Tips on Refilling Cartridges

a) Best time to refill
b) Why use quality ink
c) What is included in a refill kit
d) Tips on problems that may arise

a) The best time to refill a cartridge is before it runs dry. Streaking can often indicate a cartridge is running out of ink. Printing a test page can tell you which colors are running low and need to be refilled. If the cartridge does run dry we recommend that you refill it immediately.

b) Quality ink is important, if you use the wrong ink type for your cartridge the print head may get clogged by inks that do not match printer manufacturer's specifications. These factors include drying times, density, boiling points and PH value. The ink that we supply is of the highest standards.

c) Our refill kits include ink, refilling tools and instructions, these instructions are simple and easy to follow.

d) Problem: Little or no ink coming out after refilling.
This can happen if the cartridge was allowed to dry out before refilling. If this happens place the cartridge print head in a shallow dish of warm water. You will begin to see ink flowing or seeping out of the cartridge once the dried ink starts to disappear. You can also wipe the print head with an alcohol swab. After this dry the cartridge and reinstall in your printer and using the printer utility program run a head clean.

Epson Printer Tips

Epson printers have a high printing resolution; this means that the print head nozzles have to be manufactured much smaller than most other printer manufacturers' nozzles. The size of the actual nozzle hole is smaller than a human hair and it does not take very much for them to clog. With these printers having a built-in print head they are prone to having ink dry in the print head nozzles which causes streaking and void areas. Over time, the print head clogs, rendering the printer useless. Just running the cleaning cycle is NOT enough!

The most common cause of clogged printheads is from infrequent printing! Best solution is to use it regularly. We recommend printing black & colour text, doing so helps keep the ink flowing through the printhead nozzles.

Another cause of clogged heads is not powering the printer down properly. When you are finished printing (for the day), use the printer's on/off switch to turn it off. This allows the printhead capping mechanism to fully engage.

Most all branding/streaking or missing color issues are due to infrequent use so maintenance is the key!

To access your printer's software utility (drivers).
- Find the 'Control Panel'.
- Click on Printers
- Look for your printer's icon.
- 'Right-click' on it. Choose 'Properties' from the drop-down list.

Your printer's software will come up. Look under the various tabs for cleaning or maintenance.

Unclogging Print Heads

DO NOT run more than 3 back-to-back cleaning cycles, it just makes things worse!

Epson printers have 3 durations of cleaning: short, medium and long. The short cleaning cycle occurs on the 1st and 4th cleaning cycle and on every one after that, until a print is made. This short cleaning cycle can eventually damage all the nozzles. In other words, if you do a bunch of cleaning cycles (8 or 10) with out making a print, you may damage your print head. After 3 cleaning cycles, print a test pattern.

Side Note: To make a test pattern, I use Microsoft's Paint program that comes installed on the computer. Click on Start, Programs (or All Programs), Accessories and choose the Paint program. Draw four separate squares about four inches each. Fill one with black, one with red, one with blue and one with yellow. Name the file something like Test Pattern and save it. End Side Note.

Print the 'TestPattern' using 'normal' mode and plain paper settings. Make at least one print. It may not be perfect, but this will reset the firmware in the printer so you can get the short, medium and long cleaning cycles again. It is the medium and long cleaning cycles that may get your printer back up and running again.

If you have done 6 cleaning cycles, two groups of 3 (with test pattern in between), and the nozzles are not getting any better, give the printer a rest for at least 2 hours. This rest period will allow the small air bubbles in the ink to rise to the surface and get out of the nozzles.

The newer Epson printers, like the C80/C82/C84 are sensitive to too many cleaning cycles. For these printers only do 3 cleanings, then give them a 2 hour rest. If you run too many cleaning cycles, you may never get a good nozzle pattern.

Attention: If are having problems with sudden lack of inkflow after replacing one or more cartridges when using the Epson C and especially the CX all-in-one printers, we have been made aware of a design issue on these printers which may cause this problem.

