There is a problem when the CIS is shipped by air. Sometimes the low pressure in the airplane will cause the lines or the cartridges to have air bubbles. This has happened to me when I ship pre-filled system. All the air in the lines was purged. But when the system arrived, the customer said air got in the lines. This tells me the system is not completely air tight. Sometimes it instead of air getting in, ink leaked out from the system.

Many suppliers perfer to ship empty systems. This gives the customer the choice of what ink to use.
Purging air out ot the system require a basic understanding of the cartridge and how the CIS control air flow.

First the cartridge. The cartridge has a spring loaded valve to prevent ink leaking out after it is removed from the printer and allow flow when it is installed. The valve is opened when inserted into the cartridge carrier.

When there is air in the cartridge or the line, air bubbles is introduced into the print nozzle. This cause a banding condition similar to having a clogged print nozzle. It is important to remove the air from the cartridge and the lines when installing the CIS. There is a plug ( or air vent switch in the system I carry ) to remove to allow air vent. This plug must be removed from the ink bottle before priming the cartridge. Air is then allowed to go into the system to replace the space after ink is depleted.

The valve. The spring loaded valve needs to be pushed when a syringe or other tool supplied with the CIS kit. The rubber seal at the bottom is held in place by a heat melted plastic film. Do not remove this plastic film, the rubber seal will fall off if you do. When inserting a syringe into this bottom seal, gently push the syringe in. Prevent the flat surface hitting the tip og the syringe causing an air seal. Insert the syringe at a slight angle will allow enough air to pass through when you prime the air out of the cartridge.
If you use a syringe and not able to pull air out, the syringe spring back to the original position, there is a problem. You will not be able to remove air from the system. Air vent, syringe not pushed in far enough or no air is allowed to pass because it is going straight in. It could also have lines crimpped. Fix the problem and try again. Once you learn how to do this, it is easily repeated on the other cartridges.

There connector. Most cartridge use a "L" shape connector for the ink supply tubes. This is one potential points of failure. If air bubbles get in the ink ribbon and the ink bottle is full, you are likely to have a place where the line connects leaking air.

This is what I want to share today.

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