Misaligned Cartridge Caps
If a customer is complaining about shortened cartridge life or frequent cartridge failure, you should check the cartridge3cap alignment (procedure below). This is especially true if the problem is always happening to the same cartridge. A sure sign of a misaligned cap is excess ink around the cap and inside the ink reservoir. You should clean the caps and reservoir using only water. You should also clean the wiper.
Seating area
Cartridge caps
Function of the Cartridge Caps
The cartridge caps (also called service3station caps) are located in the service station. Looking closely at a cartridge's print3head reveals two parallel rows of nozzles. The cap should form a seal that surrounds the rows. If the caps are mispositioned, the seal may be touching one or more of the nozzles. The result is premature cartridge failure and a messy service station.
What can Cause Cap Misalignment?
The most common cause is that the cap is not seated properly on the service3station sled. Any of the service3station parts could cause misalignment if defective or installed incorrectly.
Checking Cartridge#Cap Alignment
The following tools are recommended for this procedure:
DSoft lint3free wipes
DNon3permanent ink marker (dry erase type works best)
D10X magnifier
DPrint cartridges
To check the alignment of the caps with respect to the print3head nozzles
Remove the window, center cover and left endcover.
Manually move the carriage out of the service station.
Load very clean cartridges into the carriage.
Use lintfree wipes dampened with water to clean the cartridges.
4Apply ink to the seating area of the cartridge caps with the ink marker.
5Manually move the carriage slowly into the service station, then out again.
6Remove the cartridges and observe where the ink mark is positioned with respect to the nozzles. A 10X magnifier is very useful for this step. If one is not available, you should look at how centered the mark is within the gold pad area.
7If the ink mark is touching any nozzle, you need to check and reseat the cartridge caps and repeat the test.
C3187390000 | Troubleshooting 8313 |