Digital BW, The Print

> Yes, I do have caking on the sides of the bottles - so much so that I
> have to unscrew the lid to peek inside to determine the level. I cant
> easily tell from the outside of the bottle.

I suspect that the ink is drying out in your tubes. Letting the carts sit
after the nozzle checks allows the pressure to equalize, but printing soon
creates low pressure in the carts so that the ink flow is starved (my
theory).

>
> The original ink and cfs was purchased from MIS about a year ago but
> I have since bought and used replacement inks
>

I concur with the advice to chuck it all & start over. Date your ink bottles
& start fresh annually. My experience has been that the ink lasts about 18
mos, but YMMV.

When I had the K tube clog, I replaced the tube & cart. I attached the K
tube to the CMY tubes with cable ties, being careful to apply just enough
tension to hold, but not to choke.  -BK