Canon I550

[Doug]

I am having issues with my Canon i550. When I print out a nozzle check all is well except for the cyan. The upper box printout area shows a pattern like a grouping of rifle sites with a half and then a full block and so on. The lower area in letter B shows a piano keyboard pattern with the spacing to the top. The letter E is only painted in the lower half and nothing but white in the upper half.

I am wondering if this pattern indicates a clog in the cyan nozzle or an electric issue of some sort. I have used several methods to clean the nozzle without any effect.

Any assistance is much appreciated.

 

[drc023]

What you describe is fairly common and indicates part of the printhead has failed. A clog wouldn't leave an exact pattern such as this.

 

[Monel]

I have a (major?) problem with my i550 Canon printer: It does not print any of the 3 colors, only the black prints ok.

The printer was idle for about 3 months.
I did a number of print head cleanings without any result.
Not a single trace of any colour appears on the nozzle check printouts, while the black pattern is Ok.

I use Calidad replacement cartrideges, which worked alright for many thousands of pages before. All 3 color cartridges are full.

Any help?

 

[Doug]

Monel,

I would suggest you try one or some of the printhead cleaning techniques described in this site. I would expect if it is a clogged printhead issue you will notice at least some improvement. If not you might just have to just buy a new printhead which here in the US is around $53 or think about getting a new printer. In my case, described above, I bought the new printhead and the printer prints like new. The nice thing about the I550 is that inexpensive ink cartridges abound in the marketplace in that they were built before the chipped printers arrived.

 

[Doug]

Monel,

Another thought before you start to mess with the printhead. Try placing fresh color cartridges in the printer and see if that works. Maybe those older cardridges have dried up somehow at the exit port.

 

[Monel]

Doug,


Thanks for the advice,

As I tried a number of cleaning techniques without resulting in even a trace of color being printed, I suspect rather an electronic fault. Problem is, is it a fault in the print head or in the printer itself? Also, the print head is over 100 USD here, down under!

 

[fotofreek]

Problem is you can buy a printhead, only to find out that the printer is the problem! You then have a useless new printhead. At this point, considering the age of the printer, you should probably just move on and spend the money on a comparable new printer.

 

[Monel]

Re i550 Canon Printer. I bought a new printhead (from the "big Satan!", costs 1/2 than "down under"). Installed, and prints perfectly ... black. Not a drop of other color. Discounting conspiracy theories, I cannot imagine that the printer itself is faulty on all 3 colors, but not black. Any suggestions before I take it to the rubbish dump?

Thanks, Monel

 

[Manuchau]

Just one..although it probably won't solve your problem. Check your settings..even the advanced ones..and make sure your printer is not printing in Greyscale. And check the colour sliders under Preferences/colour adjustment.

Good Luck!!