Please help!
I cannot figure out why the Cyan color will not prime on my continuous ink system.
I have an Epson R1800 with a CIS kit from e-bay with pigment ink that cost 125.00.
Every color is working fine except Cyan and I have waited a few days, and ran the Epson auto head cleaning again and again and it is the same.
Please help.!

sign results wrote:

Please help!
I cannot figure out why the Cyan color will not prime on my continuous ink system.
I have an Epson R1800 with a CIS kit from e-bay with pigment ink that cost 125.00.
Every color is working fine except Cyan and I have waited a few days, and ran the Epson auto head cleaning again and again and it is the same.
Please help.!

Ok... first things first.. it'd help enormously if you could post a link to the ebay item you purchased then we'll know what kind of kit you're working with.

Next thing... You don't want to be running the cleaning routine constantly as this can damage the head so above all else my primary advice is to assume you can't use the printer for a week and get on with other things.. We'll try to help as best we can.

Probably the first thing to do though is to confirm that you don't have a problem with your Cyan so I would recommend that you remove your CIS and reinstall your original Epson cartridges just to check that the printer will still work ok and creates a good nozzle check before we try anything else.

Panic not..


_________________
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

I used up about 1/3 of the ink cleaning the heads, where did it all go?

This is the e-bay item I purchased:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bulk-Continuous-Pigment-Ink-Syste...

The original Epson Pigmented ink cartriges are empty. Should I buy new ones?
or should I buy refilled ones for about half the price (dye ink or pigment ink)?
or, maybe there is a head cleaning cartrige, or can I remove the head and do something?

I checked it today and it is still missing 7 spots of cyan on the nozzle check, every other color has been perfect. I need my printer to print on Vinyl for color signs, decals, and bumper stickers ASAP.
THANK YOU!

sign results wrote:

I used up about 1/3 of the ink cleaning the heads, where did it all go?

Any waste ink goes into the waste ink pads which are located in the base of your printer. There are ways to redirect this ink to an external tank but that's not necessary at this point and would just complicate matters.

Quote:

This is the e-bay item I purchased:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bulk-Continuous-Pigment-Ink-Syste...

Ok.. I had a look at the feedback on there and spotted that communication seems to crop up as a problem for them but I would still recommend you at least consider contacting them. I doubt they'll be able to help though as they just seem to be reselling a standard CIS chinese clone kit.

Quote:

The original Epson Pigmented ink cartriges are empty. Should I buy new ones?

I'd seriously consider buying some good quality aftermarket (3rd party) cartridges as a backup if nothing else. You don't need to buy Epson originals but having a spare set of cartridges around is useful if you ever hit problems or need to check that your issue isn't the printer.

Quote:

or should I buy refilled ones for about half the price (dye ink or pigment ink)?

You want to buy inks that are designed for your printer and the R800 uses a very specific type of ink.. Avoid the chinese cheap cr*p versions and look around some of the sites like nifty-stuff.com, stevesforums.com , etc... for some recommendations before you jump. With an R800 you don't want cheap stuff.

Quote:

or, maybe there is a head cleaning cartrige, or can I remove the head and do something?

Forget about removing the printhead it's just not feasible unless you have all the right equipment and skills.. What you could do is get some cleaning solution and a spongeless cartridge from MIS Associates and the use that to clean out your printhead.. However ...

Quote:

I checked it today and it is still missing 7 spots of cyan on the nozzle check, every other color has been perfect. I need my printer to print on Vinyl for color signs, decals, and bumper stickers ASAP.

The thing you need to know is whether or not it prints and gets worse again after a short period of time.

If it starts off reasonably well and then slowly gets worse until the Cyan disappears you have may have one of these problems:

• A leak in the CIS tubing somewhere that's letting air in
  Try checking all the connections carefull
  
  
• The cyan reservoir may not be letting the ink flow properly so check for air locks, etc..
  Try comparing the cyan tank against the others and look for things like air bubbles in key places or poor tube mounting, etc..
  
  
• The cyan cartridge may not be pushed down properly or may be springing up slightly causing a leak
  This coupled with the suggestion below can mean that air seeps which can cause an air bubble issue in the cartridge that stops ink getting through or just gets pulled in instead of the ink that you want.
  
