Canon i9100 standalone - nozzle check - Service print test

[optimizer]

I'm thinking about purchasing a used Canon i9100
I want to test it and would like to know how to do the following in standalone printer operation
1/ Nozzle check
2/ Service print test

Also, anyone that has an i9100, what are your experiences with it - any main problems?

Thanks

 

[optimizer]

I downloaded the user manual from Canon, just in case the button sequence for a standalone nozzle check was listed, but I didn't notice it.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You can do a nozzle check by holding down one of the buttons (I think it is the paper feed button) until the light flashes twice and release it. I don't know how to get into service mode but the regular nozzle check shows grids instead of just a block of color like many other Canon printers do.

I have three i9100's. My main complaint is the same as for all the Canon six-color printers, they use a lot of photo cyan and photo magenta which are diluted versions of the regular colors which means you're paying a lot more for these colors. But the printouts are noticeably better than the four-color printers and if you want large (13"x23") printouts, then that is something you have to live with. The only other options are large format printers with even more colors.

I also am having a problem with at least one of my printers which I haven't had time to resolve yet and that is the colors from one cartridge are leaking into the cartridge of another color. So if you have a chance to try out this i9100, take the cartridges out of the printer and look for contamination of colors. It takes a day or so for the contamination to happen so if the cartridges have been sitting in the printer for that long you should see it if it has the problem. You will also see it in the nozzle check if you aren't color blind like I am.

 

[optimizer]

(Edit 10/24 - The nozzle check pattern can be found in the Quick Start manual on the Canon website, although it's only in Black and White) (Edit 11/02 - See P39 (adobe acrobat P41))

Does anyone know a website showing a full/good nozzle check grids for the i9100, or can anyone post a photo?
(Edit 10/24 - a color photo would be better than the Canon B&W effort).

It sounds like it uses the same sequence as my Canon i* printers for the standalone nozzle check. Thanks!

 

[optimizer]

It seems to have the same Grid nozzle check pattern as the s900, and there's a color nozzle check pattern for it out at the canon website.
see this link:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4571

 

[embguy]

I also am having a problem with at least one of my printers which I haven't had time to resolve yet and that is the colors from one cartridge are leaking into the cartridge of another color. So if you have a chance to try out this i9100, take the cartridges out of the printer and look for contamination of colors. It takes a day or so for the contamination to happen so if the cartridges have been sitting in the printer for that long you should see it if it has the problem. You will also see it in the nozzle check if you aren't color blind like I am.

My i550 print head is doing the same. The magenta ink contaminates the yellow ink cartridge. The yellow cartridge is now reddish orange. I checked. The contamination is not around the ink inlet screens. It is somewhere inside the print head.

 

[ghwellsjr]

That's what I concluded too. It means a new print head is in order. Of my three i9100's, I'm not sure which one or ones have this problem so someday when I'm sufficiently motivated, I'm going to have to sacrifice some cartridges and figure out which print heads have the internal leak, unless someone knows a better way to tell. I suppose I could ask my wife or son if there is contamination of the colors in the nozzle check, but the lines are so thin, I wonder if a normal-sighted (not color-blind) person could easily tell. The only reason that I can tell by looking at the cartridges is that I see a different color spreading up from the outlet port.

 

[embguy]

If I do a nozzle check without doing a cleaning cycle, the magenta shows up on the yellow. It only takes couple of hours after a cleaning cycle for the magenta to bleed through to the yellow. When I have time, I may open it to take a look.

 

[optimizer]

If it's like the i960 print head, do you know how they join the upper and lower pieces of plack plastic? Has anyone broken into one and posted photos. The molding process has left the ink channels routes identifiable in the plastic, travelling in to the center as it moves the ink towards the nozzles. I wonder if they glue the top and bottom pieces of plastic together. I tried prying them apart to look for clogs but had no luck getting them apart.
Did you use any type of pressure trying to clean clogs from the i9100/i550 heads - air or fluid? I'm not going to do that anymore, I think it causes more harm - breaking seals.

Please post a photo of an i9100 head so we can see one.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Here's some pictures of the i9100 print head. First a front view:

Next a side view:

And finally a rear view:

Also, the part number on the side is QY6-0039.

This print head is not typical of other Canon print heads since you do not have to remove the cartridges to remove the print head.