Looks like a Pro10s is in my future

[rodbam]

Gday everyone hope you have all been well.
I think my Pro9500 has an electrical problem, at first I thought is was just a clogged printhead but with this nozzle check it looks too uniform to be the printhead a.
Has anyone seen a nozzle check like this?

 

[The Hat]

Gday @rodbam, your nozzle check is looking all too familiar as a head failure, I can’t explain why it does this out of the blue, mine did exactly the same, it did a perfect nozzle check then a perfect Photo and then a nozzle check just like yours.

My current head is in the printer 3 years and I reckon it will last at least another 2 years before it will need replacing, after my last head failure I bought 2 new heads, one to use and one spare, I didn’t want to lose my printer to redundancy, it’s a great 10 year old printer..
P.S. hope you can source another head from somewhere, otherwise it will be a terrible waste..

 

[websnail]

I wonder if we could encourage someone with a solid background in electronics to investigate a printhead with this sort of issue and see if it's something that could be fixed by someone with the requisite skill. I'm the first to admit I don't know, nor have the background but it would be nice to get a definitive answer in case there's an outside chance of someone finding that it's "Just a dip flange on the gasket that needs replacing with a diodipflop" or similar.

 

[kdsdata]

@rodbam: This type of failure does not seem like an electrical problem in the printhead, it appears to be a nozzle issue. Electrical failure produces a more erratic pattern, if you even get a print.

And "fixing" the printhead, I wouldn't even begin to think that. On Youtube search "manufacturing printhead" and watch the CANON video. I would say the precision needed for (re)assembly is a bit higher than what we could manage at home. Presuming you could get it apart without damaging ANY parts.

I would first do a Windex flush on the printhead, and leave the Windex in the printhead overnight, but no tape or anything to keep the Windex from dripping out. Simply flush (NO pressure, REALLY no pressure, just gravity flush) then set on shrinkwrap, nozzles down, and leave overnight. And keep the Windex "off' anything other than the ink channels.

In the morning flush again with Windex (again, no pressure) (don't flush with Water, leave the Windex in the printhead), then put printhead in printer, put in ink cartridges, and print a couple of nozzle checks. If the checks improve, keep printing checks until a nice pattern. If the checks don't improve, I dare say it's the printhead.

As a second procedure in cleaning, I might use a vinyl eraser to clean the contacts, by stroking in the direction of the pins. That tends to remove film from air particle corrosion (possibilities: CO2, H2S, etc.; does copper get a blackish film in your neighborhood?). Then use a soft cloth repeatedly to make sure there are no eraser crumbs left on the contact pins. Pay good attention to this, because any crumbs left will cause more trouble than you already have.

Good luck.
p.s. I am an electrical engineer, retired (now mostly tired). In our neck of the woods we used to have the corrosion problem from trace H2S in the air on relay contacts. Unfortunately we could not fix that problem with erasers. We had to use gold contacts, or at least gold flashed. That's why I buy my mobile's cables and accessories only with gold flashed contacts.

 

[demoeb]

@rodbam:
I would first do a Windex flush on the printhead, and leave the Windex in the printhead overnight, but no tape or anything to keep the Windex from dripping out. Simply flush (NO pressure, REALLY no pressure, just gravity flush) then set on shrinkwrap, nozzles down, and leave overnight. And keep the Windex "off' anything other than the ink channels.

In the morning flush again with Windex (again, no pressure) (don't flush with Water, leave the Windex in the printhead), then put printhead in printer, put in ink cartridges, and print a couple of nozzle checks. If the checks improve, keep printing checks until a nice pattern. If the checks don't improve, I dare say it's the printhead.

I just flushed a the nozzles (I call them ports, but whatever) on my Epson R2400 with warm water, because that's what some youtube "expert" said to use but I do have printer cleaning fluid, I will re-do it with that. Thanks for making me think about that - it could rust it with the water.

p.s. I am an electrical engineer, retired (now mostly tired). In our neck of the woods we used to have the corrosion problem from trace H2S in the air on relay contacts. Unfortunately we could not fix that problem with erasers. We had to use gold contacts, or at least gold flashed. That's why I buy my mobile's cables and accessories only with gold flashed contacts.

