Help wtih Canon i560

[chobo2]

Hi

So as many of you people know I tired to refill my cartridges and all of sudden I got messed up colors. After countless tries I could not get it working so I popped in a new gunuine cannon ink cartridge. Did a deep clean and called it a day.

Now I printed today a purge sheet and guess what the color is messed up again........ This is make me very concerned since even with a regualar cart it still is not working and I know I will get the blame for this one lol.

The printer is about 4 years old and still using the orignal print head so I don't know if the ink itself screwed it up or what is happening but since it happened at this time people will point at the ink as causing the problem. I don't understand what is happening since I did refill black too and it works. Like I see some lines in black too after every couple blocks(a darker black line) but I am not sure if that is normal or what.

So now I took out the part where the ink cartidge was held and am looking at that trying to see what is wrong with it.

The precision ink says I should flush this out with water but I am kinda scared to do this since I might even make it worse and ruin it even more.

So I don't know what to do anymore.

I will be posting some pics up in a couple mins(I have to use my laptop cam to take them since thats all what I got)

pic1 printer container thing

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/7857/picture005ry3.jpg

pic 2 same thing bit closer

http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/3361/picture004xc1.jpg

pic 3 purge test pattern

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/5830/picture002cp7.jpg

pic 4 purge test pattern

http://img412.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture001jp9.jpg

pic 5 purge test pattern

http://img261.imageshack.us/my.php?image=picture006uu2.jpg


All of these where taken with a laptop cam so I tried my best but there not the greatest. All the purge images are of the same purge test print(I only did one).

Heres one I did with the refill

http://img161.imageshack.us/img161/4849/inkxp3.png

u can notice with the black there are some lines and they are still there

After a clean cycle with the genuine cart I still see some streaks in the magenta they look orange(can't get a good enough shot to show you guys).

 

[fotofreek]

read post #7 by Trigger in the thread named "Do Cleaning carts really work". A good concise post on cleaning a clogged printhead. Could be that the seals where the ink outlet contacts the printhead ink inlet are not sealing the cart properly. This would let inks cross contaminate eachother.

 

[chobo2]

read post #7 by Trigger in the thread named "Do Cleaning carts really work". A good concise post on cleaning a clogged printhead. Could be that the seals where the ink outlet contacts the printhead ink inlet are not sealing the cart properly. This would let inks cross contaminate eachother.

Is there away to tell by looking at the print head if the seal is not sealing right.

I emailed canon and they emailed me this back.

Thank you for your E-mail inquiry regarding your i560.

Based on the information you have provided, the problem you are experiencing may be due to a clogged print head. Please try the following.

1) Start by removing the ink cartridges from the printer.
2) Then remove the print head from the printer.
3) Clean the bottom of the print head as well as the inside with alcohol and a cotton swab such as a Q-tip. Ensure to use a separate cotton swab for each colour. Set aside for about 2 minutes and then repeat the cleaning.
4) Wait another 2 minutes and place everything back into the printer.
5) Next, perform 3-4 regular print head cleanings from the maintenance tab of the printer properties.
6) Try a test print.

If your printer is no longer under warranty and you wish to purchase a replacement print head for your printer, you may do so directly from our Customer Information Centre. The print head cost $60 plus taxes. Payment may be made with either a VISA/MasterCard number with expiry date. Please note that all sales are final and we are unable to accept returns or exchanges. Should you wish to place an order, please contact us at 1-800-OK CANON [1-800-652-2666], Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 8:00pm EST (excluding holidays). A representative would be more than happy to advise you of the total cost, the availability, shipping methods and place an order on your behalf.

So they think it is a clog. So am I am wondering could it be the ink that clogged and ruined it some how? Like I did not know a clog would alter the colors I thought it would stop the ink from coming out.

I have not tried what they suggested yet. I have however taken it to the tap and used warm to hot water and rinsed water through it removing all the ink.

So I don't know how a clog could still exist after that(unless it so bad and I don't know if that was just because of time or if it was the inks fault).

Like after I the cleaning with the water I let it dry and printed again and it all looked good and all the color carts where genuine canon. Only black was refilled.

 

[phipham]

magenta ink is mixing with the yellow.
i dont know if its from leaking cartridges or internally within the printhead.
you can try a cleaning cycle then pullling the cartridges out and waiting several hours before printing the test pattern.
if you still get cross contamination, i would guess that the leak may be internal.

 

[fotofreek]

Best not to leave the ink carts out for an extended period of time (more than the time necessary to change carts) as ink in the intake port in the printhead will dry up.

