not a good idea to use cleaning cycle to try and fill this area. For one thing, that will eat up your waste ink pad counter life and you really don't want to do that. Do you?

The over pressure exit vent allows excess pressure to bleed out to the outside via the safety valve on the other side. These cartridges DO NOT LIKE to be pressurised. The skin membrane can break the seal loose or burst at a weak spot.

 

[jtoolman]

More please!!!!

 

[mikling]

You asked for it! Ya got it!

 

[mikling]

The Negative pressure is what the cartridge internals want to be in after the cartridge is primed by the printer. If for what ever reason, if ink gasses or who knows what , that flapper valve will release the positive pressure and allow it to exit through the top air vent. Well you also don't want positive pressure in the tank either or it will exit the print head nozzles....and so will you ink!

The intake flapper check valve is there to allow air in and on CISS to prevent ink from backflowing back to the tanks or externally if the cartridge is tipped on the side or upside down etc. So if this is working, then there is no need for line clamps. On damper systems where such a check valve does not exist, then a line clamp is required.

The maze is there for a reason exactly why? I can't put my finger on it. It might be there for flow resistive effects. Not sure.... hey I didn't design the thing.

Then there is the filter membrane, This is stainless steel and is very fine. Ink sits on the other side and it allows ink to go through it, on the way down to the head.

So there, much of what a refillable cartridge is all about. Next we see what happens when we begin to fill it.

 

[mikling]

This is when it is prefilled before it is topped up and it also shows what the cartridge should look like when it is empty. The damper reservoir should always be full of ink. When preparing the cartridge for initial use, you want to make sure that the printhead always gets ink and never air or else a series of head cleanings and wasted ink will ensue not to mention short ink pad counter life. Do the right thing and prime it properly.
I do it a certain way so that all seals remain intact until the user pops it into their printer.

You can reverse prime if you wish. Just be prepared to get ink on your hands or wear gloves in the process. Use a syringe with about 10ml of ink to do this properly.

 

[mikling]

This is what the other side looks like when it is primed properly. There is ink all the way down to where the printhead spigots enter the cartridge internals.

 

[mikling]

Finally this is what the cartridge is like when it is topped up after the priming sequence that I carry out to ensure that it works without the user going through a series of steps. 34ml.

 

[mikling]

The chips on the new printers are actually powered by a small button cell. I will show a picture perhaps tomorrow. Resetting involves shorting a couple of contacts. There must be a printer firmware/chip logic reason why these must be so and why a sensible CISS is not available as of this time as you'd still need to remove the cartridge chip to reset.

 

[jtoolman]

EXCELLENT job as Always!!!! I am now getting the R3000 itch!!!
Damn! I thought I was done with buying printers.

 

[ntux]

Thank a lot !

So, for you, what would be the steps to follow to ensure that the cartridge is correctly filled? Especially regarding the damper reservoir?

Also (this may be a dumb question), does one need negative pressure in the cardridge when operating? Does that means that the air intake plug should be left there when the cartridge is in the printer? Or, as with other refillable cartridges, the air plug should only be present when the cartridge is out of the printer? (removed when the cartridge is in the printer?)

Sorry if this sounds dumb, but I'm a bit a newbie regarding refillable cartridges, and wouldn't want to damage my brand new r3000

Thanks!