Canon i860 Will Not Print Blue

[HLS]

I recleaned the printhead after discovering that the first cleaning was not complete. I again employed the large filler syringe by directing isopropyl alcohol at the absortion pads and at the jets. The process took over an hour until there was no bleeding of dye from the jets. I then popped a new cheap set of cartridges from Accstation on Ebay. After one simple purge cleaning in the printer, the results were completely satisfactory. These are the cheapest cartridges I have ever purchased, and I had purchased them to use them only as cleaning units that I intended to fill with alcohol. After seeing the results, I have changed my mind for the time being. A double set of 10 cartridges cost me only $14.99, including S&H. I still have my new refill ink from InkProducts but will wait until these run low before attempting a refill.

I went ahead and purchased a Pixma MP500 from NewEgg in case I was unable to rescue this i860 unit. I am more than a little relieved that the cleaning results have been this satisfactory so far. I would advise anyone who refills ink cartridges to replace the cartridges and clean the printhead once a year to prevent the clogging problems I had with my printer. The i860 seems to be the last of a "breed" that has both parallel and USB connection options. I am able to connect both of my computers to the same printer without networking. I hope I can baby this unit for a while longer.

One additional note a bit off topic is that photos always print better with my Kanotix Linux setup than with Windows XP. The color syncing with XP has proved to be a real pain with near black hues being a disaster, but Kanotix Linux has had no problem matching the outputs of printer and monitor. I thought it was an i860 problem, but my cheap Epson CX3810 that I purchased for scanning gives virtually identical results to the i860.

 

[fotofreek]

HLS - great result! Patience and perserverence paid off. I would tread lightly on cleaning the printhead as a preventative measure, however. I did that and screwed one printhead up. Beyond the cleaning routines that are in the printer software, I would reserve more active cleaning methods for the time that you suspect a head clog. Just my personal opinion. Someone else may support the preventative approach and I'd welcome more responses on this subject.

 

[HLS]

I am dead set against wiping the head, just using solvent. I am certain that any aggressive cleaning requiring rubbing the printhead would ruin it in a short time. A cautious approach for head cleaning would be best. I probably would lean more to your recommendation after thinking through it a bit. I should add that an examination of the absorption pads would reveal any potential clogging problem. Every color that was not working had pooled ink on its corresponding absorption pad. Red, blue, and dye-based black were all not working and were pooling on the pads. Yellow and pigmented black were fine.

 

[digitalartist71]

i wonder if the purge unit is clogged...therefore it cannot prime the cartridges.... electrically the nozzles are dropping ink and pooling the absorbtion pads? i know my ip3000 was doing this with the black...can run the cleaning process over and over...but kept pooling unitl the purge unit/lines were cleared out so the ink could flow the waste area.

 

[digitalartist71]

if u r trying to do color matching, you need to get printer profiling software. especially if using third-party inks and media. it's really a neccesity for accurate color matching.

www.ezcolor.com (I use this, but expensive)
Profile Prism apparently is a excellent system and very cheap in comparison.
colorvision.com

adobe gamma that comes with adobe products is actually quite good if you don't want to spend a arm and a leg for a colorimeter to calibrate your monitor.

sometimes you can check ebay for for better prices.