Magenta problems Pro9500

[rodbam]

Thanks Hat & Mike. OK I will buy a new magenta cart as that's the only way we can move on if the cart isn't the problem. My hopes are not too high because I don't know what the odds are of two magenta carts giving the same problems at the same time. Mind you one could have been malfunctioning & I never noticed until I tried to profile my new paper.
This is the contraption I use for cleaning my carts so I imagine it's OK as I don't have a wet vac.

 

[jtoolman]

That's perfect!

 

[rodbam]

Gday All
I couldn't buy a PGI9 cart locally so I gave one of my magenta carts a rolls royce clean job. Two flushes with cold filtered water, four flushes with very warm water & two flushes with windex I the cart looks perfect.
The nozzle check looks about the same as does the print head alignment printout & the colormunki printout. I also did a page that is very good for testing printers & matching prints to my screen & it printed up really good
I have scanned all this in on cheap Kodak glossy paper & all the prints were done on the highest settings
The nozzle check still has the magenta or red smudges coming off the black lines & the start of the magenta colour patch seems slightly broken up without a definite straight line.
I can drive to a place tomorrow & buy a new OEM magenta cartridge for $26 but because nothing has changed after such a major clean as I gave the magenta cart makes me wonder if the cart is really the problem, surely the printouts would have changed just a bit after the clean I did but everything looks the same. Anyhow here's the scans that have had some contrast & saturation added because the scanner made everything look a bit bland & not easy to see.

 

[websnail]

The only other variable I can suggest is the ink itself...

You can as you said, rule out the cartridge by getting a replacement OEM cart and seeing if the issue disappears and (assuming it does) then later refilling with the same ink. If it recurs at some point it's almost certainly the ink and possibly some kind of algae build up although rather odd if the ink is relatively new.

Just something else to chuck in as a possible.

 

[The Hat]

OK rod there’s no need to go to all that trouble to get another Magenta cartridges, once you have any old spare cart, just swap the chip over.

Could you try saving your colour profile picture as something else and printing it from another application and in a different orientation, just cut and crop the section that is showing the problem.

There are two things that could also cause the magenta smudges, one is the parking station its looks all done in and would benefit from a good cleaning to bring it back into good condition again and the other is a manual head alignment.

Here is my parking station.

I have to assume that you remember to shake your cartridges and inks viciously before using them..

 

[rodbam]

Thanks Martin & Hat. I suppose the ink could be the problem because my 4oz bottles last for over a year & my inks are about that old with about 1" left in each bottle.
Yes I do turn the bottles upside down & give them a shake before refilling.
I have two of each cart & both magenta carts give the same results.
I have looked in the XRite (colormunki) folder & couldn't find any image of the test patches but last week I did take a photo of a good test image that I made 6mths ago & strangely that printed out good. The colours wouldn't be a perfect match between the good printout & photo of it but they would be in the same ball park so it's a mystery why the photo printed well & not the colormunki generated test print. If it wasn't for the magenta or red smudges on my nozzle check I would think the colormunki software was playing up.
I have seen on here where they use windex on the purge pads, is it ok to use that & should I rub the pads clean with a damp paper towel. It seems strange that if the purge pads are the problem then why wouldn't I have smudges on a normal printout.
I think I will bite the bullet & drive across town for a OEM magenta cart so we can eliminate the cart & possible soiled ink from the equation.

 

[jtoolman]

ON the subject of the Colormunki. I believe that the patch charts are generated and do not exits in the software. Specially the second chart. As this is generated depending on the results of the first one after scanning. The second one is custom generated.

Yes. A new cart would definitely either show that your other two are bad or the ink is bad or both.
The purge pad may be at play but I am not sure as to how as I would also expect to see ink smudging on a regular print.
Joe

 

[mikling]

It is the ink at this point.
We knew the ink worked 6 months ago so it would not be the first suspect but it is now the likely one having exhausted other possibilities.

Here is an example of an ink delivery issue on a Canon pigment ink printer. The diagnosis I used previously will work on this image. Proper nozzle chects etc. but clearly there is a printing issue. Cause of this is ----

ink properties are not close enough to OEM spec this causes dynamic print issues that will occur at similar conditions over and over again. On many images it is not easy to catch.

 

[mikling]

Rod, can you comment of how the ink is stored and how many times the cover has been opened and whether the cover is reclosed immediately ater opening or if this is a squeeze bottle arrangement?

About 6 or 7 threads back one of my last questions was the amount of ink remaining in the bottle relative to the air volume as I started to suspect the ink after your first go at servicing did not produce any significant improvement.

 

[rodbam]

Thanks Mike I remember you asking about how much was left in the bottle & I forgot to answer but it has been on my mind ever since you asked that's why I went & got a new cart this morning so we could eliminate or incriminate the ink Well it was the ink, the new cart of ink is making everything print as it should with a perfect nozzle check & colormunki profile patches. Boy am I a happy chappy.
I can't remember when I bought the ink but it was at least a year ago & I always refilled with the syringe until I bought the bottle top needles to use for squeezing the ink last October 2013.
What has happened is making me think I should buy my ink in the 2oz bottles say buying two bottles of each colour so half of my ink stays unopened for about 6 mths. Would the ink stay fresh in an unopened bottle for 6mths or would I be better off buying one bottle of each & reordering when they are nearing empty?
Our summers are very hot & humid & the wardrobe where I keep my ink is in a west facing room so the temps can be a tad high, should I find somewhere a bit cooler on the east side of the house?
When I used a syringe to refill I would leave the ink cap off until I had refilled the cart so that wouldn't have helped to keep the ink in good condition a. I have no idea how many times the caps come off because I change all the carts when only one is empty.