Canon PIXMA Pro-10 clogged nozzles/printhead?

[chores]

Hey there, I have a Pro-10 that I recently bought off Craigslist (I'm in CA) for cheap because of constant paper jams. I'm not sure how long the previous owner had it, or when it was last used. I tried printing a page and the paper would skew to one side of the printer. After a Google search, I came across this answer. I tried the "flossing" method, and two substantial pieces of frosted glass popped out. I tried printing another page, and it worked! Only this time the image had heavy banding. I checked the ink supply levels and saw that the Yellow and Cyan inks were low, so I ordered OEM cartridges. When switching them out, I realized that all the inks installed were third party inks! I'm unsure of what brand, but they look like they could be TG Imaging off of Amazon (I've attached a photo of the extra cartridges I got with the printer below). I bought a 10 pack of OEM ink and switched out the cartridges. I did two nozzle cleanings and one deep clean for all colors, and here are the results:

I know I should be printing (or performing a nozzle clean) every 60 hours, but what else should I be doing moving forward? Soak the printhead with distilled water or printhead cleaner? *really hoping I don't need to get a replacement printhead* Thanks for reading.

 

[kdsdata]

Just a reminder! It's good practice to follow the rule of no more than 2 cleaning cycles per hour to prevent overheating then nozzles. You might think that if you do other printing in between cleaning cycles, it's still the nozzles that don't work well that might not put enough ink through and overheat.

 

[Artur5]

It seems that photoblack is the only color with a bad nozzle test. If you perform cleaning cycles, do it only for the colors of group two. No need to waste the ink of group one because these are OK.
It' s not clear if the missing top part of the photoblack band is due to clogs or electrical malfunction. Anyway, I wouldn't remove the printhead to soak it in cleaning solution, unless regular cleanings prove to be totally ineffective. There's a fair chance that OEM ink will be enough to gradually disolve the clogs, but that requires time. Patience is your friend. Do a regular cleaning of group two, followed by a nozzle test. Inspect the results. If they aren't good enough, wait until next day, perform another nozzle check, see if there're improvements. If not, another cleaning cycle, etc..
Of course, if those missing nozzles aren't clogged but damaged, the only and expensive solution is a new printhead., costing much more than what you paid for the printer.

 

[The Hat]

really hoping I don't need to get a replacement printhead*

Nope sorry, you’re going to need a new print head no ands or buts about it…

P.S. dump the rubbish compatible carts and only use OEM carts from now on, and always start you print day with a nozzle check first....

 

[chores]

Just a reminder! It's good practice to follow the rule of no more than 2 cleaning cycles per hour to prevent overheating then nozzles. You might think that if you do other printing in between cleaning cycles, it's still the nozzles that don't work well that might not put enough ink through and overheat.

Thank you! I had no idea.

 

[chores]

It seems that photoblack is the only color with a bad nozzle test. If you perform cleaning cycles, do it only for the colors of group two. No need to waste the ink of group one because these are OK.
It' s not clear if the missing top part of the photoblack band is due to clogs or electrical malfunction. Anyway, I wouldn't remove the printhead to soak it in cleaning solution, unless regular cleanings prove to be totally ineffective. There's a fair chance that OEM ink will be enough to gradually disolve the clogs, but that requires time. Patience is your friend. Do a regular cleaning of group two, followed by a nozzle test. Inspect the results. If they aren't good enough, wait until next day, perform another nozzle check, see if there're improvements. If not, another cleaning cycle, etc..
Of course, if those missing nozzles aren't clogged but damaged, the only and expensive solution is a new printhead., costing much more than what you paid for the printer.

Thanks! I assumed all the nozzles were clogged because the black bar on the left of each ink had color showing through.

 

[chores]

Nope sorry, you’re going to need a new print head no ands or buts about it…

P.S. dump the rubbish compatible carts and only use OEM carts from now on, and always start you print day with a nozzle check first....

Darn!

And I already got rid of the third party cartridges and only intended to use OEM ink from the get go (already have them switched out)!

I'm new to the printing world, and will definitely always nozzle check first.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[palombian]

This printer didn't print more than 100 pages !
With OEM ink (or good quality 3th party from Precisioncolors.com or Octoinkjet.co.uk) I think the printhead will recover.
Happy printing !

 

[websnail]

This printer didn't print more than 100 pages !
With OEM inkt (or good quality 3th party from Precisioncolors.com or Octoinkjet.co.uk) I think the printhead will recover.
Happy printing !

I'm actually in agreement here...

This video might help with the cleaning process:

But I definitely agree with @The Hat's assessment on those cartridges. The "compatible" sponge in a box PGI-72 cartridges are absolute trash and I'd definitely switch to refilling OEM cartridges with pigment ink... AFTER you've cleaned the head mine.

 

[palombian]

I'm actually in agreement here...

This video might help with the cleaning process:

But I definitely agree with @The Hat's assessment on those cartridges. The "compatible" sponge in a box PGI-72 cartridges are absolute trash and I'd definitely switch to refilling OEM cartridges with pigment ink... AFTER you've cleaned the head mine.

Indeed, for obvious construction reasons "compatible" PGI-72 cartridges can kill a printhead in no time, and this can start strange behaviour as blocking the head in the parking position etc...
Think twice before buying a used PRO-10 where those carts have been in, even at a very cheap price (as we sadly found out).
It is a sturdy and reliable printer, but very picky in ink.
I tried most of what's available, and was/am extremely paranoid with nozzle checks (BTW good ink seldom or never clogs).

OTOH, if you are quite sure the ink and the cart are good, patience can heal a lot. Doing nothing but WAITING overnight and some nozzle checks, eventually one or maximum 2 normal cleaning instructions (only for the channel - 5 L or R colours) can do wonders.

Good luck !