I own a new 1500W. I used 2 sets of the original cartridges and everything worked as expected.
The problem I have is that after replacing the original cartridges with (refill cartridges not sold by InkjetMall) and the ink to Cone Color Pro I get messy prints with dark color (bluish, blackish) drips of ink on the paper. First I ran a nozzle check. It showed clogged nozzles, so I ran 2 cleaning cycles. At this point the nozzle check gave good results, however the drips were still there. So I completed a cleaning procedure using Piezoflush. Finally after about 5 more test prints (printing some regular photos) the drips disappeared and I sighed relived. Unfortunately as soon as I swapped the photo black cartridge to matte black all of my problems returned: drips on the prints and seemingly clogged nozzles after a nozzle check print. In addition what I observed is that the internal right side of the printer is sprinkled with drips of the same bluish, blackish ink. I am clueless, what may have gone wrong here?
Here are the answers to your questions.
“What ink are you using?”
Cone Color Pro encapsulated pigment ink.
“What style cartridges are you using: one part clear plastic, or two part Easy Fill key/capsule system?”
These are not Easy Fill as those don’t fit the 1500w, but the newer - clear plastic on one side, blue label on the other - version that do not need priming at the first fill. I have ckecked the cartridges for leaks but did not find any. These are not INKJETMALL cartridges, but another brand of cartridge that I bought.
“How does your printed nozzle check look- are there missing or mis-firing nozzles, or drips on paper?” Both drips and mis-firing nozzles as described above.
“What color(s) of ink do you see in the drips?” Dark blueish/blackish
“Have you cleaned your printer’s capping station, wiper blade, and/or bottom of the print head?” Yes already twice in line with your video instructions.
Some additional information to this. Yesterday I ran out of multiple colors and refilled the cartridges, reinstalled and had 2-3 prints without issues. At this point the printer signaled an empty yellow cartridge. The cartridge in fact was almost full, so I just removed the cartridge, reinserted and printed again. Immediately the drips appeared again and ruined my print.
I have also printed a nozzle check pattern and it show mis-prints. I would conclude that as soon as I remove and reinsert a cartridge irrespective if I refilled or not the drips and the nozzle mis-prints appear. After a few prints and head cleaning cycles they go away and come back again as soon as I change a cartridge. Since the issue appears with any cartridge it seems that this is not in relation to a single position but rather the cartridge change as such.
Thanks for the detailed information, it’s very helpful. It’s very strange that you experience ink drips on paper after installing carts, even if they weren’t refilled…
Exactly what cleaning procedures did you do, when you said you did “a cleaning procedure using PiezoFlush”? Did you clean the capping station, wiper blade and capping station following our instructions?
Do you print immediately after installing/reinstalling carts, or do you wait a few minutes after installing carts to begin printing?
Have you noticed if ink leaks from any cartridge’s exit valve when the carts are removed from the printer?
Which hole did you use to fill carts?
Do you have the fill hole plug installed, and air vent plug removed on all carts?
After filling/refilling carts, have you tapped them a few times exit valve down on a folded paper towel a few times to force ink down and air up before installing into your printer?
My answers are inserted after each of your questions.
“Exactly what cleaning procedures did you do, when you said you did “a cleaning procedure using PiezoFlush”? Did you clean the capping station, wiper blade and capping station following our instructions?”
I cleaned the capping station, the wiper blade and the bottom of the printhead just the way your “How to maintain small format Epson printers” video shows it. I did not flush the nozzles.
“Do you print immediately after installing/reinstalling carts, or do you wait a few minutes after installing carts to begin printing?”
I wait a few minutes prior to printing.
“Have you noticed if ink leaks from any cartridge’s exit valve when the carts are removed from the printer?”
No.
“Which hole did you use to fill carts?”
The fill holes with the colored plugs.
“Do you have the fill hole plug installed, and air vent plug removed on all carts?”
Yes the colored fill hole plugs are installed. These are the newer cartridge version they came empty and do not have a plug in the air vent hole.
