I am currently visiting friends in Canada who are having problems with their Epson C80 printer. When the printer is left unused overnight, colours bleed from one set of nozzles to another, so that a purge pattern has to be printed to get the colours to print correctly.

I have cleaned the capping mechanism and the underneath of the print head (running it over wet paper towel), which seemed to lessen the problem, and I am now wondering whether the (new) compatible cartridges being used could be the cause.

Would appreciate bright ideas as I don't really want to undertake a major repair exercise, since I am supposed to be on holiday!

Peter_G wrote:

Would appreciate bright ideas as I don't really want to undertake a major repair exercise, since I am supposed to be on holiday!

Yep... I got to sort my other halfs, mums fella's laptop out on Friday night.. Night off? what night off?

Anyways.. I digress.

It could be that the cartridge seals have perished somewhat so you might want to try sealing the ports using some aluminium or if not available, some electricians tape pulled tight over the exit ports and then speared so the ink receivers can enter the cart and get ink. This may resolve any ink seepage.

If these are refilled cartridges it could also be that there's too much air getting in via the refill hole so check the seal on that..

Beyond that I'd question if the ink is of the right consistency so using some other cartridges and inks might be a good plan to discount your theory on whether it's these new carts (and ink) causing the problem.



Happy holidays


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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

Thanks for the ideas, tried all those, but it didn't seem to make a lot of difference, there is still a small amount of contamination overnight. I can remove this by a printing an inch or so of 4 colour purge, so perhaps that is the best I can do at the moment.

Guess it may well be down to the ink consistency or the internal construction of the cartridges. I will probably suggest that my friends re-mortgage their house and buy some original cartridges next time around - and then reset and refill these with decent ink. MIS seem to have a good reputation, and postage to Canada shouldn't break the bank. Any ideas on which chip resetter to recommend for the Epson C80 - perhaps the MIS one as well?.

Just dawned on me that MIS don't market a chip resetter, only replacement chips. Sorry if I confused anyone - a low cost one is available from Jet Tec amongst others.

Peter_G wrote:

Just dawned on me that MIS don't market a chip resetter, only replacement chips. Sorry if I confused anyone - a low cost one is available from Jet Tec amongst others.

Actually they do

ref: http://www.inksupply.com/accessory.cfm?action=find

but in truth it's overpriced... I got one for some basic stuff from 9to6.ie pretty cheap...


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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

Thanks for that info - hadn't travelled that route in MIS. The cheapo looks too good to be true, but if it works fine. Hols over tomorrow.

Peter_G wrote:

The cheapo looks too good to be true, but if it works fine.

Well they're cheap so I'm guessing they aren't exactly quality product and I have had some issues with the chips seating properly but I suspect that's more an issue with the cartridges I'm using rather than the chips..

As for the hols... My other half starts hers from tomorrow afternoon... Be nice if we had the cash to make the most of it Ah well


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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