Yellow Cartidge Problem - R3000

Hi,

I have been using your inks for several months in the R3000 and have been very pleased with everything. I was amazed at how there was no color adjustment whatsoever required printing from Lightroom. However, I have recently refilled the yellow cartridge for the second time and no yellow ink is flowing. I read past posts and saw references to air in the lines etc.

Prior to filling the cartridge I had been printing several pages which all printed perfectly. The cartridge was not completely empty but I chose to refill as others also needed refilling. Therefore, I do not think it is a clogging issue. It was working perfectly prior to refilling. I tried approximately three prints after reinstalling the cartridge and greens were printing as light blue (indicating no yellow).

When I originally refilled the cartridge I believe that I failed to fill so that the exit chamber was 1/2 full. I have since recharged the cartridge using the vacuum method as described for initially charging the cartridge. I have also done approximately five head cleanings and printed approximately 20 full letter-size sheets from Adobe Illustrator using a pure yellow RGB vector and every page has printed completely blank.

The printer is recognizing the cartridge as refilled, so the chip is likely fine…and it is indicating yellow ink use–although it appears that very little yellow ink has actually been drawn from the actual cartridge.

Is this an air issue?..It seems that 20 sheets would have certainly pulled any air through the system. The nozzle that sticks up and fits inside of the cartridge (where the cartridge is installed) appears clean in relation to the others–which all appear to have ink on them. This may be related to the lighter color more than anything else.

I looked at QTR but I do not like the program interface and felt that printing yellow from any program would be as effective (I could be mistaken).

What am I missing? Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi Mrayb~

Thanks for the detailed info, this is all very helpful in understanding your situation in order to determine the cause and solution of your problem.

If the yellow ink was printing perfectly prior to removing + refilling the cartridge, then let’s go thru the check list of things that could effect ink flow from this cart:

  1. The exit chamber should be at least 1/2 filled with ink
  2. The air vent hole must be OPEN
  3. The cartridge must click into place for proper connection with the printer

I recommend you check the things above, then tap the cartridge exit valve down a few times on a folded paper towel and reinstall the cartridge into your printer. Wait a few minutes, then do 2-3 regular or 1 power clean cycles, and print a nozzle check. Printing a yellow image from Photoshop or other application will not print pure ink from that individual channel, only printing from a RIP with individual channel control will print pure ink from a specific channel.

Please keep me posted so I can help you resolve this and get back to happily printing, thanks- Dana :slight_smile:

Thanks Dana.

I have done everything you mentioned above…The air vent has never been plugged, the exit chamber is better than half full and the cartridge has always clicked into the bay normally. Since last sending info to you I have drawn all of the ink out of the cartridge and refilled it using the vacuum method, printed about 20 full letter-size sheets from QTR using the 100% yellow swatch and performed two or three head cleanings. While the printer shows the ink level going down in the cartridge, it does not appear that any is actually being used when I look at the cartridge. Furthermore, the pages I have printed from QTR are completely blank. I am assuming that 20-25 pages would be enough to pull ink through.

I am thinking that this is either a printer problem or a cartridge problem. All of the other channels are printing perfectly, and I have an overflow system so I doubt it is any kind of issue with print pads, etc. I am doubtful that it has anything to do with the print driver.

I just thought I would check with you before moving forward. Could it be that the one channel needs some type of physical cleaning (of a nozzle or something) or is it likely that I somehow damaged the cartridge? As mentioned previously, the yellow was working fine until I refilled it, so I think it must be the cartridge. Although the cartridge is registering with the printer, could I have done something that would render it unable to feed ink?

Thanks again. If you agree that it is likely the cartridge I will order a replacement, but I would like your feedback first if possible.

Regards,
Michael

Hi Michael~

Thanks for the additional info. Based on your explanation of what you have done and your results, it is very bizarre that your yellow suddenly stopped printing after refilling the cart. If the cartridge wasn’t totally empty when you refilled it, then I don’t suspect you’re dealing with air in the line, and you were getting good results with this cartridge prior to refilling it, so it seems unlikely that the cartridge is faulty, but it’s always important to consider all the factors/possibilities when troubleshooting a problem, then rule them out to pinpoint the cause and find the solution.

The quickest and easiest thing to try is a new cartridge, though suggest you also try manually cleaning the printer’s capping station, wiper blade and bottom of the pint head by following our instructions (http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?133-Printer-Cleaning-and-Preventative-Maintenance), and check the internal ink lines to make sure they are all filled with ink (as much as you can see, they’re not totally clear, and there’s not much room to see).

Please let me know your results, or if you have any questions- and we’ll move forward from there to get this sorted out and you back to happily printing.

Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile: