Plastic cover on Epson 3800 refill cartridge

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

I ordered my first set of refill cartridges and noticed that in the center of the side that goes into the printer, there is a clear plastic sheet covering the gray circle. At first I thought it was tape but it appears to have been melted on to the gray plastic circle. How do I get this off? I tried tweezers but that just tears off little bits of the plastic.

2

You can leave it on until you stick the syringe with the larger tip though it and suck out a little ink to prime the cart. Then you are good to go. Just ignore it being there past that point.

Fwiw, I put a 3" piece of 3/4" wide Scotch tape over the top and down both sides of the cart where all the little solder points are at on the snap-in circuit board. They seem to get hung up on the release mechanism otherwise when you try and take them out to refill (If they do, slip in some thin cardboard the width of the cart and maybe it will help release it easier. Just don’t cover the large rectangular hole (mid-top) or the pads at the front of the board that make contact with the printer’s connectors.

Also, you can just use the nib on the top of the bottles in the fill hole once you get past the initial filling, no more messy needles. The nib fits fine in the fill hole, and maybe a few good squeezes and you are up and running again.

Mack

3

I didn’t mean the priming hole. I’m talking about the narrow side of the cartridge that faces away from you when you insert it into the printer. There’s a piece of acetate stuck to the gray circle in the center. It doesn’t peel off neatly. It’s been melted on and has to be picked off in pieces with tweezers, leaving a mess. It’s like that on all of my refill cartridges. I’m guessing it’s sloppy manufacturing/assembly.

4

Look at this PDF file, especially Step 5 on Page 2 and what’s within the parenthesis. http://shopping.netsuite.com/c.362672/site/techdocs/3800_3880-RCS-WT-email.pdf

The video is on the same PDF, or here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvrjjF-Gdf8&context=C420fac4ADvjVQa1PpcFPl6_l5Y7bMARlkuf673fKxjRG_bvAZV6I=

There seems to be two ways of priming: One is sucking out the ink from the side if the cart has a port on the side (In the video.). The other is what came with mine which has another tip that goes on the syringe other than the needle. Looks like a serrated tube that you poke through that 1/2" square cellophane bit that covers the exit port that supplies ink to the printer and draw out the prime there (Demonstrated in the PDF Step 5). Personally, I like the prime at the exit port over the side port as less likely to get an air bubble in the line, imho. I’ve never used the side port.

That membrane covering the exit port into the printer can stay. Might be a gasket of some sort too.

Mack

5

Hi Keith~ It sounds like you are referring to the plastic membrane covering the exit valve as Mack pointed out above. This membrane NEEDS to stay in place, and you have damaged your cartridges by removing it (the exit valve parts can now come out, and there will no longer be a good seal, which is necessary for ink flow and pressurization)… If you have removed the plastic membrane from all your cartridges exit valves, then I suggest not using the carts, as you will likely have blow outs of the exit valve parts coming out of the carts, causing the ink to all be ejected into your printer…

The 3800/3880 video was made years ago when we started selling these carts, and demonstrates the side priming procedure recommended by the cartridge manufacturer, but since then we discovered the priming syringe/tip, and determined using that tool to prime carts thru the exit valve as directed in the written instructions is easier, better and cleaner. We haven’t had a chance to re-make the video yet, but do say to thoroughly read the written instructions before beginning, and the written instructions are current with the priming procedure using the syringe/priming tip.

~Dana