Canon ip8500 banding issue

[ejaf]

I am doing a print head alignment...It's a manual one, and column "K" is off. That was what started the thread. Trying to solve that problem.

So...no more banding when printing a test photo...that's with the new cartridges. The photo looks OK, but I can't get a solid color in column K on the print head alignment.

I will try to take a photo of the exended print check and the print head alignment later today...and upload. The patterns on the extended nozzle check are quite light, however, so I hope they come out.

Eric

 

[Lilla]

I am doing a print head alignment...It's a manual one, and column "K" is off. That was what started the thread. Trying to solve that problem.

So...no more banding when printing a test photo...that's with the new cartridges. The photo looks OK, but I can't get a solid color in column K on the print head alignment.

I will try to take a photo of the exended print check and the print head alignment later today...and upload. The patterns on the extended nozzle check are quite light, however, so I hope they come out.

Eric

ejaf, I googled and found another report of an IP8500 with a manual alignment problem in column K that sounds same/similar to what you describe -- see this thread.

Two ideas drawn from this thread, plus one that I added.
- assure latest driver and proper installation
- clean the mylar timing strip*, do this very carefully. Do not stretch, or bend.
- clean the ribbon cables*, do this very carefully. Do not stretch, or bend.
* see Post #5 this link for how to clean.

Another thought, if after doing the maintenance items, the problem with column K persists, but extended nozzle check, nozzle check, and purge8 test pattern looks fine, then it could be anomally (just something weird) rather than a real world problem.

 

[ejaf]

Lilla, thanks for the suggestions, and for all your help.

Reinstalled the drivers, tried to clean the mylar strip to the best of my ability, couldn't figure out what beige plastic strips are being referred to, so I didn't accomplish that.

Same issue...manual print head alignment gives me no choice in column "K".

Maybe a few other clues for the experts here...on my nozzle check (not extended, but regular), the perpendicular bars which are the borders for the letters "6R" have a greenish tinge...all others are greyish in color.

Also, I printed another few photos, with human subjetcs, and they have a noticeable green tinge. Have been plowing through the forum for this, and it seems as if the most common thing causing this is Magenta starving.

I don't have any OEM Magenta carts lying around, so I will have to take the ones I was running, and purge them first, prior to filling with the MIS, to see if the carts are causing the starvation.

Another thing...I had posted another thread, regarding the fact that Inksupply.com sent me "Light Magenta" and "Light Cyan", instead of "Photo Magenta", and "Photo Cyan", but someone replied (sorry, can't remember who), that they are in fact the same.

I also cleaned the print head via Panos' method, that I have done in the past, on an older printer.

If switching out the carts I have to the OEMs works, horay! If not, I will be at my wit's end.

Eric

 

[Lilla]

Lilla, thanks for the suggestions, and for all your help.

You are welcome.

Sorry, what I initially called "beige plastic strips" was a poor choice of words. I modified my initial post to call it "ribbon cable". I also added a link to some cleaning instructions.

If you don't have a service manual for your printer you might want to download the service manual for the IP4000 as these printers have some things in common -- see post 21 this link.

In case you don't know already, there is a simple test you can perform to test your cartridges. When you blow into the air vent you should get a few drops of ink to come out of the exit port. You should not have to blow real hard. You can blow into a cartridge that is working well and compare the pressure required to get ink to flow from the exit port to what is required with the suspect cartridge. Another thing I've learned from this forum is that I should not leave the cartridge out of the print head for very long. It is best to replace it with another cartridge. When a cartridge is missing the printhead can suck in air and cause an air block in the print head and these air blocks are hard to remove.

An interesting post by Grandad where he talks about possible causes of green (or other) color casts -- see post #6 this link.

Did you see this thread Green colourcast using Image Specialists (MIS) Ink with Canon ip5000?

Lilla

 

[Lilla]

Another thing...I had posted another thread, regarding the fact that Inksupply.com sent me "Light Magenta" and "Light Cyan", instead of "Photo Magenta", and "Photo Cyan", but someone replied (sorry, can't remember who), that they are in fact the same.

The "who" was Mikling. Mikling is the owner of precisioncolors.com mentioned below. I believe he said "can be" (not "are") the same thing. You might want to consider the following about ink supplier policies and the buyers ability to know what they are buying.

Post #108 by Canonfodder this link writes...

I first purchased Image Specialists ink from MIS because of Neil Slades reports. Later I decided to buy my Image Specialists inks from http://www.precisioncolors.com. The price is right and the pedigree of the ink is clear and given on the labels.

MIS (www.inksupply.com) uses an inhouse numbering system, they do not write the Image Specialists formula number on the ink bottle sent to the customer; if they substitute a formula you have no clue as to what happened. Precisioncolors.com writes the Image Specialists formula number on the ink bottle they ship to the customer, so you always know what you are getting. Precisioncolors.com has a policy of NOT substituting formulas. Their policies are clearly stated on their web site. Precisioncolors.com site clearly states that they sell Image Specialists inks. MIS is believed to sell Image Specialists inks, but if you write and ask them they will not confirm it, at least they would not do so for me.

I am currently using Media Street ink (believed to be made by Image Specialists) sold by www.inkjetgoodies.com. I will be changing suppliers on my next ink order and I have already done the research. I considered MIS and precisioncolors.com. My next ink order is going to be from www.precisioncolors.com for the reasons stated above.

I wonder if they might have sent you pigmented ink instead of dye based ink? You could do a water test on a purge8 test pattern to determine this -- see Does your pigment black ink run on plain paper when it gets wet?

Lilla

 

[ejaf]

Sorry I took so long to acknowledge this...was away.

But thanks for the input. They indeed sent me the right ink.

The banding is gone after cleaning the printhead.

I get very different results based on what paper I am using...don't want to get into color profiles (yet), but I am going to experiment with different papers that may be more compatible with MIS inks.

Will consider precisioncolors.com for my next order.

Still can't get the alignment output correct on that one column...doesn't seem to affect the prints, though.

Thanks...Eric