Sorry, yes there is no sponge in the cartridge.Got mixed up with another printer model. Yes, you are right not to buy another brother products, me too. I had decided that about a year ago.
but the 3 color ink cartdidges (in a 4 cartridge CMYK configuration) run out very quickly. This is especially troubling since I don't use the color at all, and don't use the black that often either.
All inkjet printers need to periodically clean the print head to prime the nozzles. When a printer is not used for a while the nozzles will dry out and clog. The printer will need to run cleaning cycles automatically to keep the nozzles ready for your next print job. This is why you do not print colors yet the color ink is still consumed.
A less-messy solution: fully cover the sensor in the middle of the cartridge, just above the ink output, with opaque tape (duct tape, blue painter's tape, masking tape, etc). It's probably best to tuck the tape ends into the indents rather than wrap them around the sidesbe as stealthy as possible. I imagine this cuts off communication between printer and cartridge, but don't particularly careit's solved the problem. Haven't had any issues so far. I only print in grayscale and the color demands drove me crazy. Hope this helps.
