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XEROX INKJET PROBLEM - ONE COLOR NOT WORKING

I have a Xerox WorkCentre M940 3-in-1 printer.  The color printing is hardly ever used.  Recently I had need of printing a pciture and it came out awful.  After replacing the ink cartridges with brand new ones (not refilled) and use the 'clean print head's option for EACH color I have determined that the blue is not printing at all.

I assume there is old ink clogged up somewhere in there. I also assume I am not the first person this has happened to.

Personally I DETEST ink/bubble jet printers but as long as I have it I want it to work.     Any ideas on how I can clean this out?

Thanks

John

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just a comment this was a very common problem the ink clogs in the printhead warm water ran through the printhead over and over again if that does not clear you will probably end up buying a new one all of their 4 individual ink tank system printers had this problem... This is why they no longer make SOHO products and pulled out of the market. They knew about the problems they just did not want to spend the money to fix them. It all came down to percentages of users having problems and dollars to spend to fix the inherient problem.

Honestly don't waste any more of your money on this printer... Get an HP much more reliable all the other companies that ever did the 4 individual ink tank thing dumped it years ago because it was so plagued with problems (epson and cannon both tried this in the early days and dumped it). Self contained cartridges are much better because they are airtight so they prime much easier then these type they do not have any o-rings around the tube that is inside the printhead that goes into the ink tank if they would have put these in the could have eliminated half the problem there.
Got one better for ya on this printer.  ALL 3 COLORS are not printing.  I replaced the printhead, I have more than 75% ink in each cartridge, cleaned the print heads and still nada...any ideas WTF it could be?
sounds like a driver issue.
have you tried the alignment utility? if that doesn`t print, could be that the printer controller is whacked.

It would be easier to dump it and get a decent printer.
It's most likely not a driver problem

the M940 was based off of the XDHC which was known for printer feed problems deprime problems and being a very fussy printer when it came to communicating with the computer

to eliminate software as the culprit do a standalone test print

Solution: Perform and Interpret a Stand Alone Test Print
On the WorkCentre, make sure the LCD screen displays 'Ready to Copy'.
Press the [Menu / Exit] button. The LCD screen will display '1. Original Type'
Press the [Down] Arrow twice. The LCD screen will display '3. Maintenance' on the first line and '1. Clean PrintHead1' on the second line.
Press the [Left] Arrow twice. The LCD screen will display '3. Maintenance' on the first line and '5. Print Test Page' on the second line.
Press the [Select] button.
Interpret the Stand Alone Test Print:

Along the top of the stand alone test print are seven square blocks. In order from left to right the block colors are Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. These seven blocks are the most useful print quality diagnostic tool available to you for this Xerox WorkCentre. The Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow blocks directly correspond to the individual color Ink Tanks in your printer. Of the seven blocks, these three are the most important when troubleshooting color print quality problems. The Red, Green, and Blue blocks are printed using various mixtures of the Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. For example, the Red block is a mixture of Magenta and Yellow, the Green block is a mixture of Cyan and Yellow, and the Blue block is a mixture of Cyan and Magenta.
The next section of the stand alone test print shows the ROM version number.
The bottom section of the stand alone test print includes a grid of numbers and letters. The total page count for the Xerox WorkCentre is located at the top left corner in Row 0, Column 0.


NOW IF THIS COMES OUT INCORRECT THEN IT IS A CARTRIDGE AND PRINTHEAD PROBLEM.
 
the only thing that can cause this is depriming problems (when the cartridge does not build pressure to what is called priming if it does not prime it will not print) these cartridges and print heads had a very bad deprime problem.


there are several reasons why this happens

1. printhead is clogged

2. new printhead still having problems now it is a priming issue in the cartridges if you look at the tanks they have a large hole in them that plugs into the printhead and a smaller hole at the top just above the larger hole this smaller hole typically either from manufacturing is covered with plastic or ink dries in it and therefore the tank cannot prime because it cannot create a reverse vaccum pressurization.

basically take a pin to each one of the small holes then put a piece of paper towel on the desk and tap the end that has the holes downward (WARNING SOME INK MAKE COME OUT, WILL STAIN CLOTHES) do it quite a few times and also squeeze the sides of the ink tank this is what they call massaging the tank. Do this to all the ink tanks and put them back in the printhead then lock the printhead down PRIME 3 - 5 TIMES CONSECUTIVELY.  If this does not work then the only other thing you can do is try plugging it direct to the wall for power, this machine was very problematic with powerstrips I saw communication errors with the computer and even print quality issues...


3. The abosulte final thing it could be is the pump itself is bad you would have to take apart the printer to get to it.... and/or the hose to the pump has dried ink in it

Like I said before though no offense I know it is not something you want to hear but this printer had very bad problems ..... It was not the worst but it was not one of the good or better ones they put out either...

Any of the Individual ink tank system printers had major problems even for other manufacturers that is why Canon dumped it and Epson and now mainly you see 1 Black Cartridge and 1 3-Color Cartridge (these are self priming units they work off of thermal meaning heat is applied which pushes the ink out instead of like the individuals where it actually works off of a small plastic air pump)... All of the individual ink tank printer systems Xerox put out had BAD print quality problems they went through 2 or 3 printhead revisions and 2 or 3 ink tank revisions because of problems, and still did not fix them .

Basically the C6,C8,C11,C15 Wc450c WC450cp XDHC XK35c, XI70c, M950 all had the same problems because they were made from the same base the first two color Multifunction units were the WC450c and the Xerox Home Centre (XDHC) all units after that mentioned above were based off of these two initial units.

this is from Xerox's site on how to resolve a print quality issue

Online Support Assistant  [Start a new search]
WorkCentre M940
 
 
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Solution: Unclog the Ink Nozzles on the Print Heads
Open the Printer Cover. The Ink Cartridges should move to the center automatically. If the Ink Cartridges do not move to the center:
Close the Printer Cover.
Disconnect the Power Cord from the back of the Xerox device.
Disconnect the Printer Cable.
Reconnect only the Power Cord.
When the Xerox device finishes warming up, try opening the Printer Cover again.
Lift the Print Head Latch that locks the two Print Heads in place.
Remove the Print Heads by lifting them straight up and out.
Dampen a paper towel or lint-free cloth with a small amount of water.
Fold a the damp towel in quarters and place it on a table.
Gently tap or dab the Ink Nozzles on the bottom of the Print Head on the damp towel 20 to 30 times.
Place the Print Heads back in to the Xerox device.
Note: The Black Print Head goes on the left side and the Color Print Head goes on the right side.

Close the Print Head Latch.
Close the Printer Cover. The Xerox device will make some noises as it initializes. Please wait for it to stop before continuing.
NOTE: The message "New Ink Cartridge?" will display on the LCD Display of the Xerox WorkCentre M940|M950.

Press the [Right Arrow] button until "No" is displayed.
Press the [Select] button.
Perform a cleaning cycle. For instructions to run a cleaning cycle, see Related Items below.
Perform a Stand Alone Test Print. See Related Items.