yellow position in my 1430's nozzle check contains some black

[Paul W.]

I think I might have caused this problem, due to a stupid move on my part. I had a local computer repair shop install my Printer Potty... they did a good job. At first I was getting totally blank nozzle checks, then realized I hadn't removed the cartridges' air plugs and I also forgot to open the clip in the tubing from the printer to the Potty.

Soon, after a few cycles, the nozzle check returned except that the yellow position's top three lines were black. When I checked the nozzle check with my infrared flashlight, the yellow in those positions were there but the black hid them. Lately some more lines contained some black, gradually fading away. I moved the cartridge cradle, and noticed some ink splats in the area.

My main concern is that I'm paying for my carelessness - will the black eventually go away?

Thanks all!

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I would remove the cartridges, inspect the inside of the carriage and clean out the area with the ink splashes with some kitchen paper towels

 

[Paul W.]

Hello isf (I think I've you referred to with initials!)

Thanks for your reply, but I haven't tried it yet. In the meantime I think I've narrowed the solution down to a bad cart, in this case the yellow cart. I borrowed a yellow position cart from another set and the print was fine. In this case it was a contained a cyan/blue mixture used as a cooling toner in a set of carbon ink carts. The nozzle check was perfect, as viewed as well as printed.

What if I went ahead with that inkset... do I simply swap carts with the other five? I'd be removing the color carts and replacing them with the five gradations of black. I've never changed carts before... do I just do a few cycles and the color would gradually work its way through the pipes? I'd then have a backup to my current dedicated black and white printer.

My main interest is black and white printing anyway. The color carts came with the printer, they are by CIS and I've not seen very favorable reviews of them. My black carts contain one 100% black cart and the others are in gradual step, the last one being 2% black. This is the inkset Paul Roark has worked up for us, it and QTR have worked out well for me.

My conclusion is that my earlier fiasco is not the cause of my black contamination of the yellow, but simply a defective cart. I still would like to clean up the area around the cartridge carriage and I'll then see your suggestion come into play.

Looks like I didn't do any permanent damage to the printer - what do you think?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I see that you have identified the problem with the defunct cartridge, I wouldn't assume any damage to the printer in this case - you have removed the offending part and you are using a well recognized and reliable B/W ink set.

 

[Paul W.]

Thank you, I was hoping to hear that good news. Just another small question... what about changing from my current color inkset to a black only (except for the blue toner) inkset? Is what I outlined earlier the way to do it?

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I'm not familiar with specific b/w ink sets, I know they exist, and there are various postings here on printerknowledge about particular issues, profiling, mix ratios etc. You may start a separate thread if you want to go into more detail.

 

[Paul W.]

The black inkset I use is well-established, I've mixed several batches over the past few years. I acquired this printer with color carts, and I want to remove those and install the black inkset. My question was how to go about that. Maybe I"m making a simple task complicated! I've been known to do that

 

[Paul W.]

I'm not familiar with specific b/w ink sets, I know they exist, and there are various postings here on printerknowledge about particular issues, profiling, mix ratios etc. You may start a separate thread if you want to go into more detail.

I think I'll take you up on that idea of starting a separate thread. Thanks for your help here, however!

Regards,

Paul

 

[turbguy]

I have seen black "mixed" with yellow with frequency. I suspect some cross-contamination within the print head, but never confirmed it. A cleaning cycle always cleared it up.