Chip version question

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
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1

[I already posted this in a thread on my 1400 but it was suggested I start a new thread.]

My 1430 is set up with IJMs EasyFill CL in the capsule and key configuration. It’s been afflicted with both ink and air clogging and yesterday the K position nozzle check was totally blank. Cyan and Light Magenta patterns had several gaps. I did some purges of the K cart, they were almost totally blank. I did the capping station, wiper blade cleanings, and several underhead shoeshine procedures. I got some fair but not good patterns for the K position and the LM position. Last night I left a Piezoflush-soaked paper towel under the printhead and removed it this morning. The paper towel was almost totally unused but there were still some issues. Now I’d like to add to my arsenal something I’ve never done before - flushing carts. But I am confused over chip version numbers. The current Easy Fill key carts have version 6.0 chips.

I have two sets of empty refillables and not sure which ones to use. One is again 6.0 but as you can see the LM cart’s fill plug is in a different location from the others. This makes me a little dubious. I got these used from someone in a forum somewhere and they were recognized by my 1400, but I’ve never used them:


My other set has version 6.3 chips - what’s strange about these chips is that the only cart to list the ink code, ie 791R, which is code for the K cart. Seems I heard this version number sets up the K cart as the “master” and the others as “slaves”, or something like that. These also were recognized by my 1400 but never used them:


So, which set should I use? Can I damage anything by using the wrong version number chips? I prefer chips that are manually resettable.

Thanks, as always!

Paul

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I’d like to use the carts in figure 1 for flush carts in my 1400. So I’d like to modify my question a bit. Note the LM cartridge where the fill hole is. The other carts have the fill hole up near the front (chip end of the cart) and that’s what I’m used to. I’m not familiar with the fill hole position in the LM cart… is it the one closer to the front, nearer to where the other chips’ fill holes are? Is this LM cart compatible with the other five? All six were recognized by my 1400. All six chips are version 6.0.

Perhaps I’ve answered my own question and the LM is indeed compatible and I’ve got the fill hole identified correctly. Maybe it’s even a dumb question but I want to know more before I proceed. I’d also like to use these as flushing carts for my 1430.

Thank you.

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It’s a bit hard to be absolutely certain from a top picture which is the fill hole and which is the vent hole in that LM cart. We really need to see a side photo, because that will show where the vent channel is. That said, I’m fairly confident that the bottom holes in that photo - the ones that all line up - are the vent holes, and the others are fill holes. I’ve had both sorts of carts over the years. I think even IJM has supplied carts with both patterns if you go back far enough. I’m fairly certain that I’ve got both types here now.

I had a flash of recollection about your 1400 chips. As I recall my own 1410 (international version of the 1400) from over six years ago, in some chip sets there was one chip that was for the K position and the other five were (surprisingly) interchangeable. But that is a bit of a vague recollection. If that is right, I can’t recall whether you could mix and match those chips with sets that were all numbered. I have no idea whether they’re supposed to work in a 1430. Walker said yes.

There’s one other observation that I’d make. I’d keep the 1400 going as long as possible if I were you, assuming that you’re printing via QTR. It seems to have been the only Epson desktop printer that was immune from the micro-banding in the first and last inch problem.

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Brian,

Excellent answer, especially when you consider I had the two cart types turned around! I couldn’t see Figure 1 as I typed. I should’ve said the LM cart is what I’m used to, with the fill hole up near the front (chip end of cart) and the other five are not familiar to me, those with the fill holes closer to the vent. My brain was not working very well today… yet you made sense of my post!

Anyway, both types of carts have version 6.0 chips and version 6.0 is what’s in the printer at the moment. I tested these empty refillables for compatibility and they were recognized. It’s version 6.00 all around and that’s the main thing. I have a very stubborn clog in the cyan position and that’s where I’ll put a flush cart. I’ve tried everything but a flush cart and the push-pull syringe/flush fluid into the nipple technique (we need a better name for that). I’m reluctant to use that last trick, many users tell us to be careful.

Thanks for the heads up on the 1400… I do plan to keep it as long as I can. When things are humming the way they should I get some beautiful 11x14’s from it. I have heard of a set of carts with such a configuration you describe… the black position was actually the “master” somehow.

Thanks again,

Paul

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Brian,

I just noticed something… I also have a set of version 6.3 carts. Only one has the chip identified and it’s 791R. It’s the black cart. I’ll bet this is the type of set you mentioned a couple of posts back. I suspect the other carts are interchangeable. There’s a colored paper label on top, but that’s probably just to prevent mixing up the colors once their position is chosen.

What do you think?

Paul