Overfill / Leaking Cartrides. They can effect their neighbors Plugged?

[Nifty]

I get ink in and around the outlet hole on many of my cartridges. Occasionally I've had ink actually on the outside of the cartridge walls. This happened with my yellow most recently. It wasn't overfilled and it really didn't look like it was leaking, so I'm not sure what was going on.

 

[Grandad35]

There is a photo on page 5 of this thread ("http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=28&p=5") that shows what the opening between the ink chamber and the sponge chamber. It consists of 4 narrow vertical slots that extend up from the bottom for about 1/2". When the ink level in the sponge falls below the top of these slots, air flows into the ink chamber, allowing ink to flow into the sponge chamber (since the ink chamber is sealed, air must come in before the ink can go out). If the ink level is above this point, the air forms bubbles. During a long print run you use a lot of ink and therefore get bubbles in the ink - nothing to worry about.

 

[Nifty]

Grandad, very good info. I didn't even notice the slits in that picture. By the way, did you think I meant ink on the inside walls of the cartridge? Actually I have ink outside of the cartride... even up on the walls. I have no idea how it got there, but the cartridge wasn't refilled recently so I have no idea what or how it happened.

 

[Grandad35]

Nifty-Stuff - No, I was answering Fotofreek's question about bubbles in the ink chamber.

I haven't analyzed them, but it appears that these carts are made from polypropylene (PP), and water does not wet out onto PP. Try dropping some water on the side of a cart - it just beads up. When water beads up, it will not "climb" the sides on its own.

In a different post, I thought that I remembered you saying that when you opened the refill hole on some carts that some of the ink in the ink chamber quickly disappeared into the sponge - that would only happen if there was a slight vacuum in the cart because the vent was somehow blocked. If the reverse happened and pressure built up, it could vent ink onto the top of the cart. I have seen ink come out of the vent a few times, but it was a minor leak and I just assumed that ink was trapped in the "hole to nowhere" that eventually got pushed out.

 

[Nifty]

Oh... I totally missed that in foto's post... I quickly read "foam" as the sponge material. Sorry.

Grandad... very interesting idea about the reverse / pressure build up. I'll keep a closer eye on things and let you know what I find.

Just did a nozzle check pattern (as I often do when reading through these forums) and I'm so glad that everything looks good.

 

[fotofreek]

Nifty and Grandad - I don't know about ink on the outside of the cart, but on both my Epson Stylus 900 and Canon i960 I get a buildup of green colored ink residue inside the top cover of the printer. The Epson also gets this on the outside of the case. The inks must vaporize and settle in these areas. Don't tell the EPA - we might be accused of increasing global warming or acid rain!

 

[Nifty]

Hahaha... that's funny because it's true!

Hey foto.. could you take a picture of that ink buildup? I just looked under the hood of my i860 and noticed some blackish color smudges. I assumed it was a dirty inky hand that rubbed up against it in a refilling mishap, but your theory sounds plausible!

 

[Grandad35]

Canon inkjet printers DO vaporize part of the ink - that is how they eject the droplets of ink from the printhead. (http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tutorials/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=6899&subsectionid=606)

I hadn't thought of it before, but it isn't surprising that minute amounts of ink would also be vaporized at the same time, and it is possible that some of the vapor could condense onto various surfaces over time.

This doesn't explain the problem on your Epson, however, since it used piezo-electric devices to eject the ink.

 

[Nifty]

Grandad, could you re-post the url above. I think you may have copied it from another place that truncates long urls. Thanks!

 

[Grandad35]

Nifty-Stuff, You're exactly right - it worked at the old posting, so I just copied it without realizing that I didn't copy the entire string.

http://www.pcanswers.co.uk/tutorials/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=6899&subsectionid=606