Canon Pixma ip4500 - parallel lines on prints

[Andrew Cooper]

I would be very grateful if someone could let me know what is likely to be causing the lines shown on the attached pics. The lines are about 3mm apart, these are enlarged photos of sections of A4 prints.

They were printed on my Canon Pixma ip4500 using a continuous ink system which has worked well in the past. I've tried cleaning the print head (washing it, flushing it with distilled water, leaving it to dry, protecting the contacts etc), the regular and deep cleaning routines and automatic print head alignment to no avail.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

I would be very grateful if someone could let me know what is likely to be causing the lines shown on the attached pics. The lines are about 3mm apart, these are enlarged photos of sections of A4 prints.

They were printed on my Canon Pixma ip4500 using a continuous ink system which has worked well in the past. I've tried cleaning the print head (washing it, flushing it with distilled water, leaving it to dry, protecting the contacts etc), the regular and deep cleaning routines and automatic print head alignment to no avail.

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

View attachment 3678

Well, Well, and welcome to PK.

According to the time stamp on this message and my uncertain method of calculating the differential - I am guessing some 14 hours have passed since this message was posted.

I would have expected to see a reply by now, especially form our tireless The Hat who is our "numero uno" trouble shooter in things of this nature.

Until he tunes in with the official diagnoses I would just mention in passing that posting a nozzle check would be beneficial, as well as the paper and inkset you are using.

In addition what is the direction of printhead travel on the sample you posted? I am guessing top to bottom, but best to be sure.

Finally, I frequently read that CISS units can be problematical on Canon Iinkjet printers and are best avoided if possible.

Having now exhausted, some may say exceeded, my technical exertise I will leave further comment to the The Hat, or any one of our many technical experts, who I am sure will soon offer advice.

Once again WELCOME. I am sure you will find PK a good resource.

rs

 

[Andrew Cooper]

Many thanks for getting back to me and for the very warm welcome Roy. Perhaps The Hat has gone to see Star Wars? It's getting saturation coverage across the media here in not so sunny but unseasonably warm England.

The photographs were printed landscape so the lines ran parallel with the short side of the plain A4 paper I used. I've also tried printing on one sheet of glossy photo paper and got pretty much the same result.

I'll post a photo of a nozzle check later.

Thanks again!

 

[PeterBJ]

The reason I have not answered is that I cannot figure this out. If the stripes had been lighter than the rest of the picture the most likely cause would have been some clogged nozzles.

Could the darker stripes be caused by some leaking nozzles? But I have never heard of that.

One question: What is the distance between the stripes?

 

[The Hat]

OK @Roy Sletcher, I'm back, so you can relax and thank you for holding reins.

@Andrew Cooper, What ever your problem is I would suggest you don’t print any more photos or test prints till you can sort this issue out. (Nozzle checks excluded)

The first thing you need to do is post a nozzle print on here so we can ascertain just what exactly is going wrong so we can get to the bottom of your problem before any damage is done.

I can’t be sure but it looks like you’re having some cross contamination between your magenta and black inks either in your cartridges or in the print head.

The only other thing that might cause this issue, is one of you timing strips may have gotten ink splashed all over it, causing your sheet not to advance in the correct increments..

 

[mikling]

Print out the attached image and show us the result and also indicate the direction of the paper path.
Also rotate the image 90 degrees and print out in the same direction and let us see the results.

This test image is one that many should use to diagnose issues as it can reveal a lot and point out the errors once you understand what the printer is doing when it prints it out.

It is far more informative than a simple nozzle check as many will come to see once you get a feel of what is going on.

 

[Andrew Cooper]

Very many thanks for getting back to me folks. The lines are about 3mm apart and maybe .5mm wide. It's nearly midnight here I'll print out the test image and post it and answer the other questions first thing in the morning.

 

[Andrew Cooper]

Here are photos of the test image printed in both orientations, as requested. The arrows show the direction of the paper path.

Regarding possible leaks, the continuous ink system was supplied with a set of silicone washers/gaskets which I have been using. Also, when I carried out the alignment checks, some black ink (I assume it was just black) appeared to have leaked into a splodge (I think that's the correct technical term) on one side of the page.

I won't print any more photos but I'd be interested to know how doing so might exacerbate the fault.

(Being a Brit I'm obliged to provide constant weather updates: max temp forecast for today here is 14C, average high in December usually 8/9C.)

 

[PeterBJ]

Looking at the first of the 2 uploaded test prints I see both cross contamination between black and magenta and what appears to be ink starvation in cyan. The ink starvation shows as lighter wedges in cyan, blue and green. The reason the wedges point to both right and left is that the printer uses bi-directional printing.

One cause of the cross contamination could be ink leaking through the print head and collecting on the nozzle plate. This leaked ink can enter nozzles for other colours and cause cross contamination. Ink leaking can also appear like ink starvation as the leaked ink can form a drop that prevents the nozzles from firing. As the drop grows, the light stripe widens.

One cause ink for leaking could be overfilled cartridges or something wrong with a CIS installation, maybe the ink containers are placed too high, feeding ink to the print head at a positive pressure. Ink should be available at the ink inlets of the print head at a slightly negative pressure, meaning that ink will not leak, but the print head must actively pull ink from the cartridge. I suggest to take out the print head and examine its underside for leaked ink, also check the purge unit for leaked ink.

Could the CIS be the cause of all the problems and the print head be OK? If it is possible I suggest to disconnect the CIS and replace it with normal cartridges in known good working condition, preferable OEM, new or refilled with a quality ink.

 

[mikling]

This is just the start of what this image will reveal. Also consider that within the image, which inks primarily make up which stripes or bars. for the Black for example, the first block is pure black depending on which media or paper is chosen as default. This black when it goes into the lighter shades will display the CMY mix that creates the gray. Cyan is primarily Cyan but other colors depending on printer will be added just a touch but generally mainly Cyan. Yellow sometimes is mixed with Magenta in the deeper shades. Green well we know it is primarily cyan and yellow, Blue is primarily Magenta and Cyan. etc.

By rotating the image and printing it, you will see uniformity while printing and see if there are print vs. transport issues as well as ink starvation issues.

This is just the beginning as this image is indispensable when used on photoprinters that utilize lighter shades of Cyan and Magenta and easily reveals when the incorrect ink has been put into a cartridge. In fact, everyone should print this image out when their printer is working PROPERLY and file it away. As soon as something does not look right, and the nozzle check does not reveal the problem, this image should be printed and compared to the one filed away. Most times you will be able to tell what is going on right away.

I'll let the rest of the gang carry on with this analysis while we all begin to learn how to use this image!