IP4600 possable head problem...opinions please

[stoppage]

I have a Canon IP4600 which prints orange instead of red. I’d been using original Canon carts., refilled many times with a known good-quality ink from “Sudhaus”. I know that the ink isn’t the problem so I switched carts. over to a complete set from “Octopus”. I tried tweaking settings, I printed from other software, I even cleaned the head out with distilled water. Nothing makes the slightest difference. I’m asking for opinions here, it really looks like a print head problem but I don’t fancy forking out €70 or more if the head isn’t the problem. I include RGB test printout and nozzle test printout. Grateful for any help here.

 

[The Hat]

Hi @stoppage, there is not much wrong with your print head that I can see, that a good long soaking in some washing up liquid or Windex wouldn’t cure.

But first print off this test sheet once or twice and see if your cartridges can handle it without running low on ink.

I also suspect that all of your cartridges would benefit from a complete purge and fresh inks also, could you please post the test sheet when it starts to show poor ink flow..

copy and paste into Photoshop or similar application to print.

 

[stoppage]

Thanks for the fast reply. CartTest Printout scan in Attach....

 

[stoppage]

.....by the way, current carts. are brand new, fresh ink

 

[stoppage]

.....Sorry, a larger version of Cartridge Test...

 

[PeterBJ]

It looks to me like the magenta stripes in the nozzle test print from post #1 are too light and I noticed banding in magenta and red in the cartridge test print in post #5.

The printer uses bi-directional printing and the test prints make me think that the nozzles for magenta for one of the directions of print head travel have failed. Cleaning the print head might solve the problem, but more likely it is caused by an electronic failure in the print head.

An extended nozzle test from the test print in service mode will show if all nozzles are working, so please upload a scan of the extended nozzle check. Do you need instructions for service mode operations on the iP4600?

See this post for an example of an extended nozzle test showing failure of exactly half of the nozzle sets for CMYK, only PGBK is OK.

 

[The Hat]

Let’s not give @stoppage heart failure just yet, because there was a big improvement in the ink flow when he switched to the new carts on the test prints, yes the are nozzles missing in the magenta and cyan but a good soaking may resolve this situation for him, fingers crossed..

 

[stoppage]

Let’s not give @stoppage heart failure just yet, because there was a big improvement in the ink flow when he switched to the new carts on the test prints, yes the are nozzles missing in the magenta and cyan but a good soaking may resolve this situation for him, fingers crossed..

Sorry I may have caused some confusion here....all tests are from new carts, and an overnight soaking it's already got. I have no idea how to do extended nozzle test.

 

[PeterBJ]

There are situations where the normal nozzle test from user mode is not sufficient to tell if the print head is OK and is printing with all nozzles. The extended nozzle test from service mode prints grid patterns for all nozzles, not only for PGBK.

To print this test you need to get the printer into service mode, and then use a service tool (software) to print the test page.

To see how to enter service mode and run the service tool see the first post in this thread.

I have rewritten the procedure to enter service mode slightly, as I think that makes it more clear and the iP4600 has no display.

To enter service mode on your printer:

With the printer turned off, but connected to the mains:
1. Press and hold the Stop/Resume button
2. While still holding the Stop/Resume button also press and hold the Power button.
3. When the power led lights in green release the Stop/Resume button while still holding the power button.
4. While still holding the Power button press and release the Stop/Resume button two times. Notice that first time you press the Stop/Resume button the green Power LED turns off and the yellow Alarm LED comes on. Second time you press the Stop/resume button the Alarm LED turns off and the Power led comes on.
5. Now release the Power button. The Power led starts flashing and the printer makes some start up noises. When the noise stops and the Power LED lights steadily in green the printer has entered service mode.

This post has links to the version 3400 service tool, both as a rar archive attached to a forum post and a zip archive from a Russian site. I recommend the use of version 3400 as it works with all Windows versions from XP and on both 32 and 64 bits.

Here is a Youtube video in German showing how to enter service mode for your printer, and here is a druckerchannel.de article in German about absorber reset.

For the service tool to work only Windows can be used. The service tools don't work with Linux and MacOS. The service tools only work with a USB connection, Wireless cannot be used.

The "Test Print" button in the service tool is the one to click to get the print with the extended nozzle test. Notice that both the cassette and the rear tray must contain paper, as you cannot predict which paper source the printer will use for the test print.

 

[stoppage]

OMG! I'm gonna have to work my way up to this. How do I get out of this mode and back into normal printer modus.....or does it return automatically? Speculating.....if the test print is ok and the printhead checks out, where else can the problem be?