“After filling/refilling carts, have you tapped them a few times exit valve down on a folded paper towel a few times to force ink down and air up before installing into your printer?”
Yes, I was very attentive to follow the instructions from your video called “How to use desktop refillable carts”.
Did you fill carts by injecting ink with the syringe and blunt tip needle, or did you vacuum fill the carts as demonstrated in our desktop refill cartridge video?
Do the cyan and/or black carts contain less ink than the status monitor indicates?
Did all your carts snap snugly into the cartridge chamber for a tight connection?
Can you please send me a few photos showing your carts? Instructions for attaching images to this forum can be fund here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?152-How-to-attach-images-to-this-forum
"Did you fill carts by injecting ink with the syringe and blunt tip needle, or did you vacuum fill the carts as demonstrated in our desktop refill cartridge video? " Do the cyan and/or black carts contain less ink than the status monitor indicates?
I filled the carts by simply injecting ink. I did not use the vacuum method because these cartridges do not have any air vent plug. The instructions received with the cartridges indicated to remove the plastic film cover from the air vent and then fill the cart in the regular way by just injecting ink.
“Do the cyan and/or black carts contain less ink than the status monitor indicates?”
No it does not seem so, though I am not absolutely sure here.
Did all your carts snap snugly into the cartridge chamber for a tight connection?
Absolutely.
Can you please send me a few photos showing your carts?
Thanks for the photos, they are very helpful to see. Although there are similarities, the carts in your photos did not come from us, as the desktop refillable carts we sell have colored plugs in both the fill and air vent holes (not pull tape on the air hole), and numbers on the chips that indicate the color position (not “YXD”). Over the years of testing many different cartridge designs from many different manufacturers, I have found that carts can look very similar, but work differently, as many Chinese cartridge manufacturers use the same or similar molds and stickers, internal parts and quality can differ. Although you are using our ink, please understand we can not support flow issues with carts that are not ours, and recommend you contact the supplier for support on these carts.
Reading your last post gave me the idea to replace all of my cartridges with a new set from the same source and beforehand complete a full cleaning as described in your support video. The result is great: I got rid of both dripping and banding.
Clearly the issue was somehow with the cartridge and not the ink.
Thank you for leading me through the process, I wouldn’t have made it on my own.
There is one last question. During my initial contact with Jon he drove my attention to the fact that the cartridges you sell will fit the 1400 and 1430 printers however will not work in the 1500W (I understand this to be the european version of the 1430). Can you guide me to a dependable cartridge source for the 1500W? Falter your European distributor does carry cartridges for the 1400 but does not carry cartridges for the 1500W. At least that is what I see on their website.
Thanks for the update, I’m glad to hear you’ve resolved your issues are are now happily printing without drips or banding.
I have no experience with the 1500W printer, but when I looked it up on the Epson site after your initial post, I see it uses “79” carts, which is the same as the 1400/1430, so the 1400/1430 cartridges should work in your 1500W printer. I suggest you try a set of Falter’s 1400/1430 “79” carts to see how they work in your 1500W printer.
Cartridges aside, how is your output? Are you aware that ConeColor inks were designed to be a replacement ink for Epson UltraChrome, and when using non-UltraChrome model printers (the 1400/1430 and 1500W use Claria inks), you will need to use ICC profiles specific to your printer, ink, paper, and print settings to get the best quality output.
I am now on my way to create my profiles with a Colormunki device. So far the results on glossy paper are satisfactory. Colors are as they should be, however “shine” (sorry I don’t know how to express it better) falls behind the original ink.
I have also tried to print with the profiles that can be downloaded from http://conecolor.com/icc/Epson1400.html. Weird enough in this case the colors are off towards a pinkish, reddish cast.
I have now swapped to matte black ink and am creating a profile for fine art paper. I’ll let you know about the result.
ConeColor inks are pure pigment, and Epson Claria inks are dye. Pigment inks aren’t as glossy or vibrant on glossy papers as dye inks. If you want good gloss compatibility (as well as matte), I recommend you use our InkThrift CL inks, which you can get from Falter.
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