Loss of Photo Black after running cart dry

Hi,

I was printing multiple sheets at once with photo black on an Epson 3880. I didn’t realize the ink cart was low, got called away, and came back to find several sheets had printed without photo black ink. I refilled the cartridge with ink (this was a refillable which I had filled once before) and put it back in. I tried reprinting, but still had no photo black ink coming out. I tried a couple regular cleaning cycles to no avail.

Did I need to reprime the cartridge, even though this was a second refill? Do I have air in the line from it trying to print from an empty cartridge? If so, how do I remedy the situation?

Thanks for your help!
Sarah

Hi Sarah~

As per our instructions, it is important to regularly check the cartridge ink levels regularly to avoid running a cartridge empty, as the chips automatically reset so the printer always shows the carts as full.

The exit chamber of all refill carts must be at least 1/2 filled with ink for proper function and flow, so if a cartridge is run empty and the exit chamber is empty or less than 1/2 full, the cartridge will need to be re-primed in order to draw ink into this area after refilling the cartridge with ink, before reinstalling the cartridge into your printer.

If a cartridge is allowed to run empty, then air is drawn into the printer’s internal ink line. To remedy this, refill the carts with ink and do 2-3 Power Clean Cycles thru the control panel to purge air and refill the internal ink lines. Print a nozzle check to make sure all positions are fully printing before printing images.

Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

Thanks! I was pretty mortified that I let the cartridge go empty…a mistake I hope to never repeat!

A hard but solid learning lesson- luckily it’s fixable!

~Dana :slight_smile: