i9950 Magenta printing problems

[dgibbo777]

All,

I've found this a very useful forum based on reading a number of the threads, so am hoping someone can help me. I have a 4 year old i9950, which recently stopped printing half of the Magenta colour (if I do a test print, only the bottom half of Magenta prints, not the top half).

Having read a lot of the forum threads, I went through the processes of cleaning/flushing the print head, soaking the purge pads in windex to ensure they drain ok, but the problem hasn't gone away.

Before throwing away a very good printer, I took it to the local Canon repair centre ($50 flat fee for them to look at it). They also gave it a clean, but couldn't get it working. There recommendation was that the printer needed a new print head as well as a new purge unit, total cost of $450 (Australian dollars) to repair.

Right now I've decided not to proceed with the repair, but rather put the money towards a new A3 photo printer (any recommendations would be great).

But, before doing that, wanted to throw this out to the forum and see if anyone else has another idea that might save the printer. It is a great printer, so would hate to give up unless I really have to.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.
David

 

[ghwellsjr]

You definitely need a new print head but you can do a test to see if you need a new purge unit. Start by doing a nozzle check, just to get the printer in a known state. Then open the cover and using a flashlight (or do you call it a torch in AU?) look off to the right where the print head parks for two black foam looking pads. Using a syringe, eye dropper or pinched straw, put some window cleaner or just plain water on the two pads. Close the cover and turn off the printer. Turn the printer back on and see if the liquid is still on the two pads. If it is, then you either need a new purge unit or you need to repair it. Report back your findings if you want more help (or even if you don't).

 

[The Hat]

dgibbo777

I had an i9950 for about the same period of time as you and that died prematurely due to stupidly/accident and wish I had it back everyday. You will not find a replacement to match it anywhere. Do as ghwellsjr /God of purge units says.. It doesnt cost anything to try to get to the bottom of the problem. Its most lightly the purge unit thats had it and or maybe the print head ($100au) this printer is well worth saving. George has a whole section on how to clean out the inside of a printer (with pictures) so dont give up yet. Its not as hard to repair your printer as you think. You have gotten half way to fixing you printer by finding this forum, so wheres that Aussie spirit then..

 

[dgibbo777]

Thanks to both of you for the responses. I had come across the postings of ghwellsjr and that inspired me to do a lot of the cleaning etc (as well as Trigger1937). To answer the question about the purge pads, I did go through the exercise of opening the printer, putting windex onto the purge pads and closing the printer again. As soon as it was ready to go, I opened the cover and the windex was gone (having done that 10 times I have nice clean pads now .

Given that, would it lean to the print head? For some more context, this printer spent a number of weeks in a box being shipped when I recently moved back to Australia from the UK. Even though I removed the cartridges before shipping, I didn't go through any cleaning exercise, so could well be that the ink on the pads just dried into the print head and we've been trying to use the printer without knowing and have burnt out those specific nozzles.

Thoughts?
Thanks again.

 

[ghwellsjr]

It's good news that your purge system is working because that is a very labor-intensive repair job. Replacing the print head will only be the cost of the print head because you can do it yourself.

As far as the mechanism of failure goes, I'm assuming that when you say that the top half of your magenta is not printing and the bottom half is, you are being quite literal and exact, which points to an electrical problem caused by ink migrating somewhere inside the print head and contacting some of the electronics and causing a short when the printer was finally turned on. This problem can happen in a printer even if it is not being moved or shipped, just from old age, it appears.

BTW, Mr Hat, I only know a lot about purge units because I managed to ruin so many of them with the Inktec pigment black ink that I selected as my superior refill ink. That sounds more like a label of "Devil of purge units" would be more fitting, but I try to learn from my mistakes and share my experiences with others so they can benefit in whatever way possible and I also benefit from everyone else's experiences, including Trigger 37. (Who is Trigger1937, anyway?) Fortunately, dgibbo777 doesn't have to worry about that particular problem because his printer doesn't use any pigment ink.

Dgibbo777, there is one other issue that you might want to consider before making a decision about buying a new print head and that is the level of the ink in your waste ink absorber pads. The printer keeps track of how many cleanings it does and how many borderless prints you make and reports this as a percentage in the extended nozzle check. Here's how to produce the extended nozzle check:

Start with the printer OFF and paper in the feed tray.

1. Hold down the RESUME button and then hold down the POWER button.
2. Release the RESUME button (while still holding down the POWER button).
3. Press the RESUME button twice, then release the POWER button.
4. The green light will blink and the printer will make some noise. Wait until this is finished, then press the RESUME button once.
5. Press POWER once.
6. Wait until the printout is complete and then press the POWER button once to get the printer back to normal.

Look at the top of the printout. You will see a number after "D=". This is how full the waste ink absorber pads are as a percentage. You can consider how long you have had the printer and come up with an estimate of how much longer it will be before the number will reach 100%. When it reaches 95%, your printer will warn you that the printer needs service. At that point, you have to decide whether to take it to your service center to have them replace the pads (these are very large and line the bottom of you printer) or do it yourself or just reset the counter and hope the counter is very conservative. My recommendation is to do it your self but maybe you won't have to deal with this for several more years. I'd sure be interested in knowing what your counter reports.

 

[dgibbo777]

Thanks again for the detailed input. I thought I'd replied to your post, but looks like I didn't submit it.

Yes, I was being literal when I described the problem. The Magenta rectangle in the test print is exactly half the height of the others, with only the bottom half printing.

I followed your instructions and the D value is 042.19, which I assume is 42% and means we've still got a good way to go.

Given this and the other input, I'm assuming that it will be worthwhile to spend the $100ish on a new print head? Canon locally charge $224 dollars (around $200 US) for a replacement one delivered. I think printexpress is the recommended US site and it's $120 inc shipping (so around $130 Aussie), just need to wait 7-10 days.

If you have any other thoughts I'd appreciate it, otherwise I'll go ahead and order the print head.

Thanks again.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I believe it would be a good choice to get a new print head. When you get to the point of replacing your defective print head, you should clean the ink out of it so that you can have it as a backup in case you need to do some tests on your printer with it. Here's how to do it:

Remove all the cartridges.
Do a deep head cleaning.
Do a nozzle check.
Repeat if anything prints.

I have produced several threads about the i9900 that I used to own that you might find enjoyable:
8.5x11 photo in 45 seconds on i9900
Are red and green ink really used in i9900?
Wide-format Canon printer showdown

BTW, I purchased two i9900 printers when they were on clearance sale and had a $100 rebate (for one day). I only used one but mainly just to do testing. I then bought some used i9100 printers which I found to be adequate for my wide format needs and sold the two i9900 printer on eBay. There was nothing wrong with them.

 

[dgibbo777]

Thank you sir, you've been a great help. Print head has been ordered from printheadexpress, so hopefully will be back up and running in 2 weeks. Thanks also for the other threads, will definitely read them....

 

[turbguy]

See:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=33363#p33363

don't know if this applies to your unit!

 

[ghwellsjr]

I don't think that is related because a faulty purge unit would not cause the problem of exactly half of one color to not print. He has an electrical problem.