 

[Trigger 37]

chobo2, The first thing to do would be to clean your printhead. If you got some ink contaminated in any way, there are only two ways to clear it out. 1. Purge it out by doing deep cleanings or Printing large color bar patterns. 2. Remove the ink carts and the printhead and rinse all of the ink out of the printhead in the laundry room sink. You are not going to hurt the printhead. Let the faucet water fall directly on the filter screens and then turn the printhead over and focus the stream of a hand sprayer on the nozzles. Rotate the head back to see if colored ink is coming out of the filter screens. Keep rinsing until you can see no more colored ink. Dry the printhead with compressed air or a hair dryer on medium heat. Make sure you get all the water off. Inspect the rubber seals around each of the filter screens. What you are looking for is a crack in the seal. As far as I know the only way to get contaminated in is for ink to LEAK into the well around the filter screen and over flow into the next screen. This will contaminate the other ink cart almost immediately. This kind of fail is cause by a leaking ink cart. As you said you "Tried to Refill your ink carts. If you did not seal the hole you used to refill the ink carts properly, it will leak. However, you should have noticed this immediately when you tookthe ink carts out again. There would have been puddles of ink around the filter screens.

Inspect each ink cart to verify that no other color ink has back flowed into the ink cart. Inspect the felt pad at the exit of each ink cart. Use a paper folded towel and blot the ink cart on the towel and verify the color. If you see any mixed color, don't use that ink cart again. With the ink cart over the paper towel, use you mouth to blow some air into the air vent in the top rear of the ink cart. Be careful as this is going to force ink out of the exit port of the ink cart. You should get at least one or two drops. The color should have no contaminated ink and should be solid Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, or black depending on which cart you are testing.

Once you get the head clean and dry and have verified all of the ink carts are good put it all back in the printer and do 2 normal cleaning cycles. This will "Prime" the printhead with new ink. Once the is done print a nozzle check to verify all the nozzles are firing. After that you should be good to go.

On the question, "How did this happen", as I said above, if you didn't seal the ink cart correctly, it will certainly leak. It will just "Run" out of the bottom and fill every part of the printhead till it overflows. From looking at the pictures, it seems you got lucky and only one cart leaked and contaminated only the Magenta. Maybe you need to re-read the refilling instructions.

 

[chobo2]

chobo2, The first thing to do would be to clean your printhead. If you got some ink contaminated in any way, there are only two ways to clear it out. 1. Purge it out by doing deep cleanings or Printing large color bar patterns. 2. Remove the ink carts and the printhead and rinse all of the ink out of the printhead in the laundry room sink. You are not going to hurt the printhead. Let the faucet water fall directly on the filter screens and then turn the printhead over and focus the stream of a hand sprayer on the nozzles. Rotate the head back to see if colored ink is coming out of the filter screens. Keep rinsing until you can see no more colored ink. Dry the printhead with compressed air or a hair dryer on medium heat. Make sure you get all the water off. Inspect the rubber seals around each of the filter screens. What you are looking for is a crack in the seal. As far as I know the only way to get contaminated in is for ink to LEAK into the well around the filter screen and over flow into the next screen. This will contaminate the other ink cart almost immediately. This kind of fail is cause by a leaking ink cart. As you said you "Tried to Refill your ink carts. If you did not seal the hole you used to refill the ink carts properly, it will leak. However, you should have noticed this immediately when you tookthe ink carts out again. There would have been puddles of ink around the filter screens.

Inspect each ink cart to verify that no other color ink has back flowed into the ink cart. Inspect the felt pad at the exit of each ink cart. Use a paper folded towel and blot the ink cart on the towel and verify the color. If you see any mixed color, don't use that ink cart again. With the ink cart over the paper towel, use you mouth to blow some air into the air vent in the top rear of the ink cart. Be careful as this is going to force ink out of the exit port of the ink cart. You should get at least one or two drops. The color should have no contaminated ink and should be solid Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, or black depending on which cart you are testing.

Once you get the head clean and dry and have verified all of the ink carts are good put it all back in the printer and do 2 normal cleaning cycles. This will "Prime" the printhead with new ink. Once the is done print a nozzle check to verify all the nozzles are firing. After that you should be good to go.

On the question, "How did this happen", as I said above, if you didn't seal the ink cart correctly, it will certainly leak. It will just "Run" out of the bottom and fill every part of the printhead till it overflows. From looking at the pictures, it seems you got lucky and only one cart leaked and contaminated only the Magenta. Maybe you need to re-read the refilling instructions.

Well I did the rinsing and stuff in the sink and kept running warm water through it till I did not see any thing come out. I then dried it off very good and put it back into the printer and printed(everything printed so nicely out and I thought the problem was solved).

A couple hours did another print and same thing happened again.