Some of these Epson printers have a design flaw which causes the ink purge tube under the cleaning station to come apart during cartridge replacement. If this occurs, the printer is no longer transferring the vacuum from the purge pump to the printhead. In other words, no ink will be moved through the printhead onto the paper.

You need to look under the cleaning station and determine if the pump/vacuum tube has come off, and if so, reinstall it.

NEVER leave your Epson printer without an installed cartridge, even an empty one, for more than half an hour. The ink will begin to gel in the built-in print head to the consistency of honey! It will require multiple head cleaning routines to clear (if it does).

The type of ink a printer requires is based on several things, among them:

-the technology the printer was built on
-the type of print head the printer has
-the way the printer lays the ink on the paper
-the type of cartridge or ink tank used

Ink characteristics are specific to EACH printer manufacturer and within their different printer models. The inks are formulated specifically for them. They are based in part on ink viscosity, PH, drying times, UV, etc. This is why we offer only products that are produced as close to the OEM specifications as the law allows. They are guaranteed to perform to your satisfaction!

Common Problems with New and Compatible Epson Cartridges

Sometimes a brand new cartridge may appear to not be working properly. There are three (3) reasons for this.

1) There may not be a pool of ink at the exit port (the pre-chamber) that the built-in print head can suck from. The solution to this is the "Centrifugal Force" tip below.

Centrifical Force Method: Hold the ink tank (cartridge) firmly with your fingers (with the ink outlet hole pointed towards the ground) and snap it downward several times, like shaking a thermometer down. Be sure to wrap the ink cartridge in a paper towel before doing the above.

2) The vent grooves to one or more chambers (on color tanks) may be blocked by adhesive. The adhesive from the tear away seal or the name plate sticker may have blocked up a vent groove. If air can't get into the cartridge, the ink will not flow. The solution to this is a straight pin. Use a straight pin to puncture the name plate foil and vent the cartridge. If you run your finger nail across the foil, you will find there is a hole under the foil for each chamber. This is where to stick the pin through the foil. After making the pin holes in each chamber, run a few cleaning cycles to reestablish solid ink in the head.

3) Printer stops printing after a few pages (or many) have printed. *After refilling your cartridge your printer "thinks" the "original" cartridge is empty. Simply unplug the printer and wait a couple of minutes before plugging it in again. This Should "clear" the memory so the printer recognizes your refilled cartridge as "full".

Resetting The Epson 'Chip' Cartridges

Did you know that Epson created a 'chip' for their printer models 777, 870 and 1270 cartridges that, in effect, stops the cartridge from printing when there is about 10-15% ink still left in it? Epson continues to use this 'chip' on all their new printers (it's embedded on the side of the cartridge).

Our new compatible cartridges still do the same since the 'chip' is a 'clone' but, I'm gonna give you a 'work-around' for this so you can at least get your money's worth! (that's what we're here for!)

Epson 777, the Easy Way (also for the 870/1270)....

With it (the printer) turned off and unplugged (for safety) open the top cover. Using a dull butter knife, lay the butter knife flat on the silver flat track, with the cutting edge facing away from you. Slide it under the ink cartridges carrier.

*If you look closely, you should see a small lever which comes up whenever the printer stops printing. The lever to which we are referring is just 'left' of the print head assembly. This lever can be moved forward and down easily either with your finger or gently with the dull butter knife. (If you can't see the lever, then print a page with the top open. Watch for a lever that goes down when it starts printing and then goes up after it has stopped).

Then with your right hand gently push the print head/cartridge assembly to the 'right'. It will only move a fraction of an inch, but you should hear a click. This is a second lock being released. The print head assembly should now easily move to the left towards the center of the printer.

Now, pull pressure on the cartridge carrier to slide it to the 'left'. *Move the knife forward and back until you feel the cartridge carrier freely slide to the left. Remove the knife, slide the carrier to the center, remove cartridges and reinstall, then slide the carrier all the way to the right. Plug in power and hit power button, after its done doing its 'dance' it should be reset to full and you're ready to go!