Did i just burn my epson 9900 printhead? {SOLVED}

[smikkelmit22]

Hi,

Something terrible happened. I wasn't paying attention to the ink levels, and at one point i noticed my yellow was gone.

I quickly checked the ink level, and noticed the cartridge was completely empty (not oem).

Quickly i replaced the cartridge, but since the complete color yellow is gone.

I have tried to run multiple cleaning cycles, at first the yellow started to come back, but it's completely gone now.

My question, is it possible i killed the printhead with this stupidity?

[BrianWJH]

Hi,

My question, is it possible i killed the printhead with this stupidity?

Possibly, but it's also likely you have air in the ink tubes and or dampers, I'd try pair cleans with the yellow and see if it makes a difference.

Brian.

[smikkelmit22]

Pfieww, that solved the issue.

I had to run 7 power cycles. But all is smooth yellow now.

Thanks much!

[smikkelmit22]

This seems like a rather strange situation.  You would normally see a " ! " on the cart to let you know that the ink it at a low level and you'd better be sure you have a replacement.  Once it's almost totally empty you would normally see an " X " and you would no be able to print until that cart is replaced.  Although I do not use non-OEM inks I imagine that might be the reason you didn't get the final notification that the ink cart was actually empty.  With the non-OEM inks perhaps the cart chip does not have that particular warning built in.  I do agree with Brian that you probably have an air bubble in the ink line or perhaps the the dampers or head.  You can check the lines with a good light and you should be able to determine if there is air there.  At this point about all you can do is keep going with the pairs cleaning cycles and perhaps the stronger cycles as well occasionally.  One thing you have to be careful about is the frequency of cleaning cycles.  You should probably never do more than two cycles in a row and then let the printer sit for a while before the next cycle and nozzle check.  As far as the stronger cycles are concerned, one cycle and let the printer sit for a longer time.  Epson has cautioned that more than two or three cleaning cycle within a short period of time can eventually damage the print-head.       

Thanks for the advice, i will keep that in mind.

What happened, really stupid, i use these refillable cartridges. I was not completely filled when i placed it. A 100% chip with a 3/4 filled cartridge results in these errors.

It keeps running since the chip gives a ok status. When the ink reaches it's bottom, the chip tells the printer there is still 25% left.

In conclusion: fill your cartridges 100% or even a bit more. Or else, risk to lose a printhead. I was lucky this time.

[Garnick]

As I was writing my reply I had a couple of interruptions and took longer than usual.  Also, after I sent my reply I was busy with another project, so I had not noticed that you had fixed the problem.  Just got back in here with my rather late reply, but I think at least the cleaning cycle frequency issue info might at least be of some value to you.

Glad to see that you are up and running again 😁