Canon i9900 printhead problem??

[Grandad35]

The test for cyan shows a block split at the halfway point. The upper is part is a lighter version of the lower.

Here are a few similar problems:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=15550#p15550
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=13753#p13753
If there is a discontinuity at exactly the midpoint in a nozzle check, there is a very high probability that the print head is defective. It is also possible that the mother board in the printer has a problem or that the gold contacts on the back of the print head are dirty and that one of them isn't making contact. Gently clean them with a soft pencil eraser to test this (but it is a low probability fix).

 

[glf]

I appreciate all of your help but it is now time for me to make a decision. I cleaned the gold contact points but now the printer is out of two of its cartridges. Do I, or don't I, spend $30 more to see if we can figure this out?

My husband has been saying all along that he thought that there was a problem wherever the printer stores the image (I am guessing that would be the motherboard).

On another note, I tried printing the beach picture last night. Nothing had changed. After that failure I printed a copy of grayscale prints for my mother-in-law. They were a funny greenish color. I turned the printer off and back on. Viola, the black-and-white photos were perfect.

Does that mean anything? Do I blow more money on what was once a wonderful printer?

 

[Grandad35]

You must answer the difficult "GMAB" question (do I chance throwing good money after bad).

1. You could probably sell your i9900 for $150-250 on ebay, even with the ink problem.
2. You can buy a new Pro 9000 (same 8 inks, but CLI-8 carts) for $400 from Amazon. Since you use OEM carts, they will only cost about $2 more than BCI-6 carts. In my area, there is a "New in box" Pro 9000 listed for $325 (http://boston.craigslist.org/bmw/sys/1453907616.html).
If you don't need the large format or 8 inks, there are lots of new, lower price printers for sale on craigslist.
3. A green cast on a print usually means that you are missing some magenta (as was noted in a previous post.
4. When the B&W print came out perfect, were you printing in draft mode on plain paper? I believe that this only uses the black ink (others can correct me if I'm wrong on this). Is it possible that the two prints were made with different settings?

There's a good chance that a new print head would fix the problem, but it's always a crap-shoot when it comes to making such a GMAB decision. Good luck.

 

[glf]

The black and white printouts were copies of an old photo that I scanned. They were printed on 5x7 glossy photo paper, in grayscale. They were great.

I think that I am going to let the Canon go. If I knew more about printers I might be tempted to give the new print head a try but, in the meantime, I don't have a photo printer at all.

And I do use the 13x19 size quite often. So I will be getting another.

So, thank you for everything. Going to look for my new machine.