Really in need of suggestions I have run out of ideas.

[pearlhouse]

Well I decided PeterBJ was right not to put the unknown head into another printer and take a chance on possibly ruining another printer. So I decided to take Grandad35s advice to flush the ceramic part of the head with Windex. But first I decided to “practice” with the old original print head that I still had. When I took it apart and just flushed with water I found that by holding it up to a light I could see all the ink entry points clear through the head. I also got some tubing that fit very tightly onto the boss of the upper print head after I had removed the rubber seals from the entry ports. The tubing also fit onto the end of a syringe very tightly. I filled a bowl with hot water attached the syringe to each boss and held the whole upper part of the head under water while I flushed in both directions. Then I removed the head from the water and pushed one last syringe of water through each port of the head and made sure the water was coming out each exit port with a clean straight stream. Once I was sure I knew what I was doing I took the second head apart carefully removing the ceramic plate and used a dremel to grind off the four plastic nubs that held the electrical board to the upper part of the print head. I then proceeded to flush both parts of the head as described above. To be honest I never found a clog in any of the ports or channels in both the upper and ceramic parts of the head. So I was confident there were no clogs or restrictions in the head. I reassembled the head just the way I found it. I used four drops of super glue underneath the board to hold it in place on the upper part of the head.
This is the strange part, After I installed the print head and started to put back in the cartridges, I noticed none of the red LEDs on the carts were lighting up. I tried removing and replacing the carts but still the LEDs would not light. So I removed the carts and then removed the print head. I checked it over and found nothing wrong so I placed the head back into the printer and made sure this time that it was seated properly and then pulled down the latch. I then started putting in the carts one at a time and all the LEDs were lighting up so now all was AOK. I ran one clean cycle and then printed a nozzle check. It came out perfect. Well I had seen this before. So I printed my test print which had a magenta stripe on the top and then one on the bottom with black yellow and cyan in the middle. This print came out perfect also. No signs of magenta ink starvation. I printed this test again but this time I made the magenta stripes a lot wider to really stress out the printhead. It too came out perfect. Well I have two other test prints one which The Hat gave me and another one that I had found on another site. I printed each one twice and they all came out perfect. So for now it looks like the problem has been solved. Probably a plugged channel in the printhead all along causing the ink starvation. I have decided to give it a day, cross all my fingers, and then repeat these test prints. Stay tuned……

 

[stratman]

An amazing story. Well done pearlhouse. You have earned your Printing Ninja stripes and more.

 

[PeterBJ]

Congratulations! I think you have solved the magenta ink starvation problem.

I think the most likely cause of the problem is the magenta refill ink gone bad, from microbial growth or "?". To prevent this from happening again I suggest to buy a new bottle of magenta refill ink. As the cartridges refilled with this ink might still contain algae or "?" I suggest not to use these cartridges again, but only to refill the OEM cartridges that has not been refilled yet.

I don't know if the possibly contaminated magenta cartridges can be cleaned sufficiently by flushing to be safe for use again?

 

[Grandad35]

@pearlhouse - Congratulations!

@PeterBJ - I have cleared 2 similar PM clogs in the past using this technique. The first was many years ago and I switched ink suppliers to Alotofthings (now out of business) and purged all of my carts at the same time because I suspected that the no name ink that I was using at the time may have been the problem. The second was just a few years ago, and I didn't purge the carts or change the ink when it happened (I didn't consider the possibility of a problem with that batch of ink). That head is still working fine.

There are no answers to your questions in this experience, but it may give you some more data.

 

[pearlhouse]

Well all is well with my printing magenta problem. I have been printing quite a bit lately actually gone through one magenta cart and half way through another.
Grandad35 I agree with you. No real answers but I did get some good experience dis assembling a print head and then flushing it. The ink Im using is not very old and I have been using it to fill other carts for friends and have received no complaints or problems. So I will continue using the ink although there isn't much left of it. This is precision colors ink if anybody is interested. As I use these magenta carts up I will then flush them before they are refilled again. Is there an opinion out there on using a little bleach diluted very weak as the final rinse before I condition the sponge with pharmacists solution??? Just in case there is something going on with a growth in the ink.. ... thanx for all your help and patience with me guys, without it I probably would have given up without ever solving the mystery....

 

[Grandad35]

Is there an opinion out there on using a little bleach diluted very weak as the final rinse before I condition the sponge with pharmacists solution??? Just in case there is something going on with a growth in the ink.. ...

I would never use bleach anywhere in my printer - it is just too corrosive. If you are determined to do this, I would fill the carts with dilute isopropyl alcohol or even dilute liquid hand soap (or a mix of the two), let them sit for a few hours to kill any bacteria, then thoroughly flush the carts. If you add a little food coloring to the IPA or soap, you can make sure that you completely purged it out.

Remember that all of the major inks have an anti-bacterial agent as one of their components.