IP4300 - PGBK not printing: Clogged head or what?

[Sherden]

Thanks to everybody for the support.

Next week I will have a second hand printing head for further testing.

In the meanwhile I will keep reading the forum to find the better way to unclog the stubborn clog in the passageways of the head, as suggested by turbguy. The former soakings has had no effect

 

[Sherden]

If you want to continue on trying to get the PGBK black to flow better you could try filling an empty OEM cart with photo black then do a couple of normal head cleans on the black only and then do a nozzle check and see if that makes any difference..

Should I purge the PGBK cart before filling it with photo black (dye)?

I read somewhere that mixing dye with pigment ink could produce clogs? Could be this the case?

 

[The Hat]

It’s ok to mix dye into the pigment ink cartridge, it will not cause the ink to clog, but if you intend to reuse this cartridge later then you’ll need to purge the cartridge first before putting pigment ink back into it..

 

[Sherden]

Here I am again...
Finally i managed to get an used print head to do further checks. It comes from a faulty MP800 that is about to arrive home.

The former owner told me that the printer has a "faulty mother board" error and the print head is stuck on the parking area. It doesn't move if you try to move it by hand. It seems "locked"

Is there any way to unlock it apart from dismantling the printer?

 

[turbguy]

No.

 

[The Hat]

A Man of many words..

 

[PeterBJ]

When a Canon print head fails, it can damage the logic board / mother board in the printer. A damaged logic board can damage a new print head.

If the logic board in the MP800 was damaged by the print head, this print head might also damage the logic board in your iP4300. Swapping print heads between printers for troubleshooting is a very risky procedure that is not recommended, so be careful.

 

[Sherden]

I quitted with the idea of swapping printheads, is too risky. The same person

I'll wait to find a working second hand IP4300 to buy.

Do you have any advice about a newer similar Canon model that uses cartridges "easy" to refill?

In the meanwhile I will resume the attempts to clean the printhead following the previous advices.

 

[turbguy]

Try a PRO-100. Easy to refill and reset, but don't refill the OEM CLI-42 Yellow Cart without reading about gelling issues arising from mixing other inks with residual OEM yellow ink. Refill a CLI-8 cart with the chip from the CLI-42 switched to the CLI-8 cart, instead.

 

[PeterBJ]

Sadly the price of the Pro-100 is roughly equivalent to 600 USD in the EU. But maybe Humbum will succeed in getting one for half that price by buying from an American Ebay seller? I hope he will report if he has to pay additional Customs and VAT by importing it from a country outside the EU. See this post and following posts.

But the Pro-100 is a dedicated A3 photo printer meaning it is big and heavy and lacks the pigment black used for plain paper documents.

In my opinion the iP4300 and other printers that use the QY6-0061 print head probably were the best all-round printers Canon ever made for home use. Printers that use this print head are: iP4300, iP5200, iP5200R, MP600, MP800, MP800R and MP830. The R suffix models have both USB and network connectivity. Maybe you could find one of these printers in a good working condition, if what you need is an A4 all-round printer?