Canon pixma IP5000 - no cyan at all

[QE2]

Thank you all.
I soaked the head for a couple more hours (in just 1/4 inch of liquid) and the screens seem to drain better than they did earlier.
I'm doing all those final drying steps now.
I'll leave the head overnight to air out and try it in the am.
I'm a bit concerned to put back in the non-canon cartridges, but I'll use the cyan canon one that I purchased when this started (because the cyan was blocked). I think that the head just dried out from lack of color printing for a while.

Would welcome advice on best (affordable) ink practices.
I'm sure there's a thread...
As you can tell I'm a bit skittish about electronic repair, but willing to try (thanks to the support I found here).

Will report the good news (?!) on Monday.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I'm glad you're exercising caution with regard to making sure your print head is dry.

I also wouldn't use non-Canon cartridges but you're probably not to excited about buying more Canon cartridges until you're sure the printer is fixed. But you can test the printer with just the Canon cyan cartridge as long as you only do nozzle checks. If it works then I would suggest you go out and buy the rest of the Canon cartridges and put them in the printer, turn the power off and on, do another nozzle check and hopefully your printer will be back to working correctly. If not, you may need to do another cleaning followed by a nozzle check.

Then I would recommend you refill your one set of Canon cartridges using the German method. See this link for details:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=27842#p27842

 

[QE2]

Thank you again, ghwellsjr.
You're right RE: "not too excited about buying more Canon cartridges until you're sure the printer is fixed."
I bought the cyan for $14.00!

I would prefer to use a reliable pre-filled non-canon cartridge because I won't always be available to refill and others can just pop a new one in. No muss, no fuss. I do understand that I could make a second set.
But in your experience are there any good/reliable sources for the pre-filled carts?
I followed some threads and it's somewhat confusing/conflicted.
Also, vendors change suppliers (like mine did) so old postings may be inaccurate.
I'm near LA if that makes a difference for suppliers.

If I do venture into the refill arena, I have a couple of questions:

RE: "I recommend Inktec dye ink. I have also used their pigment black ink but have experienced clogs in the purge units on three MP780 printers (all recently) that I service. I had already decided to switch because that ink smears when you use a highlighter on it. I'm still looking for a good replacement..."

I'm assuming that the pigment black ink that you refer to is what goes in the BIG cartridge in the ip5000? correct?
have you found a replacement?
Have you used Hobbicolors High Quality Black Pigment Ink for Canon?
http://shop.ebay.com/kbay2002/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=25

Also noting that you prefer the German method and thanks for the link.
A lot of people seem happy with Hobbicolors kits. But I assume you've made this choice to go the German method with Canon carts because of some experience/consideration.
Do you want to share any thoughts about this?

Also regarding:
"I like the needles available (with syringes) at the bottom of this website:
http://inkjet.cfriends.com/accessories.htm
Can you confirm that this is:
"Small slip-tip syringe (10-12cc capacity) with blunt 2" needle?"

Seems that if we use the printer irregularly for color prints, that there wlll always be potential issues with the color heads drying out + clogging - no matter which way we go...

 

[qwertydude]

Surprisingly enough today my cyan clogged partially at the head too first clog I ever got in 1 year of printing. My solution was to place a a couple of drops of denatured alcohol on the screen then put a plastic tube over it and then blow it through the print head and then suck it back out. I did this several times and it cleared the head completely out. I then printed about 5 pages of solid cyan to clear out any alcohol in the head and it seems 100% fine now.

 

[QE2]

Hi qwertydude,
Might seem obvious, but I assume that you did this after removing the print head from the printer, correct?

 

[qwertydude]

Actually no I just had the printer cover open it wasn't a bad clog I could probably have just gotten away with just the alcohol and putting the cartridge back on but I try not to remove the print head if at all possible especially since it was just one color, after blowing the couple drops of alcohol through the sucking it back out is what completely removes the offending particles so I feel safe that it's not going to clog again.

 

[QE2]

Well, I tried just the cyan cartridge as ghwellsjr suggested in post#32 above.
At first - nothing. A bunch of test prints, a cleaning, shut on and off etc. No result from the nozzle check - just blank. I got a bit hot under the collar.
Tried a drop of windex h20 solution on each of the intakes and also noticed that the purge pads seemed to have dried out and were a bit crispy. Wetted them down a couple of times with solution.
Another try or 2 and a drop of solution on intakes and now I've gotten 3 nice looking cyan only test pattern prints!
So this (guardedly) feels like an initial success!
Will go buy the remaining actual Canon cartridges to test the whole thing. Got a coupon from Office Depot in the mail today (how odd) for 10$ off... so it's a tiny bit less painful.
Will report results...

 

[embguy]

Well, I tried just the cyan cartridge as ghwellsjr suggested in post#32 above.
At first - nothing. A bunch of test prints, a cleaning, shut on and off etc. No result from the nozzle check - just blank. I got a bit hot under the collar.
Tried a drop of windex h20 solution on each of the intakes and also noticed that the purge pads seemed to have dried out and were a bit crispy. Wetted them down a couple of times with solution.
Another try or 2 and a drop of solution on intakes and now I've gotten 3 nice looking cyan only test pattern prints!
So this (guardedly) feels like an initial success!

You got a good nozzle check on the cyan after putting a drop of solution on the PH intakes screen. Sound like you have a seal problem between the cyan cartridge and the rubber washer.

Please dry the cyan intake screen, the rubber washer and the cyan cartridge outlet port. Do a cleaning cycle. Do you still have a good cyan nozzle check?

 

[QE2]

I followed your instructions and yes, I did get a good cyan nozzle check after the cleaning cycle.
I assume that's good news...

 

[embguy]

QE2,
Yes, look like you have the cyan unclogged. Put a masking tape on the cyan cartridge wall to mark the cyan ink level. Check periodically to determine the cyan ink level. You may still have a problem if the cyan ink level does not go down. You put Windex at the inlet screen. You are diluting the ink at the outlet port of your cyan cartridge. Time will tell whether you have fixed the cyan clog.