At first thats what we(me and ppl on this forum) thought there was a leak in the cartridge but I don't think that was the problem because after a week to 2 weeks of trying(first I tried retighting the screw to taking a glue gun and glued the hole closed) we could not think of anything so I stopped using the yellow cart(black and yellow where the only carts I refilled).

when I inserted the new yellow cartridge I noticed the same problem again with the new cartridge inserted(this lead me too look into cleaning the printer head). After cleaning the print head with water all the color carts I inserted where canon ink carts never refilled with any ink. So there should have been no leak coming from the colors the only one that could have was the black and I have had no problem with that one but like I said after a couple hours(probably about 2 and half) the color started to change again.

This weekend(since I will be busy for the next couple days) I will take out and for signs of the seal being broken or what not.

So I don't know this kinda sucks like I don't know if it was me doing something that screwed it up(I am pretty sure it was not a leaking cartridge I would have noticed drops coming out of the nossle and never have put it back in. I actually remember when I was refilling it in the instructions it said have paper towels ready since after you remove the tape ink will come out and I remember that not even a single drop came out after I removed the tape. Also if this where the problem after cleaning the print head and not using that cartridge anymore after that should have stopped this problem.) Or if the ink was not that great of quality as I was told and a clog happened and somehow this lead to screwing up.

Or if I am shitty unlucky and the first time in years I try to use refill ink and the printer decides to die at the exact same time in the exact same color where I refilled the ink.

Like I am just unsure what really happened(I wish I knew so I could correct it for the next time).

 

[Grandad35]

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=8344#p8344
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=9207#p9207
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1883

 

[chobo2]

So

I had a chance to look quickly at the print head and I pressed on the print head and all the colors came out. It was hard to tell but it looked like nothing was being mixed up. However I noticed that there where 2 magenta lines and that one of the ones was close to the yellow line.

I guess the only thing I can do is just use up the ink I have left and then when that runs out buy a new printer. Since I am not going to waste my money on buying a new printer head for $60 + tax and probably shipping.

Might as well buy a new one.

 

[Trigger 37]

chobo2,... I think Grandad35's post it probably the answer. I doesn't look like you followed his link and read the posts. What they are saying is that the ink pads where the printhead rests during all parked conditions could be very saturated with ink. This can be caused by several things; 1. If you do too many cleaning cycles. 2. And if there is any kind of blockage in purge unit such that there is a puddle of mixed ink at the pads. The canon printers are always going through what looks like wasted ink cleaning cycles when you have not asked the printer to do anything. It does this each time it parks the heads. What it is doing is "Trying to suck all excess ink out of the pads before it parks the printhead. If your purge unit is clogged and not working that well then there will always be excess ink in the color pad.

To check this, open the top cover and let the head move to the center. Once it is there, use a paper towel and blot all the ink off of the color and black pad. Then your can run a regular cleaning cycle. Then recheck the pads to see if there is excess ink on the pad. If there is this could be the cause of your contamination. I have done the same thing on several HP printer ink carts. I had a colored ink cart from an older printer and it was virtually empty so I filled up the colored ink cart and set it on a wet paper towel to dissolve the dried up ink. It did such a good job, the cyan ink flowed out of the ink cart and saturated the water and then wicked but up into the yellow and magenta right through the nozzles. This contaminated the entire 20ml of ink in each ink section of the 3 color ink cart. It only took a couple of minutes to ruin the whole cart.

So you can see how a Canon Prinhead could become contaiminated by resting on a "Puddle of mixed ink". The puddle will be black to everything that touches with it will get a small amount of black mixed in.

One way to test this is to take out the ink carts and printhead. Then add several drops of water to the top of each pad till they are flooded. The close the cover and wait till the carriage is parked and all internal cycles are done. Wait exactly one minute and after that amount of time the printer will clean and park the carriage asm. In doing this, it wipes the bottom of the "Missing Printhead" and is cycles the purge unit to suck all excess ink down to the waste pads, and then it parks and locks the carriage asm. When this is done, open the cover and inspect the pads to see if all the water you put on the pads is gone. Do a blot test with a paper towel to see just how wet the pads are.

Since your printer worked perfectly after you did the printhead cleaning, but a short time later experience some contamination, I am suspecting that your purge unit really needs total cleaning. Unfortunately to get at the purge unit you have to take the printer totally apart down to the basis chassis and then you have to take the Auto paper feed unit off of the backof the main chassis once you get that out. This is because the very clever engineers at Canon put one of the screws that holds the purge unit to the main chassis behind one of the plastic support arms of the Auto document feed unit. They not only did this on the early i550 printers, they left it the same for every printer they have made since then including the i560, i850, i860, i950, i960, iP3000, ip4000, ip5000, etc. Why did they leave it this way,... because they use the same chassis and basic purge unit for all of those printers and they didn't want to move the screw hole because it would cause re-tooling to be done and no Engineer wanted to be blamed for that. This is part of the Japanese culture. I spent two years going to Japan to teach them engineering but I could not force them to change what they do because of their culture.