Canon i960 Issue-recommended purge unit testing may NOT be adequate.

[turbguy]

Several days ago, my i960 stopped printing immedeatly after switching printheads to troubleshoot a presistent black-only issue. So I thought, purge unit issue (again)? I preformed the recommended "windex on the pad" trick. The Windex puddle would disappear after closing the cover and reopenning after a cleaning. However, there was no ink desposited on the pad! Even after two "deep cleans". I opened the printer up and, ONE of the TWO little hoses had become disconnected from the pad support. THE WINDEX HAD DRAINED OUT BY GRAVITY OR WAS SUCKED INTO THE REMAINING HOSE AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS! I acually observed this by trial before reconnecting the loose hose. The printer then purged and printed after reconnecting that hose.

Conclusion? The disappearance of windex from the purge pad may NOT be a positive indication that the purge unit is working!! In my case, anyhow.....

Wayne

 

[ghwellsjr]

You're right, and that's why I used to tell people to wait several seconds before closing the cover to make sure the Windex does not drain away on its own, but lately I've been getting lazy. Actually, I have found the opposite situation to also be a problem--that sometimes the Windex will not drain away after closing and re-opening the cover because apparently, until the printer gets into a certain mode, specifically, that it has already printed something, it may not activate the purge pump simply by closing the cover. Thanks for the reminder of this potential problem.

 

[Trigger 37]

It's been a long time since I posted to this web site, as I have been busy on many other projects. However, after seeing this post I felt I needed to add my 2cents.

Many moons ago I posted the suggestion of saturating the purge ink pads with windex as part of my test to check the purge unit versus the printhead being clogged. Somehow this has hung around for a long time. The windex was never ment to be a test to see if the ink pads would drain, as this is a totally unreliable test. The function was meant to saturate the ink pads and then blot them dry so they would not have any residual black ink left on them. Any residual ink can contaminate the next part of the test.

The real test was to remove the printhead and totally flush all ink out of it and dry it off via compressed air, etc. Then the head is re-installed and a normal cleaning cycle is done. Now the ink carts are removed and capped, and the head is removed and examined. The instructions were to blot the head on a wet paper towel and observe what ink colors appear. The blot test has to be done several time, and specifically I actually wipe off ALL of the ink off of the bottom of the head before I start the blot test. If all ink colors are there then we know the purge unit is successfully sucking ink down through the bottom of the head and the head is not clogged. If black or colors are missing then we know there is a problem with the purge unit. If one or more of the colored inks appear on the blot and the black is there, we know the purge unit is working. That is all there is too it. If there is not any black it could still be a totally clogged black printhead. Same goes if there is no color ink at all, but it is rather difficult to believe that all nozzles of every color is clogged. Same goes for the black nozzles. I find this to be a very useful test.

Today I also uncovered a new clue about clogged printheads, but since this is a different subject I will post it in a new thread.

 

[nelda]

Several days ago, my i960 stopped printing immedeatly after switching printheads to troubleshoot a presistent black-only issue. So I thought, purge unit issue (again)? I preformed the recommended "windex on the pad" trick. The Windex puddle would disappear after closing the cover and reopenning after a cleaning. However, there was no ink desposited on the pad! Even after two "deep cleans". I opened the printer up and, ONE of the TWO little hoses had become disconnected from the pad support. THE WINDEX HAD DRAINED OUT BY GRAVITY OR WAS SUCKED INTO THE REMAINING HOSE AFTER SEVERAL SECONDS! I acually observed this by trial before reconnecting the loose hose. The printer then purged and printed after reconnecting that hose.

Conclusion? The disappearance of windex from the purge pad may NOT be a positive indication that the purge unit is working!! In my case, anyhow.....

Wayne

I am looking for a i960 printhead, would you be willing to share your source? TIA!

 

[turbguy]

Call Canon USA Support and ask. They were still available 6 weeks ago. Tell them you own several Canon Printers and want to check availability.

 

[Trigger 37]

Call the Canon Parts department. When some answers, ask again for the parts department. To place an order you need a Credit card as you have no ACCOUNT with them. I find they have the best prices for NEW heads and they give you a warranty.

The number is 1-866-481-2569.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Maybe you will get lucky if you try this approach.

 

[gigs95]

PLEASE HELP!!

I have an i960 that , after 6 years, just started giving me an issue. It started that Cyan and Black inks were not printing. After numerous cleaning cycles, deep cleaning cycles and nozzle checks, I found this forum and went through the printhead cleaning process with hot water. It seemed to have helped, but not completely. When I do a nozzle check now, the bottom halfof the Cyan and Yellow blocks is very faint and the pattern thatis supposed to appear in "G" is completely missing. I went through lots more deep cleaning cycles and nozzle checks and even cleaned the printhead again, but still no better. I then put it in service mode and did the diagnostic test and i can see where there is a problem, but not sure what to do to fix it. The yellow grid is barely printed and parts of the bottom half of the Cyan grid are missing. Can someone please help me to figure this out?

 

[turbguy]

You may have a purge unit problem. I've had to fix one of my i960's twice, when the small rubber hoses in the purge system became disconnected. It's a relatively simple fix if you can work with small mechanisms and are willing on get ink on your hands. Else it may be a basket case...

Wayne

 

[gigs95]

I love this printer and I am definitely willing totry to fix it...Can you walk me through what to do?