Instant clog refilling... (Canon MX870)

[WhoDunIt]

New Canon MX870, Image Specialist inks from ebay, Octoink Sqeasy fill... so far looking great.

First fill and ... no yellow at all. Everything else fine. Deep clean, clean, 5 nozzle checks. Not a spot of yellow.

So,... I refilled empty (nothing more, like a purge) cartridges. Perhaps I mixed a bit of OEM and refill ink. And I thought it looked.... funny. Perhaps cloudy? Or thickened? Gelled? Not sure. I'm just looking for basic business quality color at the moment.

Am I looking at the windex, cleaning cartridge learning curve right away? Yikes!

Allan

 

[WhoDunIt]

Should I now (and previously) buy clean/unused/empty cart. to fill? With ink? And a windex cleaning cart?

Or flush the cartridge with a bunch of (not so cheap) ink?

 

[martin0reg]

First of all you should not print anything except nozzle checks until ink is flowing in all channels.
I would try another new yellow cartridge for comparison.
It can be a clogged printhead but also (more likely) no ink flow from the refilled cartridge.
If you press the sponge chamber the outlet should become wet or dripping...you can also blow in the top air vent...

 

[WhoDunIt]

I thought about the cartidge not supplying ink. A new canon Yellow cartridge didn't change a thing. Not a trace of yellow in the nozzle checks (3 so far).

If I squeeze the cartridge, yes, it does get wet and almost drip.

Any ideas?

 

[WhoDunIt]

I removed the printhead, all looks ok to me. I put a drop of yellow ink on the yellow screen to perhaps "prime" it. Still. not a trace of yellow showing on the nozzle check.

 

[jopereira]

Well, I'm new to this but from my reading I would suspect the new cartridge doesn't have air vent open. Printer head has a vacuum in yellow channel so no ink output.
Experts, is that ok, or may I should read a little more before reply to others ?

ps - I'll be refilling my OEM cartridges soon because I have a yellow "!" on top of all colors (M;Y;C)

 

[martin0reg]

Yes it could be the air vent - but a new OEM cartridge should work alright.
You can press the printhead on a paper towel to see if it leaves fresh ink (after a cleaning cycle or a nozzle check).
If all nozzle rows / colors including yellow appears on the paper towel and there's not a trace of yellow after printing a nozzle check - I have no idea - it could be a defective electronic...but that should have nothing to do with refilling..

 

[jru]

When I had a PGI-5 clog so I had none of the PGI-5 image in the nozzle check, it was repeatedly putting a few drops of distilled water (windex may be better yet) both on the screen where the cart sits as well as on the 2 "park pads" which the printhead sits on to the extreme right when parked.

When you open the cover the printhead moves from the parked space to the right to the center. I removed the cart & put few drops on the screen that the cart sits on and few drops on the park pads. I let it sit that way with the cart in the center for a few minutes before closing the lid (because when the lid is closed, and the printhead moved back to the park position, it seemed to initiate a clean cycle which runs the purge pump to suck the few drops away). Letting it sit for a while before attempting to suck the drops away seemed like a good idea. I had to do this cycle many times, waiting between each cycle to let things sit. I think it was letting it sit overnight, after applying the several drops, and turning it off immediately when the head parked -- that the next morning the nozzle check was back. Before that, bits of the nozzle pattern would start to appear, but it was leaving it soak overnight that seemed to make the most difference.

I may have had a different problem than yours, but I thought I'd share my experience (where lots of patience seemed to bear fruit).

Good luck!

 

[WhoDunIt]

Well, a clog it was. A deep clean, then a clean and I was getting a normal nozzle check.

Thanks much for the help.

 

[Parhs]

I got ink from octoink first refill 0 problems!! Nozzle check perfect.
Thats good ink