Canon PIXMA iP3000 magenta and yellow mixing

[Callistemon]

Our Canon PIXMA iP3000 manufactured in (likely June) 2004 was in a garage for 10 consecutive years before being removed recently and having the print head rinsed. All colors have been working for a while now, and all of the original cartridges were recently depleted except for the yellow, which was depleted today while obsessively cleaning again. The magenta and yellow colors are mixing and the magenta becomes dull in under 24 hours, while the yellow becomes tan and then quickly dull magenta. I thought the magenta was clogging rather than mixing in the earlier stages of this defect, so it was cleaned twice whenever used and that burned through a quarter of our new black ink tank.

Since it is actually mixing, it can be prepared by printing the affected colors only (magenta and yellow) on scrap paper, but too late, much of the black is gone. It has become worse than that though, and the yellow cartridge (which is abnormally greenish) became stained with dark magenta from severe mixing today, before it was finally depleted. This could have been a new cartridge that was ruined. With that much mixing, the yellow cartridge would need to be removed and have 10 drops squeezed out, then magenta and yellow colors printed on scrap paper, before every use even when used every day.

We can't just switch to our Canon CINDERBLOCK MX850, because it has a 6A00 error after 5010 after B200, and it is so crowded with the scanner cover only opening slightly. A replacement print head for the iP3000 is available on AliExpress, but that ships from China, using liquid coal that pollutes a tremendous amount of sulfur and arsenic, and it may be counterfeit or neglected.

 

[stratman]

Our Canon PIXMA iP3000 manufactured in (likely June) 2004 was in a garage for 10 consecutive years before being removed recently and having the print head rinsed.

Consider yourself fortunate the printer still worked after 16 years, 10 of which were stored in a garage.

All colors have been working for a while now

Good.

all of the original cartridges were recently depleted except for the yellow, which was depleted today while obsessively cleaning again.

Did you flush and refill these "original" cartridges before using the printer again? If not then this is a prescription for problems.

The magenta and yellow colors are mixing

Mixing of ink can be from a variety of issues including but limited to

1. There is an air leak in the cartridge.
2. Deformation/crack of the plastic ink exit port on the cartridge.
3. A cartridge sponge issue of some kind.
4. Missing O-Ring on the print head ink entrance port so no proper seal between print head and cartridge.
5. Print head ink entrance port or surrounding is misshapen/cracked somehow.
6. Cartridge not seated in the print head properly.
7. Print head locking lever (if there is one) is not locked down.

First, print a nozzle check, scan, crop and then post it here.

Second, purchase new OEM or aftermarket cartridges. You could flush and refill the old cartridges, however, at this point it is unclear if there is a problem with your "original" cartridges causing mixing. Then do another nozzle check, scan, crop and post.

 

[Callistemon]

Did you flush and refill these "original" cartridges before using the printer again? If not then this is a prescription for problems.

- - -

Second, purchase new OEM or aftermarket cartridges. You could flush and refill the old cartridges, however, at this point it is unclear if there is a problem with your "original" cartridges causing mixing. Then do another nozzle check, scan, crop and post.

When the cyan, black, and magenta cartridges were depleted, they were replaced with new genuine Canon cartridges. The yellow was the last to run out, and has not been replaced since it was out of stock.

First, print a nozzle check, scan, crop and then post it here.

I don’t have a new yellow cartridge, so nothing can be printed and mixing will not show.

Mixing of ink can be from a variety of issues including but limited to

1. There is an air leak in the cartridge.
2. Deformation/crack of the plastic ink exit port on the cartridge.
3. A cartridge sponge issue of some kind.
4. Missing O-Ring on the print head ink entrance port so no proper seal between print head and cartridge.
5. Print head ink entrance port or surrounding is misshapen/cracked somehow.
6. Cartridge not seated in the print head properly.
7. Print head locking lever (if there is one) is not locked down.

1. There is no new yellow cartridge to test, but all of the others are new.
2. No defects there, and other cartridges are new.
3. No replacement cartridge to test.
4. All rubber rings in place.
5. No defects there, including underside of rubber.
6. Cartridges have been removed and reseated several times.
7. Gray lever is definitely fully secured down.

 

[stratman]

When the cyan, black, and magenta cartridges were depleted, they were replaced with new genuine Canon cartridges.

Does this mean you were using 10 year old cartridges that had been left in the printer in the garage for 10 year?

What colors are entering/mixing with other cartridges? Did this happen after installing a new cartridge and, if so, what was the precise progression of events?

Is there any leaked ink in/around the print head, carriage and/or printer itself? What color(s)

Did flushing/rinsing the print head help?

When you are able to print nozzle checks then use only new sheets of paper, not scraps, and only print on one side so there is no confusion caused by ink on the backside.

 

[Artur5]

Perhaps there’s another possible thing to check. The rubber gasket inside the printhead, between the white ceramic plate and the channels of the different inks coming from the inlet ports above. This gasket has the purpose of preventing leaks and mixture of the inks. If there was a crack in the rubber on the part between the holes for the magenta and yellow channels, both inks would mix.

I assume that this is a very rare instance but, everything else discarded, considering that the printer wasn't used for a longtime, that rubber gasket might have self degraded with the years.

See below. This is from one of my ‘deceased’ printheads. I don’t remember which one.

 

[PeterBJ]

Another cause of cross contamination is breakdown of epoxy bonds inside the print head, due to age and heat. The iP3000 might be close to 20 years old.

 

[stratman]

The rubber gasket inside the printhead

Taking apart the print head is a last ditch effort as you are likely to fatally damage the print head.

In American Football this is the Hail Mary pass.

