Hp K8600: Can The Printheads Be Damaged Due To A Lack Of Ink In The Ciss Tank?

[ACaD]

I have a CISS attached to an HP Officejet Pro K8600. It was working well until the person printing several hundred pages forgot to check the ink levels and only noticed there was no black ink in the tank when it started printing black streaks. I filled ink but it continued to print streaks. I tried cleaning the printheads several times but it has had no effect.

I also printed a Self Test Diagnostic Page. It prints in magenta and in the "Refilled supply:" section states "Yes" next to "Detected in printhead? Black " and "Detected in printer? Black" (see attached file).

Has the printhead been damaged or is it not printing black because it has detected a refilled cartridge?

Also, if I look at the ink tubes feeding the printheads, the black ink tube is almost empty but the other colour ink tubes are almost full. Is this normal?

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

It sounds like the ink system needs to be re-primed if there's no ink in the tube, but I believe these printers use thermal printheads, which can't be run empty...

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

but I believe these printers use thermal printheads, which can't be run empty...

They probably can. Check the manual. My experience with HP heads is that they are at least somewhat tolerant of running dry. It's probably not a good idea, but it doesn't necessarily fry the head immediately.

 

[PeterBJ]

I recently bought defective a HP Officejet Pro K5400 at a thrift store, so I'm collecting info about these printers before trying to power it up and attempt a repair. This printer is similar to the K8600 except for being a printer only and having no network capability. It uses the same HP 88 cartridges and same print heads as the K8600.

These printers already have a built in pump driven CISS, so have you replaced the HP 88 cartridges with CISS bottles or what?

The print heads will stop working immediately if they ingest air. Here are a couple of videos showing re-priming and cleaning of these print heads, maybe you will find something useful, even if they apply to unmodified printers? Link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0Xd3w0cK9c and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6YjL7mff5c . As I haven't started working on the K5400 yet, I haven't tested the procedures, but I think they look reasonable.

 

[thanhhuy123]

I once ran dry my HP printhead, and it still okay. HP printhead is more forgiving than Canon's. Inside it, there seems to have a sensor that will eventually stop the printhead when something is wrong. I experienced it once when I refill the wrong ink (Epson ink) and its viscosity clogged and dragged my printhead. After some seconds of printing right after the cleaning cycle, printout became streaks and then blank totally, printhead moved slower/drager and slower/drager and then it stopped working, error display on screen, printhead parked itself and paper eject. Printer was locked down until some minutes later.

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I like the concept. Are those good printers, PeterBJ?

 

[PeterBJ]

I like the concept. Are those good printers, PeterBJ?

I don't know, my printer is defective and bought at a thrift store for DKK 20 = USD 3.64. It had a sticker attached saying something like: " Paper jam error, maybe fixable by a handyman?". Out of curiosity I couldn't resist buying this big thing with a pump driven CISS. I haven't been able to get it to print a self test page (yet?). It won't pick up paper. There seems to be a mechanical error. There also seems to be a problem with one of the two print heads containing air, as it is 10 grams underweight, a print head in perfect condition should have a weight of 60 grams.

It seems the print heads are the Achilles heel of these printers. See this thread by websnail: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/hp88-black-printheads-feedback-please.2752/ . But here is a report on disassembling a K5400 that has printed 100,000 pages and is still working: http://www.drucker-onkel.de/index.php?id=910 or a Google translation: http://translate.google.dk/translat...=http://www.drucker-onkel.de/index.php?id=910

The printer is not new, from HP site you can download Win9x, Win2k, and WinXP drivers. HP also offers a special install guide for download. This guide should allow you to install the printer under all newer Windows versions including 8.1

 

[thanhhuy123]

Up till now I can't understand why Canon is the inventor of thermal printhead and sell it to HP, but HP can produce more durable printhead?

 

[websnail]

Hey folks... Completely missed this but catching up now.

1. Frankly for the cost of the printhead I'd recommend getting a new one.
2. I'd also recommend rethinking the CIS system because only CIS systems that sidestep the pump module on OEM carts allow that to happen.

You can reprime the CIS internal tubing in the printer by refilling the cart/CIS and then use a blunt (19 - 20G needle & syringe) to pull ink through at the printhead end but the printhead is likely to be sorely borked.

Personally I'm still using a K5400 and L7780 while my K8600 is waiting for me to clean it up, install a new homebrew CIS and new printheads.

Converting an OEM cartridge to act as the delivery mechanism is not particularly hard either.. Remove the cart bottom, remove the fill ball, cut away some bits of plastic to allow the tube/connector to enter the hole and then use a glue gun or similar to glue the thing in place. Replace the cart bottom (with the ARC fitted) and then you're off.

Ok, so that last was simplified but it's nothing you can't do without a few CIS spare parts and a bit of patience but most importantly it retains the air detection function of the OEM cart and stops you beggaring things up again.



In terms of being worthwhile, I've found the HP88 based printers to be excellent high volume printers. I had to swap the pigment black for the basic IS Epson Black (WJ190) and I'm considering whether to try it out with the KMP Universal when I have some more time but in terms of reliability, the K5400 is still running after years of service, while I have the L7780 acting as backup. The K8600 will be my doc printer for customer with visual impairment issues that need bigger images/font size but will doubtless see similar duty once up and running.

So, yes I'd definitely spend the time and the expense on a new printhead... possibly even buy in a few spares while they're still available. They're good workhorses.

 

[turbguy]

While the "might" be a durability difference between Canon and HP thermal print heads, I don't, offhand, believe either would survive continued nozzle heater firings without ink present adjacent to the heater to provide proper heat dissipation...

I know Canon print heads have temperature sensors near/in the print head to detect overheating and pause printing for a "cooling off" period. I have received errors that the print head temperature is "abnormal" and only replacing the print head resolved it.