MX860 cartridge or purge clogged??

[chas045]

I will search on purge diagnostics. But, just a couple more points. I just dug out my other nozzle checks over the last few days from the trash can and can see that several of them have almost always very good or perfect pigment black bars and perfect first cyan bars, but like the prints above, none of these prints show any second or third lighter bars. However, I am reasonably confident that sometimes in the last year, I would get no lighter bars in one color or another, but even within the last two weeks, I have had at least one color printed in the lighter bars. The point is that the missing light colors have been erratic and not gone all at once although more and more frequently gone.

 

[Grandad35]

If the light bars come and go, then it isn't an electrical problem.

The most likely cause of the symptoms that you describe is a faulty purge unit.

 

[chas045]

I searched and found a nice clear 7 page thread about the purge unit and flooding the ink pads with liquids (water or windex etc) and that if the liquid didn't go down with pumping then it was clogged or broken. Also, liquids won't go down until the pump runs, even if lines are disconnected, because the valves are above gravity feed. FYI as I said somewhere above, I have and have read much of triggers repair disk, even if it is misplaced at the moment.

Well, both pads were black. I filled the left pad (windex) via syringe and while filling the right pad, the liquid disappeared. I added more and it went right down and the right drained too. I added some more and both drained in a couple seconds. The left pad looks white. I am assuming that this suggests or proves that something is disconnected right below the pad treys or the design is changed in the MX860.

Also, while looking with a flashlight, I can see a horizontal thin 'perhaps clear' strip that appears to be saturated (if that is an appropriate term for stuff on an apparently slick plastic surface) with probably black ink throughout its width which extends the entire length of the print head travel, below and in front of the toothed drive belt. If this is the timing strip, I hear it is supposed to be clean. I suppose it could be grease instead?

I sure hope that these latest observations mean something useful?

 

[Grandad35]

As you stated, it sounds like the hoses on the purge unit are disconnected.

The strip has a very fine set of "timing marks" and isn't perfectly clear. If it was covered in grease, the printer wouldn't work.

 

[chas045]

Well, there is a heck of a lot of ink on it, but the printer still prints, sort of. I assume that I can just wipe the ink off the strip? I assume that ink being all over the strip must mean something?!
Does anyone know how to easily check the possibility of disconnected lines directly below the treys? And why hasn't this possibility been mentioned in the diagnostic thread indicating that this is essentially impossible? Has this come up before? Has the tubing in the MX860 been redirected?

More info. I guess not surprisingly the white pad became black when the cartridge returned. AND the ink covered strip I was mentioning is probably not the timing strip. I now see a clean strip DIRECTLY in front of the toothed drive belt. The ink loaded strip is in front of the drive belt and down an inch so it is just above and behind the head parking treys.