This is with the Nexxtech CIS system. I've been having a problem these last few weeks with my Cyan cartridge and to a lesser degree the Light Cyan. I noticed heavy banding on my prints in any solid blue areas and to a lesser degree in some of the other colors.

When I print a Nozzle Check Pattern in the Cyan colors I will have a few gaps, but then there will also be a few of the little segments that are a much darker color than the rest. In a normal nozzle check in each line there will be several descending segments, there will be a short second, then slightly lower there will be another short segment, etc So that in each color chunk there are several descending segments so the lines slope down and to the right. In my nozzle check print sometimes the segments will be level with each other instead of descending. I've tried doing the alignment printouts but they haven't helped.

If anyone has any ideas in how I can fix this up I'd really appreciate it or I'm going to have to scrap this and go back to normal carts again. :/

Thanks guys,
T

Seen this one myself with my R200 and R300 printers...

The short version is that there's a known issue with cyan inks that causes this weird pattern
Ref: http://www.continuousink.info/forum/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=316

How to fix it is something of a tricky one as the problem seems to be caused by the ink becoming more viscous and creating a sort of mini-block or something similar.


I resolved my problem by simply opening a new batch of Cyan ink, dumping the old batch to a container and then pulling the new ink through the loop using a syringe and the appropriate adaptor. Pulling the ink through resolved the problem immediately and I've since passed that printer on to my father with no ill effects to date.

You might be able to solve the issue by diluting the ink slightly with some distilled water or cleaning fluid but in truth I couldn't guarantee that'd work..

Best of luck...


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

This is an older post but is still relevant. I installed a nice CIS in my R220 about 4 months ago. Print quality was excellent. But, over the last few weeks, the cyan started getting the jagged line pattern like at the link Martin posted. No amount of head cleaning cycles would make it better. In printing, any shade of cyan was blurred or smeared, not sharp at all.
Today I finally decided to try a remedy. I put some Windex in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Just 2-3 tablespoons. I used a syringe that came with the CIS and loaded it with a small amount of the heated Windex. I pulled my CIS cartridges, placed a folded paper towel under the carriage and injected a very small amount, maybe a quarter of a teaspoon, into each print nozzle.
After I used another folded paper towel to soak up any residual Windex and ink, I replaced my cartridges and ran 2 cleaning cycles to get the nozzles primed again. Printing a nozzle test pattern I found my cyan and all the others were as nice and sharp as they were when new. Try this if you are getting the jagged test pattern. It will not take much Windex at all, but it will help to have it very warm.
Good luck!!!!

same thing is happening to me again
cyan is clogged

I offloaded my last R300 CIS kit on to my grandfather as he had an R300 and his cyan was working for about 5 months until the same problem started again.

I've ordered in a new batch of ink from Image Specialists which I'll be sending over for my father to pull through and replace the old stuff with so I'll keep you posted on how that goes but I suspect that so long as the cartridges aren't clogged with gunk/algae, should resolve the problem for about a year. After that I suspect it'll clear for a while and then return when the ink returns to the current state that's causing this issue.


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Printers: (Canon) MP500/830, MX700, iP4000/4200/4300/4500/5200, iX4000(A3) (Epson) C84/86, D88, CX6600, R285/800/1900 (HP) K550, K850, K5400, L7680

After reading of the recurring woes you guys are having with CIS, all I can say is that I am glad I ditched my system when I changed from an 890 to an R220. My throughput was not sufficient to warrent use of a CIS anyway, so I went for refillables instead. So far no problems with cartridges from "Print on a Dime", although they have only been installed for a couple of months.

These are easy to fill, and give identical colour rendition to the original Epson cartridges on which a custom colour profile was based. Only downside is that you have to keep an eye on the Epson Status Monitor, and refill as soon as the chip resets from 5% to 95%. This is easy and only takes a couple of minutes if you get organised.

Sorry to be a "traitor" to the CIS camp, but this proceedure works fine for normal amateur use.