Problem with jlwsales CIS for r200

[cerebrex]

I haven't used the printer in about a month, and now when I print it's insanely light and barely legible as to what the picture even is. Did the ink dry or something? How would I go about correcting this?

[SCDVD]

Do several cleaning cycles in a row until it prints properly. Non Epson ink can be a problem. Some after market ink is better than others. Epson would have you believe that any ink other than theirs will ruin their printer but this is not true. Once you find a good ink, stick with it and don't shop around. If you do, some of the ink you choose will bite you.

[James_mtl]

You can try clean cycle but they waste an incredible amount of ink. What I personnaly do is print a few purge file ( search the net they are all over the place ). Then let the printer sit overnight, The next day try a nozzle check again see if it's any better. Repeate until fixed. I notice that usually printing 1-2 purge file of the trouble causing color and let sit overnight solve my problem. Also not printing for a month is really not a good thing. Even epson recommand you to print every other day. CIS is for people that print a lot ! Try to spread your printing so you print every 2-3 days max and you will never have problem with your CIS. I have the jlwsales CIS working for about 7 months and never had any problem with it. Only had to do print the purge file once because I did not print for a week, now I'm printing avery other day and I love my CIS !
Good luck !

[cerebrex]

I can't find any purge files, so I guess I'm looking in the wrong direction. Can someone point one out for me? Thanks a lot!

[SCDVD]

I can't find any purge files, so I guess I'm looking in the wrong direction. Can someone point one out for me? Thanks a lot!

This reminds me of the story where someone was talking to a tech support technician on the phone. When the person was instructed to hit "any key", they complained that their keyboard didn't have an "any key".

To the point, a purge file is any file that you select to print. It should be a color image or multi-colored graphic so that all of the nozzles are used. So just use "any file"!

[jarvis1781]

I can't find any purge files, so I guess I'm looking in the wrong direction. Can someone point one out for me? Thanks a lot!

This reminds me of the story where someone was talking to a tech support technician on the phone. When the person was instructed to hit "any key", they complained that their keyboard didn't have an "any key".

To the point, a purge file is any file that you select to print. It should be a color image or multi-colored graphic so that all of the nozzles are used. So just use "any file"!

just using "any file" won't really tell you if all the colors are printing correctly. a true purge file will have each color on a separate band so that you can tell if each individual nozzle is printing. if you just print a multi-colored graphic you won't necessarily be able to tell if all the nozzles are working.

as far as being more helpful i would suggest doing a search on google for epson purge files or go here http://www.inksupply.com/purging.cfm
it illustrates the "bands" i'm talking about

[kenowell]

to all who gave info on the purge files thank you very much. I also have the jlwsales cis and three of my colors stopped working,,, tried numerous cleaning cycles,good thing i did the ink waste mod,anyway after printing 3 purge tests it fixed my problem

[jarvis1781]

to all who gave info on the purge files thank you very much. I also have the jlwsales cis and three of my colors stopped working,,, tried numerous cleaning cycles,good thing i did the ink waste mod,anyway after printing 3 purge tests it fixed my problem

you are more than welcome. that's what the forum is for

[cerebrex]

I've tried printing about 15 purge files now, and I'm still getting completely blank pages. Any ideas?

[kenowell]

did you try head cleaning after purge file then purg file again? thats what worked for me,, oh and one more piece of information i have had my jlwsales cis for 6 months and as far as ink and printing i have not had one problem until i turned my printer off cause i always leave it on,, the day i turned it off was the day i started having problems

[cerebrex]

I have tried head cleaning it about 30 times along with about 5 purge prints and the pages are perfectly white still. I just didn't use it for almost a month (other than that it was used heavily), and thats when it happened... On a side note, two days prior I printed out some black text for a few pages just fine.... doesnt work now though

[macrovision]

Cerebrex, Did you ever try re-priming the carts? You'll need a syringe without the needle on it.... Turn the carts upside down and insert the syringe carefully... pull the plunger up and hold it until the syringe fills with ink. Do this about 3 times per cart...remember to insert the syringe carefully otherwise you'll damage the rubber cap(it's hard to replace this part) If the rubber cap comes off donot turn the carts facing down because they'll leak like a run-off drain, Instead carefully reinsert the rubber cap and continue re-priming the carts...also remember to hold the plunger when you pull it upwards because it'll try to pull back and if it does you'll fill the cart with air and that is what's causing your problem to begin with. LOL!

[cerebrex]

One of those little rubber things hardened and broke.... is that the problem?

[macrovision]

Cerebrex, Yes that is the problem. I suggest that you E-mail Jlwsales by going to E-bay... choosing one of his kits...and on the right side of the page where his company's name is, choose "ask the seller a question" and tell them that your Cis kit you bought from them broke and the cart needs to be replaced....Don't forget to tell them which color because the auto-reset chips are color specific.

[cerebrex]

So that little rubber thing on the ink cart is causing all of hte colors not to print... it's only like that on one cart, so shouldn't the others be fine? I'm not getting anything on the page but some extremely faint areas where a little ink comes out from different colors... almost like a watermark there is so little ink. Thanks again for all of your help!

[macrovision]

Cerebrex, The other colors should print...One cart has nothing to do with the others. You really should re-prime all the carts and/or try using OEM carts if you have some around....Don't buy any if you don't. You should really consider getting a new CIS kit from another manufacturer though. I recommend you take a look at the "Best Cis" forum and choose one of the manufacturers we talk about there because the OLD JLWSALES system has been known to have output issues however I recently heard the he has a new generation system.... The only problem with the old system is the design of the carts. I took off the hoses and kept the tank and auto-reset chips.... One day soon I'm gonna install new hoses and carts... I might even buy my own chips instead of using the ones I saved. BTW you can get a new CIS for about $60 now and the carts should be simular to the OEM carts.... Not improvised/Rubber seal ringed.... They are supposed to be Spring-loaded Mechanical valves. LOL!

[cerebrex]

I just don't understand why none of the colors would print. Shouldn't any problem in a color be confined to only that color? What would cause a simultaneous failure of every color? I will try the re-priming thing and see if that nets me any gains.

[macrovision]

also try a manual head cleaning if you know how to do that. You'll need use alot of caution because the possibility of corrosion in the ribbon cable on the opposite side of the print-head. you'll need the blue windex, a syringe, and a few sturdy paper-towels. Fill the syringe with windex.... apply VERY LITTLE windex on each cone. The bottom of the cone has a ring...there should be so little windex(applied from the top of the cone)that it should be around each cone but not extend to the neighboring cone. Leave it there for about 15 minutes and dab up the excess windex with the paper towels. Download the ssc service utility if you don't have it and use it to do a "powerful head cleaning" when your finished. LOL!