i560 prints with all red then green tint HELP.

[coxenhole]

I was reading this forum earlier today and I read a post that niiice wrote on 1/28/06, check it out: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=764
Well, I have the same problem and I can't figure out who Grandad is, if it is someone on this forum, did a search and found nothing. Anyhow, I need to find out how I can take apart the print head and soak it to clean it like niice did.

My printer started to print everything with a red tint, inbetween it did some good prints, usually after I did a cleaning. Then all of a sudden it started to print everything in a green tint. I contacted Canon and they also talked about the printhead, but told me to take it to a shop. I want to try the cleaning myself first. I don't know if taking it to the shop will be worth it.

Please help if you can.

 

[ghwellsjr]

He's actually Grandad35.

The most common problems causing a cartridge not delivering ink are:
1. Cartridge not snapped into place.
2. Tape not removed from top of cartridge to allow air to flow into top of cartridge to replace ink as it is used.
3. A poor third-party cartridge that does not provide consistent ink flow.

I have seen this last problem with cartridges that have only one sponge in them. Canon OEM cartridges now all have two sponges, the upper one does not carry very much ink but is used mainly to allow air to flow to the top of the lower sponge near the partition the divides the cartridge into two compartments. There are little ridges that provide an air path so that bubbles can get into the ink tank to replace the ink that is used. If the air bubbles can't get there, the cartridge will quit providing ink.

 

[fotofreek]

#4 cause, which I just had last night, for poor ink feed that produces banding is a cartridge that has had multiple refills and doesn't deliver the ink efficiently. This was an OEM cart that I have been refilling. I will backflush it (see the thread for backflushing carts by grandad35) and it will then work as new again.

 

[coxenhole]

I did find Grandad35.

Last night I did a printhead cleaning. I used the method that panos wrote about in the thread that I put a link to. (using windex and paper towels etc). The cleaning went well, and last night right after this, the printer worked fine the way it should, for the first time in weeks. Well, it did not last very long, tonight I printed something and it was back to an all red tint.

Here are the answers to your comments; The cartridges are seated correctly in place, I have original Canon cartridges that have never been refilled. All the tape and plastic that comes around a new cartridge is removed.

ghwellsjr - Re; comment number 2; how can air flow in to the top of the cartridge when there is no hole? According to the manual of the book, you don't remove the last piece of plastic that identifies the cartridge and what number it has. It also looks like it is on there pretty good. But I don't see any holes!

Please keep answering this question. I thought I had fixed it, but oh no.... I really can't afford another printer right now, and I need one.

 

[ghwellsjr]

There is not a hole that goes straight through to sponge chamber. There is a serpentine grove that starts at the end of the uncovered part of the top of the cartridge and ends somewhere near the middle of the sponge chamber. It twists and turns many times before getting there. The label makes the grove into a sort of tube.

Do you see the begining of this grove?

If you correctly removed the flap of plastic that comes on a new cartridge, then I don't see how it couldn't be there.

One test you should do is remove the cartridge from the printer and blow into the top end of the cartridge very slightly and see that ink comes out. Of course you will want to do this in a safe way. You don't have to blow out much ink, just enough to insure that the serpentine grove along the top of the cartridge (under the label) has a clear path to the inside of the sponge side of the cartridge.

 

[fotofreek]

I've been helping a friend start refilling his ip5000. During the first cart change he remarked that the original OEM bci-6 black cart didn't seem to need refilling as the reservoir was still nearly full. I decided to "set it up" for future refilling anyway. As soon as I made a refill hole over the reservoir the ink level dropped to almost empty! I think that the air vent was occluded by adhesive from the tape. It is also possible that the actual air vent hole into the sponge chamber isn't clear or that any part of the maze leading to the air vent hole is blocked. At any rate, what I am saying is that an OEM cart may also not feed well and should be suspect.

 

[coxenhole]

fotofreek & ghwellsjr,

Thank you so much for helping me and taking interest in my problem. I looked at the cartridge and I really examined it. I barely found the grove mostly hidden under the label. It starts in the far end above the sponge area, and seams to end in the other end above the sponge area, closest to the ink chamber (if I look at the cartridge from the side). I blew in it carefully and pretty quick ink came out.

Now, the cartridges that I had in the printer all went out a couple of nights ago, got the message they needed to be replaced. So right before I wrote this answer I changed all of the cartridges, and the first couple of things I test printed came out all right. Could this have been a problem just related to the old set of cartridges? (it was the old ones I blew in)

Anyhow, If the old cartridges had been full or half full, how would the "blowing test" help or what should I have done after that to make the printer work?

Please check back with me, if the problem comes back with these new cartridges, I will post to this same thread. Thanks.

 

[fotofreek]

If the new cartridges work ok then you can be assured that you had a defective cartridge that just didn't feed as well as it should have. Canon is not infallable! A good cart will continue to feed properly until it shows empty on the ink monitor. About the air vent - if you were to remove all the tape label from the top of the cart you would see the "maze" or groove molded into the top of the sponge section that begins just outside of the label that remains on the cart when in use and ends at a small hole, about the size of the diameter of a push pin into the sponge area. that is how air comes into the cart to replace the ink as it is used. Otherwise the cart won't feed.

 

[ghwellsjr]

fotofreek, do you still have access to your friend's BCI-6BK? Can you give it the blow test and let us know the result?

coxenhole, blowing merely proves that the vent is open. If you didn't get any ink out, you could try to locate the source of the trouble and fix it. If the ink level is half full, that would indicate that the vent was open.

 

[coxenhole]

HELP....

It did not last very long. Today the printer is back to printing all in green shades. (except black)
What should I do now?????

I don't know enough to have an idea, buy a new printer!!!

Won't be a canon next time....

Thanks.