Canon iP3000 nozzle test with missing bands

[levinel]

I have an iP3000 that started printing photos in black and yellow only.

Nozzle check shows no clogged nozzles, rather some color bands in the test pattern are completely missing. The five color bands appear as follows:

httpsCOLON//lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c8ynaUecBAs/T5Ybw6iQV7I/AAAAAAAAAAk/g_epWevDwY8/s800/nozzle-check.gif

-6C (dark cyan) - color band is missing, label and gray blocks are yellow
-6C (light cyan) - color band is OK, label is yellow but gray blocks OK
-6M (dark magenta) - color band is missing, label and gray blocks are yellow
-6M (light magenta) - color band is OK, label is yellow but gray blocks OK
-6Y (yellow) - color band is OK, label and gray blocks are yellow

All carts contain ample ink. Print head has been removed and reseated. Seem to recall re-installing the driver - but not sure.

Is this a cabling or logic issue, or what? Is it likely that the problem is NOT the print head and assembly? (I have the option to mail order a used printer with a bad print head but otherwise good.)

 

[Tudor]

-6C (dark cyan) - color band is missing, label and gray blocks are yellow
-6C (light cyan) - color band is OK, label is yellow but gray blocks OK
-6M (dark magenta) - color band is missing, label and gray blocks are yellow
-6M (light magenta) - color band is OK, label is yellow but gray blocks OK
-6Y (yellow) - color band is OK, label and gray blocks are yellow

This is what I see:
PBK ok
C,M color missing
Y color band missing
LC, LM color band incomplete

Actually there are no light colors on your printer.
C,M,Y - 5pl droplet
LC, LM - 2pl droplet

 

[Tin Ho]

Try to soak your print head with water mixed with some Ammonia or use Windex. Soak it for a few days. There is still some hope.

 

[levinel]

Thank you, Tudor (and Tin Ho). My apologies, however, for providing a bad graphic. Here is the original scan:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-...AAAAAAAAAAw/Cej4iYVgXy8/s800/nozzle-check.jpg

The streaking in Y, LC, LM is an artifact of the scanning. All three bars are actually solid.

But completely missing are C, M - the heavy colors. They both went missing at the same time, with no prior warning. Does this sound like it's NOT a nozzle clog issue? If so, what else, and how should I deal with it?

This is what I see:
PBK ok
C,M color missing
Y color band missing
LC, LM color band incomplete

Actually there are no light colors on your printer.
C,M,Y - 5pl droplet
LC, LM - 2pl droplet

 

[Tin Ho]

The streaking in Y, LC, LM is an artifact of the scanning. All three bars are actually solid.

But completely missing are C, M - the heavy colors. They both went missing at the same time, with no prior warning. Does this sound like it's NOT a nozzle clog issue? If so, what else, and how should I deal with it?

The Y, LC, LM are still not perfect, not even close. But the strange thing is normally if it is a clog the LC and LM would be worse than CMY. In your nozzle test it is the opposite. Maybe it is the electronics in the print head that is already defective.

 

[turbguy]

Could be a defective purge unit? Are there separate parking pads for color and black?

Wayne

 

[levinel]

The Y, LC, LM are still not perfect, not even close. But the strange thing is normally if it is a clog the LC and LM would be worse than CMY. In your nozzle test it is the opposite. Maybe it is the electronics in the print head that is already defective.

Yes, the jpg of scan looks bad - but on the test printout, the Y LC LM look same as when it was printing good photos.

Thanks for pointing out the anomaly in the nozzle test. Looking at the print head assembly - it appears that there are separate heads for 2.5 and 5.5 pl - 4 ink cartridges, but 6 heads. Without a working head to swap, I guess there's no way to locate the electrical problem. Might as well replace the printer.

 

[ghwellsjr]

It will make a great black-only printer for plain paper. All your black nozzles are working perfectly. I wouldn't get rid of it and if you do keep it, make sure you use it regularly or you will probably lose your black nozzles too.

 

[levinel]

It will make a great black-only printer for plain paper. All your black nozzles are working perfectly. I wouldn't get rid of it and if you do keep it, make sure you use it regularly or you will probably lose your black nozzles too.

I've kept this one just for color - yes, I suppose I should donate it as a b/w printer, instead of scrapping it. Interesting aspect of this model is that it would not clog even if it was NOT used regularly. Been many months since I've done a nozzle test.

 

[ghwellsjr]

And the nice thing about about the chipless printers is that you don't have to even have the color cartridges installed to make it print in B/W. However, eventually, the printer will think the color cartridges are getting low and then empty and then you will need some actual empty cartridges to reset their ink levels. But it's not obvious how to do this, you need to remove the actual empty cartridges, close the cover and re-insert them at which point the printer will say they are low. If you leave them out, it will take a lot longer before the printer claims they are empty but then you run the risk of misplacing them. So if you plan to donate the printer as a B/W printer, make sure you provide instructions on how to reset the levels.