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Power problems. It never rains but it pours......

That's a good point. I did wonder whether I was getting a proper vacuum, seeing as I had noticed a slight nick out of one of the corners of the gasket. Someone here commented that they had a spare gasket. I will have to go back and check who, but if the poster in question is still around, would...

I'm afraid I gave up with it :-( I could get the ink to flow briefly (and with an incomplete pattern) by priming as @turbguy suggested, but it would not last. I ended up just forcing the printer to use the Photo Black instead. It increases the length of time required to print by an order of...

I finally got around to doing this! After priming the PGBK nozzles by squirting some ink through, I managed to get a patchy nozzle check pattern, which improved somewhat upon several cleaning cycles. This is positive, because previously the pattern was getting worse on each cleaning after...

Hi, I'm back after a notable absence.... I don't quite understand what you mean here. How can that 7th hole collect/transmit anything when it doesn't match up with anything on the ceramic block? I could just about understand it sinking heat (although don't know how effective that would be unless...

I am reluctant to get yet another replacement print head in case that also fails - at £40 a time it is an expensive experiment! I would like to be able to rule out other possibilities first

After having no success with this advanced cleaning, I tried to rule out printer problems by replacing the head with the original (which had functioning PGBK but faulty colour nozzles). Unfortunately I got the dreaded 'the type of print head is incorrect' message after installing all the...

ok, here are the shots I took when disassembling the print head. The one of the bottom of the head was taken before wiping off - lots of cleaning cycles had produced rather a mess here! I have inserted the images as thumbnails here. If anyone wants more detailed ones I can attach them to...

Oh I took some photos during the process. I will post them if anyone would find them useful.

Well, I finally got round to doing what @turbguy suggested. Disassembling the print head was easier than I thought. I didn't notice any particular clogs, either in the assembly or the nozzle plate, but I flushed everything on the PGBK side out with cleaning solution just in case. Put the whole...

Well I tried it - no luck :-( Having filled a syringe with cleaning solution, I pushed it gently through the PGBK ink port until it trickled out of the nozzles. I then dabbed over the whole head with kitchen paper and blotting paper, and left it to dry overnight. I replaced the head and...

I have run out of cleaning solution, so have just ordered some more which should arrive in a couple of days. When it does, I think I will try to clean out the PGBK passages in the print head. After soaking I always make sure it is properly dry before I put it back in the printer, by using...

Suffering from ink starvation...

Thanks @PeterBJ , now I understand the pattern of missing ink across the page. I always use OEM cartridges refilled by my local Cartridge World branch. I do not know what ink they use, but it has served me well in the past. I have only had two 'dud' cartridges before out of a sample of scores...

Here are two scans, first the nozzle check, then text (from a Windows test page print; the results for text documents such as letters are similar)

Thanks @PeterBJ, I might take you up on that offer later. Meanwhile, the problem gets stranger. As @turbguy recommended, I changed the cartridge (actually to a cleaning cartridge I use for testing - containing a mixture of ordinary PGBK ink and cleaning solution). Now I get perfect nozzle check...

I should add that there doesn't seem to be a problem with any of the other colours (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow or PhotoBlack), but of course those use a different section of the rubber gasket. But colour prints don't come out properly either, as it seems to use PGBK ink in those as well!

Hello all, I started a thread last year about problems with the pigment black on the print head of my Canon MP-500. As detailed in the thread, I managed to largely solve the problem by replacing the print head, and then soaking it several times in cleaning solution to get the ink to come...

Thanks to everyone for their help and advice - I couldn't have done it without you! @stratman is there any way of keeping a cleaned print head working without leaving it in the printer and doing a weekly print? I've been soaking the old one in cleaning solution for about 24 hours now. I suspect...

Update: I think it's working! I decided to take out the print head and have another go at cleaning out the pigment black. I carefully flushed some cleaning fluid through the nozzles using a syringe and tube sealed around the PGBK ink port. After reinstalling everything and printing an initial...