If I may ask, why is there Hydrogen Sulfide in the air?

D.

 

[kdsdata]

I ... If I may ask, why is there Hydrogen Sulfide in the air? D.

@demoeb: It is really a matter of "trace" H2S. When you live in an area (like Alberta) where there is lots of gas in the many underground deposits, there is bound to be trace H2S in the air above the caverns. It simply creeps through the ground. Similar to gas in swamps, there are always bubbles coming up, although the swamp gas is of course a different gas. In Alberta there is "sour" gas underground, that means it contains H2S. When it is diluted in the air when it escapes it becomes "trace" amounts. If you ever drove through an area where you smell "rotten eggs", there is a good chance that it's 'trace' H2S.

Don't take the last sentence as a hard rule, there are lots of similar smells. I can't leave this statement as it is, because pure H2S is actually odorless. It is actually other components in the gas that smell like "rotten eggs", but if you get that smell there generally are also trace H2S present.

Speaking of odorless H2S. You may have heard of gas plant workers dropping for no apparent reason. That's likely because the walked in an area where a leek has contaminated the air to deadly levels, but it can't be "smelled". In a gas plant you don't "RUN" to help a worker that has dropped and is unresponsive. It's a vicious approach, but if you don't follow that instruction you may be the next victim. Now they have lot's of H2S detectors and audible warnings, but one still hears the odd deadly accident.

My apologies for getting off topic from printers, but I could not 'not' answer a question about H2S. It been part of my whole engineering life. Respectfully kdsdata.

 

[stratman]

When you live in an area (like Alberta) where there is lots of gas in the many underground deposits, there is bound to be trace H2S in the air above the caverns.

I thought you were going to say it is due to all the Poutine eaten.

PS - there are 20 local restaurants or food trucks offering poutine in my area listed on the Google. I had no idea.

 

[palombian]

Gday everyone hope you have all been well.
I think my Pro9500 has an electrical problem, at first I thought is was just a clogged printhead but with this nozzle check it looks too uniform to be the printhead a.
Has anyone seen a nozzle check like this?
View attachment 8655

I've seen this a few times on my (second hand) 9500's.
Half of a color lighter is IMO an electrical failure.
Strange you got 3 at the same time (plus the gray).

The original printheads of the 9500 QY6-0065 are more sensible (maybe only because they are now very old) than the QY6-0077 of the 9500 II, but both sooner or later fail.
A new printhead used regularly can last years (but the ask price now is at least €200).

9500 II's have vanished from second hand sites, and Pro10's are seldom offered.
Sadly enough a new Pro10s will be the only solution.

 

[rodbam]

Thanks everyone The Hat did you manage to get the printhead working again that gave the same nozzle check as mine? I have done the usual head clean in Windex etc but it stays just the same. It seems there's no new printheads out there except refurbished ones on Ebay & I won't touch them. My pro9500 is getting close to 7 years old so maybe there's no point in putting any more money into. I have only replaced the printhead once & if I could find one it would cost about 30% of the price of a new pro10s. Mind you the price of a new redsetter for the pro10 would be quite a bit a. It seems all my gear is ageing along with me

 

[demoeb]

@demoeb:
Don't take the last sentence as a hard rule, there are lots of similar smells. I can't leave this statement as it is, because pure H2S is actually odorless. It is actually other components in the gas that smell like "rotten eggs", but if you get that smell there generally are also trace H2S present.

Oh ok. It's probably decaying organic matter. Are there swamps or anything around that area?

BTW I owe you a beer mate. My R2400 is now printing like it's brand new, with the CISS in it - flushed out the print nozzles again after last message, but with actual printer cleaning fluid - left it in for about 4 hours, pulled it back into syringe and put the brand-new CISS in it and voila... perfect! Not bad for a ~9 year old inkjet!

D.