Cyan ink clot?

[alexandereci]

Hello everyone!

Been busy for a week with work and a new baby (yay!) and left my printer alone for a while. I come back today and do my regular test print and find out there is an error with the cyan band. Apparently, the lower half of the band is lighter in color (the whole band should be the same color), and the black rectangles are also lighter in color on the lower half.

Sorry for the crappy picture, can't figure out what's wrong with my camera, but here it is:

I've tried Cleaning, Deep Cleaning, even took out the printhead and looked at the nozzles, but can't seem to fix the problem. Is it possible that my Cyan isn't feeding properly? Or is it a problem with the Black cart?
:/

 

[alexandereci]

btw, I use the German method for refilling carts, and no, I've never had a cart dry up on me.

 

[newuser4]

I have the same problem with cyan nozzles on a Pixma 3000, I think it's a print head failure. Since only the lower dots in the darker band are missing it cannot be a clog. Grandad35 came across this problem in this thread:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=241&p=12

 

[ghwellsjr]

Your problem is not with the black. The small rectangles are made with a combination of all three colors and since the bottom half of your cyan is not printing, it made the bottom half of the rectangles lighter than they should be.

Your problem is just with the cyan but it is not a clog or a feed problem. It is an electrical problem. Hopefully you can fix it by removing all the cartridges and taking the printhead out. Look for any residual ink on the printhead where it shouldn't be, blot it with a paper towel, and then use an eraser to clean off the gold contacts on the back side of the printhead.

Sometimes this will fix the problem but if it doesn't, then it is probably an electrical problem inside the printhead which cannot be fixed. It could also be an electrical problem in the printer which also can't be fixed. You should be aware that there are some electrical problems in printheads and printers that can burn out each other so you always have the risk that if you get another printhead, it may be damaged by putting it in your printer, or if you put your printhead in another printer, you may damage the printer. So be careful if you decide to put your printhead in a friend's printer.

That being said, if you want to continue with this printer, I would suggest buying a new printhead.

 

[alexandereci]

Thanks for the reply, ghwellsjr. I'm glad to know the problem isn't with the black.

I've taken out the printhead and there is no residual ink on the nozzles, so no problem there. I've tried cleaning off the contacts both on the printhead and on the printhead cradle with a rubber eraser. Then did another test print, still the bottom cyan isn't printing.

What about that clear plastic "guide" that runs along the back of the printer? Sometimes, in my older printers, the print won't come out properly if there are smudges on that guide.... although checking on it, my guide is clean.

You think I can take this back to the Canon shop for repair? I've been using 3rd-party inks, so the warranty is questionable since the "defect" is not on the printhead but on the printer circuits itself.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I doubt if the problem could be the timing strip (the plastic "guide" as you call it) because that would affect all the nozzles, not just half of one color.

Most Canon shops are going to charge you an hour's labor just to look at your printer, unless it is still under warranty and like you say, if you are using a printer that uses chipped cartridges and refilling, the printer will let the shop know that you have been doing this.

I just uploaded an image of a printhead that had a similar problem to yours at:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=23682#p23682

However, if you read the whole thread you will see that it has a more serious problem, but you should look on the bottom of your printhead with a magnifying glass for evidence of burned traces. If you find one, that would be the source of the electrical problem and probably means that a new printhead would solve the problem.

 

[alexandereci]

Nope I don't think it's a burned trace... based on your picture, the bottom of the printhead assembly isn't like that at all... looks as good as new.

My argument regarding warranty (not that it matters) is that even if I used 3rd-party ink, all they could do is to make the nozzles clog up. If the motor burns out or the circuit fries itself, then the ink is not to blame, but shoddy workmanship... think that'll pass? Hehehe...

I guess I'm bringing this to Canon tomorrow. They will know I'm refilling since I use the German method and that's immediately obvious to anyone with half a brain.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You never stated which printer you have or whether it uses chipped cartridges.

 

[alexandereci]

Sorry about that. It's a Canon iP3300, using CLI-8 carts. These babies have chips, and I'm not using a chip resetter --- I'm using the "eyeball" method of determining when to refill.... that's why I can say I've never had a cart run out of ink on me.

Is the printer type going to affect your "diagnosis"??

 

[ghwellsjr]

No, I just wasn't sure if the only reason you were concerned about warranty coverage was the small hole you put in the cartridges to do the German refill method.

Since I don't have any printers that use the chipped cartridges, I'm not sure about the following, but I seem to recall that if you put a set of new Canon cartridges in your printer, it will go back to using the level sensors and maybe re-instate your warranty coverage. Maybe someone else will explain this.

In any case, I agree with your comment that refilling shouldn't release Canon from their obligation to provide you with a new printhead. I think you might be able to get one with a phone call. I would try that first.