  
• Air/Ink foam may be causing the printer to be starved of ink
  Foam is a common problem in CIS's and the solution is to draw the foamy ink out of the cartridge as shown in step 3 of this MIS Knowledgebase article
  
  
• The rubber seal in the cartridge ink port may not be sealing against the ink post (the little stem that accepts the ink)
  Try removing and re-seating the cartridge.
  
  
• The ink quality may be too viscous or poor
  I've had this one myself with a batch of ink that had too much pigment by ratio to the ink base fluid.. Not really fixable unless you just replace the ink with a better batch.
  

These are really just educated guesses at the end of the day and my advice at this point would be to purchase some good quality 3rd party cartridges..

The knowledgebase at MIS is one of the best around so you'd benefit from looking around it and seeing if anything else there helps..


_________________
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

sign results wrote:

I used up about 1/3 of the ink cleaning the heads, where did it all go?

This is the e-bay item I purchased:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bulk-Continuous-Pigment-Ink-Syste...

The original Epson Pigmented ink cartriges are empty. Should I buy new ones?
or should I buy refilled ones for about half the price (dye ink or pigment ink)?
or, maybe there is a head cleaning cartrige, or can I remove the head and do something?

I checked it today and it is still missing 7 spots of cyan on the nozzle check, every other color has been perfect. I need my printer to print on Vinyl for color signs, decals, and bumper stickers ASAP.
THANK YOU!

I may be wrong. But I recognize the manufacturer and they carry inks made in zhuhai, China. I have tested this ink before.
Without talking about the where the ink, here is a suggestion. If you have access to a cyan solid color block pattern, print the cyan solid color to see how it turns out. the auto nozzle check dumps too much ink into the printer if you have a color not working right. If you print a cyan pattern, the pattern comes out with banding, you know it either has air in the cartridge or the cyan head is clogged.

Suppose the cyan is clogged. Add a small amount of cleaning fluid, a mild ammonia cleaner will work. I use Mr Muscle window cleaner. I have access to a special pigment cleaner in the US, but I am currently in China. Mr Muselc works find for me. A small amount injected from the popet valve will work. Make sure you know how to open the valve and not damage the rubber seal.

If you need further assistance, I will be more than happy to provide additional information.


_________________
Printers: Epson R1800, R800, 2200, R300, R200, C88, C84, CX3200, easyrefill cartridge, Ink System Pro Bulk Ink System

http://www.efillink.com
http://www.inkfillshop.com

[quote="Martin"]

sign results wrote:

I used up about 1/3 of the ink cleaning the heads, where did it all go?

Any waste ink goes into the waste ink pads which are located in the base of your printer. There are ways to redirect this ink to an external tank but that's not necessary at this point and would just complicate matters.

http://efillink.com/HowToWasteInkDrainR1800.html


_________________
Printers: Epson R1800, R800, 2200, R300, R200, C88, C84, CX3200, easyrefill cartridge, Ink System Pro Bulk Ink System

http://www.efillink.com
http://www.inkfillshop.com

I think I have the same problem..
I had printed something one night and the next day
I have no cyan..

I also did a couple head cleans and saw that the other inks where going down but not the cyan
it doesnt seemed clogged but has no pressure anyone know how to what this is?

http://www.continuousink.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=33943#33943

This post has the photo showing the filter now evenly lined up. It is possible the filter has been installed incorrectly.


_________________
Printers: Epson R1800, R800, 2200, R300, R200, C88, C84, CX3200, easyrefill cartridge, Ink System Pro Bulk Ink System

http://www.efillink.com
http://www.inkfillshop.com

Just a small note on the Cyan and the Epson Photo R series printers (dyebase ink)... I came across an issue with the Cyan inks I received from MIS recently that resulted in the Cyan (Not the Light Cyan) ink appearing as shown here:
http://www.continuousink.info/forum/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=316

The solution was suggested on the comp.periphs.printers newsgroup and turned out to be a suble thickening of the ink causing it to eject in the odd fashion it was.

A little distilled water and cleaning solution to dilute the ink, thoroughly mixed and then pulled through the cart and CIS system using a bottom fill adaptor solved the problem but it will undoubtedly affect the inks colour accuracy..

Unlikely that this is the cause in this instance but one to watch out for for others,


_________________
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