When the customer first receives the Printer, it is supplied with a set of four Start-up Printheads pre-installed in the Printhead Carriage. These Start-up Printheads are used for the priming of the tubes in the Ink Delivery System.

When the Printer is powered ON for the first time, the Printer will automatically perform the priming process. Without the priming process, the customer will NOT be able to use the Printer.

The initial startup assumes that the Start-up Printheads are installed, but the Printer cannot detect them because the Printer can only detect normal Printheads. If normal Printheads are installed during the initial startup, the Printer will request the User to remove them and check if they really have been removed. It will then request the User to install the Start-up Printheads.

Also the Printer will request the User to install the Ink Cartridges if they have not been installed already. If the Ink Cartridges contain less than 20cc of ink (the Ink Cartridges are encoded with the quantity of ink remaining) they will be rejected. Normally with a new Printer this should not be a problem since the Printer comes with Ink Cartridges that are full, but there maybe cases when the Ink Supply Tubes need to be replaced, in which case half empty Ink Cartridges may be used.

Once the Printer assumes that the Start-up Printheads and Ink Cartridges with enough ink are installed, the priming process will begin.

If the priming process is completed successfully, the Printer will directly proceed to the Printhead replacement procedure in order to replace the used Start-up Printheads with normal Printheads.

Once the priming process has started, it can fail due to 2 different problems:

The Ink Supply Tubes were not completely empty - This is the most common cause especially if the Printer has been powered ON and OFF several times with the Ink Cartridges installed since the initialization process performs at least one pumping cycle.
The Printer detects that one or more of the tubes cannot be detected as filled with ink - The most likely cause for this problem is Ink Cartridges with a faulty valve.
Even if the priming process fails, the Printer will try to verify whether the priming process has been completed by moving the Carriage to the access position and you will see the following message on the Front Panel:

Open the Window and you will see the following message on the Front Panel:

Open the Carriage Cover and check if there is ink inside the Start-up Printheads. On the Front Panel you will see the following question and you will need to select the answer depending on whether the Start-up Printheads were filled with ink or not:

If there is ink in all of the Start-up printheads, the Printer considers that the priming procedure has been completed successfully and will proceed to the Printhead replacement process.

If you select NOT all with ink the Printer will react differently depending on the source of the problem:

NOTE: If you need to reseat the Start-up Printheads, make sure you re-insert them in the same color slot in the Carriage.

The Printer will request you to reseat the Start-up Printheads (or in the case of missing Start-up Printheads you should install them or order new ones) and then retry the priming process (if the priming process fails 3 times because of the same problem, it will display a System Error). In this situation, the problem could be the following:

1. The Start-up Printheads were not installed correctly or they are missing (one or all of them).
2. The Start-up Printheads do not work properly and do not allow air to flow (one or all of them).
3. The Ink Supply Station fails to pressurize the Ink Cartridges. To check this, perform the Ink Supply Station test » Ink Supply Station.
4. The Ink Supply Tubes are blocked, preventing the ink from flowing correctly.

If a System Error is displayed, try the following:

1. The Ink Cartridge valve is broken so the Ink Cartridge should be replaced.
2. The Start-up Printhead is not working properly and allows ink to flow outside.
3. The Ink Supply Tube is leaking.

NOTE: The last 2 cases will be more obvious because there will be a lot of ink in the Printer (around 20 cc of ink). Remove the Ink Cartridges and release the Tubes Bracket from the Ink Supply Station and check if there is ink in this area.

For more information on this problem, refer to System Error 93:10 on » 93:10.