Problem with ink cart in a 1280/CIS--need suggestions
2005-12-18 by Tom Keesling
The saga continues. Several days ago, I began having problems with my UT2/CIS/1280 not printing sepia correctly. Eventually, the red light came on indicating that the color cart was out of ink. I assume I'd lost the vacuum in the yellor ink and decided to go ahead and install new carts and use the new bottles of UT2 inks that I already had here. Besides, the UT2 ink formulation had been changed from when I had installed the older bottles nearly a year ago. A fresh start seemed appropriate. Besides, I'd done this 4-5 times in recent years without a hitch. In the process of getting the CIS set up again, I broke off two of the wires that the color cart chip comes in contact with in the printhead. The printer is still under warranty and the service center had it repaired in 3 days. I got the printer home and printed with Epson OEM carts for a day. The next day, when I turned the printer on, the ink out light was on. This time the printer wasn't recognizing the Epson OEM black cart. So, back to the service center. In 3 days I had the printer back, supposedly with a new printhead this time. Before installing the UT2/CIS, I spent a few days printing with the Epson OEM inks without problems. But, when I installed the CIS, the printer wouldn't recognize the black cart. I tried reseating the cart and I cleaned the contacts a couple of times. Then I tried switching the black and color cart chips. To no avail. The Status Monitor still showed that the black cart wasn't being recognized, but the color was recognized with either chip. I took the CIS out again and reinstalled the Epson OEM carts. Viola! Both carts are recognized by the printer. My question: Since both CIS cart chips seem to work with the color cart and not with the black cart, what could be my problem? Both carts have the felt pads and fit snugly. The chips seem to be properly and securely placed on the carts. I've been using the CIS system for 3-4 years trouble-free, but now I'm puzzled and looking for suggestions. Thanks... Tom Keesling Indianapolis