 

[Callistemon]

Does this mean you were using 10 year old cartridges that had been left in the printer in the garage for 10 year?

What colors are entering/mixing with other cartridges? Did this happen after installing a new cartridge and, if so, what was the precise progression of events?

Is there any leaked ink in/around the print head, carriage and/or printer itself? What color(s)

Did flushing/rinsing the print head help?

When you are able to print nozzle checks then use only new sheets of paper, not scraps, and only print on one side so there is no confusion caused by ink on the backside.

1. The printer was used for photos before 2010, but they faded quickly on the HP photo paper. Sometime around then it was placed in storage.
2. It was discovered a couple months ago. The black print head was completely sealed with a tiny bead of black caulking ink running along it. The yellow was less obviously clogged.
3. The original, possibly starter cartridges, are not dried up or thick, and it is not apparent that it will even be worthwhile to purchase new cartridges. Errors could occur anytime.
4. Some documents were printed using only purple color. At that point, the documents were being rushed through before an error code occured from rinsing or anything else.
5. The print head was removed and rinsed under warm water for 10 minutes, and then inserted again after an hour.
6. The black and yellow worked intermittently but still had unpredictable outages until multiple more automatically triggered cleanings were done.
7. All the colors worked. About 500 more pages were printed and a couple large clear photos. The smaller HP photo paper that was stored in the printer smeared and did not accept more than a small amount of ink, and it appeared the printer was defective when it was actually the paper.
8. Mixing starts. After 2 days, magenta is dull before 1 cleaning.
9. The cyan was depleted and replaced with a new genuine Canon cartridge.
10. The black was depleted and replaced with a new genuine Canon cartridge.
11. Mixing continues with magenta lower than yellow, and magenta becoming dull, but not yellow becoming magenta.
12. The magenta was depleted and replaced with a new genuine Canon cartridge.
13. Mixing increases, and 2 cleanings are required to turn yellow back to yellow from magenta.
14. After much of the new black and cyan was wasted, it turns out the magenta and yellow are not clogged, and can be cleared with blocks on paper without affecting black and cyan.
15. The yellow cartridge was depleted while trying to print large blocks of magenta and yellow to show the mixing.
16. No leaks or rubber gasket defects. It would be extremely difficult to not strip the screws while removing the ceramic base.

Perhaps there’s another possible thing to check. The rubber gasket inside the printhead, between the white ceramic plate and the channels of the different inks coming from the inlet ports above. This gasket has the purpose of preventing leaks and mixture of the inks. If there was a crack in the rubber on the part between the holes for the magenta and yellow channels, both inks would mix.

I assume that this is a very rare instance but, everything else discarded, considering that the printer wasn't used for a longtime, that rubber gasket might have self degraded with the years.

See below. This is from one of my ‘deceased’ printheads. I don’t remember which one.View attachment 11235

Removing the ceramic base is close to impossible without stripping the tiny screws. The screws on the old MX850 print head are stripped from this.

 

[Artur5]

Taking apart the print head is a last ditch effort as you are likely to fatally damage the print head.

In American Football this is the Hail Mary pass.

You're right, every time I did that, I knew beforehand that it was ‘desperate surgery’ to try only when nothing else works. A last but tiny chance of fixing the problem. One or two times I didn't damage the printhead on the process, but couldn't fix the previous problem either. Three or four other times some tiny tracks in the flexible cicuitry broke and that was the end of those printheads. They died gloriously with their inks on.

Anyway, if that rubber gasket is damaged somewhere, unless you have a spare, it won’t do any good to remove the screws to open up the ceramic plate.

 

[stratman]

Thanks for the detailed summation. It helps diagnose as well as provide a cautionary tale for all.

This is the IP3000 print head. Yellow and Cyan are adjacent to Magenta and are the most likely culprits to contaminate the Magenta. An image showing the altered colors, preferably a nozzle check, would help.

1. The printer was used for photos before 2010, but they faded quickly on the HP photo paper. Sometime around then it was placed in storage.
2. It was discovered a couple months ago. The black print head was completely sealed with a tiny bead of black caulking ink running along it. The yellow was less obviously clogged.

10 years in storage using an unusual storage method that is not clear. Leakage of air, desiccation of inks over time, growth of biologicals in the ink, and dried out plastics/silicone/rubber can happen. These are potential reasons for missing ink when printing and leaking of ink. The old cartridges - ink or no ink - should never have been used without a thorough flushes and anti-biological treatment.

Some documents were printed using only purple color. At that point, the documents were being rushed through before an error code occured from rinsing or anything else.

In general, once ink is missing you should stop ALL printing, except for nozzle checks, until resolved. Otherwise you run the risk of permanently burning out nozzles.

The smaller HP photo paper that was stored in the printer smeared and did not accept more than a small amount of ink, and it appeared the printer was defective when it was actually the paper.

While the ink may be involved as well, you are correct about the old paper since effects of time and environment on paper, maybe especially coated papers, can cause issues. I don't know about expensive HP papers but my experience with lower cost HP Photo Paper with Canon inks is abysmal, especially fade resistance. Color fidelity may or may not require a true ICC Printer Profile to be corrected to one's satisfaction.

No leaks or rubber gasket defects.

If no external leaking is seen as I wrote above then the leaking/mixing begins inside the print head.

Your print head is broken. You can try surgery to find the issue but the chance of a fix is remote.

You need a new print head. Then there is the issue of an old printer, possibly poorly stored, and experiencing a myriad of problems. Why spend money on a print head that may be a Chinese refurb dressed up in counterfeit packaging with high failure rates?

The best thing to do, economically and headache-wise, is get a new printer.

Let us know what happens!