Digital BW, The Print

> ... wanted to confirm that the CMY cartridges all do use the 
>exact same ink

The EZ gray inks are all the same density.  The chips for the carts are
unique to each "color" spot.  For example, I have just one pint bottle each
of EZ-Warm and EZ-Neutral.  However, I have a couple spare chips for each
spot.  Although the re-setter (modified as shown on my web page, accessed
from http://home1.gte.net/res09aij/index.htm ) has worked perfectly on the
C86 chips, on other printers I've found the chips sometimes don't reset
correctly.

> ... could you provide a bit more info on how you "prime" the cartridge ...

I first fill the new, empty cart through the hole at the top of the
reservoir.  I wait a while for the sponge to get soaked, and add enough ink
to almost fill the reservoir.  After I've "corked" the hole securely (but
without pushing the stopper down so far I can't remove it), I turn the cart
almost completely upside down, so that the outlet (still sealed) is
accessible and pointing up.  I tilt the cart just enough so that the ink in
the reservoir is still covering the connecting passage between the reservoir
and sponge-filled section.  The connection is very close to the outlet.  I
want ink there so that when I pull ink out of the outlet it does not pull
air through that passage.

I then use a syringe with a shortened bottom fill adapter on it, and I
puncture the seal over the cart outlet.  I use a regular bottom fill adapter
with the snout shortened to 7 mm.  (MIS also sells a modified bottom fill
adapter that it has put a small tube on, supposedly for these poppet carts.
I'm not sure you can puncture the seal with these, however.)

Once the seal is punctured, I push the bottom fill adapter into the outlet,
with the cart in the almost upside-down position, and pull a bit of ink out.
The hope is to pull the air bell out that is usually right at the outlet and
can require a lot of cleaning cycles to remove.  So, when I first start to
pull on the syringe, I get air.  Once the ink starts, I'm done, and
hopefully the cart will start with a perfect nozzle check right after
loading into the printer.


Paul
www.PaulRoark.com