Difficulty seeing into cartridges for ink level; viewing / cleaning tricks / tips?

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

This seems like a dumb question, but it’s an annoyance…

I have difficulty determining ink levels in my 3880 cartridges without removing the cartridges.
On one cartridge in particular, PK, a slip-up during the initial fill resulted in ink being sucked up every joint via capillary action and slight discoloration of the cartridge in general. Despite attempts to clean / wash it off after the initial spill, it is difficult to determine the ink level even with the cartridge removed.

Is there any particular place to view the carts for ink level without removing from the printer that works better than others?

Is there a recommended way to clean the outside of a cart (long after the ink has dried) for better viewing of the ink level?

How often should carts be removed and shaken for proper ink suspension – once a week? month?
I’ve tried not to do it often out of concern for damaging the ports.

2

Yea, it can be difficult to see the ink levels in the 38xx carts from the back side while they’re installed in the printer. What I recommend (and what I do with all of our 3880’s) is to remove all carts in the beginning of each week (if you print on a regular basis) or two (if you print less often) to check the ink levels (refill any if needed) and shake carts to maintain in-suspension ink for consistent output results.

Ink levels can be seen best looking thru the non-labeled side of the cartridge- BEFORE shaking it.
With your PK cart, you can gently pry off the plastic side of the cart (it’s held on with tabs) and gently clean off the inside of the plastic shell, as well as the thin plastic membrane that covers that side of the cart (make sure not to press too hard or puncture the membrane, or the cart will leak).

I hope this helps.
Best regards and happy printing~ Dana :slight_smile:

3

I had the same annoying problem and solved it by weighing the carts I couldn’t see into on a postal scale. I first weighed one that I could see was full and another that had a low ink level. That way, when I weighed the carts I couldn’t see into, I knew pretty much where I was with them and how much ink to refill them with.