What about Lexmark cartridges ?

hinook

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Hello,

do you know what difference there is between all the cartridges ?

For instance HP and Lexmark seem to use the same technology, do they use the same ink ?
 

Craig Ross

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Thats a good question I've often thought ink resellers tell you they are different to sell more ink.
But I,ve seen a canon using epson black dye diluted with 10% alchohol.
I have an array of different inks for different carts and a lot look identical but some do look different
for example the yellow for HP 57 is a darker colour than say a HP 23 but yellow for bc-05 canon
looks the same as yellow bci_06 and bci-03
Pigment inks are obviously different to dye ink and epson uses different technology to Canon etc
there may well be other differences like nozzle size etc. But I,m sure there a lot of inks that could be
cross used without trouble but I don't think the ink reseller are going to tell you.
 

hinook

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Right !

I use 3 different inks.
- for HP - Lex (black + 3 colors)
- for Canon (bk + 3 colors)
- Epson (bk + 5 colors)

The Lex cartridges often cause a lot of problems.
Theire design id not easy to open, clean and refill (the steal cover, and the coagulated bk ink is a pain i.t.a.).
How come Lex black ink coagulates and not the other black ones ?
I trhow so many Lex cartridges away because they won't print correctly ...
 

Craig Ross

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the coagulating ink as you describe it is pigment ink a thicker ink its properties are to last much longer
on a black and white document for example it is more difficult to clean and can cause head clogging more often
than the thinner dyes ,if longevity is not a problem I have used black dye in its place,but never put pigment ink
in a cart meant for dye the nozzles are much smaller and the the thicker pigment will clog it.
I have also used HP pigment black in a Lexmark cart and visa versa,some Hp black carts are of the dye type
and you would need to work out which it is.
As far as know only some of the higher end Epson printers that use ultachrome inks are pigment colour as
well as their black and while pigment ink is supposed to last 100 years as opposed to 25 for dyes
pigment is not as vibrant as dye inks
but note archivalness very much depends on paper used and whether it's behind glass or not and must
be away from direct sunlight(nothing survives direct sunlight).
 

hinook

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ok, thanks for that : dye, pigment lesson.

do you know what for the steal cover on the Lex cart is ?
when out get the foam out, there is this steal cover.
I think it's to permit the ink to reach the head and not stay in the foam.

I take the cover away to clean the head from coagulated ink but then the cartridge won't always restart.
Or is it the ink I use which is the wrong one ...
 

Craig Ross

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I,m not quite sure what you mean by steel cover, are you referring to the mesh over the ink reservoir
under the sponge and over the head? can you post a picture this mesh is to filter ink to the head
if this is what you are referring to then yes this reservoir needs to have ink in it after filling the sponge
and is generally achieved by priming through the nozzles to get a flow of ink.you can buy a snap on
primer very cheap from most refill suppliers
 

hinook

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right, that's it : the mesh !
so there is no other way than having a mesh on top on the reservoir ?
 

Craig Ross

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I don't think I would be removing the mesh unless you have some way of replacing it
but if you removed the sponge the reservoir underneath could be cleaned with alchohol
then reassembled filled with ink then primed which is very important.cleaning the sponge
with alcohol at this stage would probably be a good idea as well.You could try the cart
without the mesh but I think it's there to stop the reservoir from getting clogged
with fibres from the sponge.
 

hinook

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That's a good idea.
I don't see how to clean the reservoir from the tar like substance without removing the mesh.
Do you inject alcohol through the mesh ?
how do you pull it out (it's sealed on boths sides : mesh and head) ?
 

Craig Ross

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I would fill the reservoir with isopropl alcohol or some other ink cleaning fluid
with a synge without the needle
let the cart stand for about an hour then flush it out with a priming clip
perhaps doing this more than once might help
 
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