Need help with MB5120

[palombian]

Well I got the colors flushed out but of course the black is still blocked. It's been soaking most of the day yesterday and overnight. It printed a tiny bit of black when I first tried but there doesn't seem to be any fluid coming out when I try to force some through the inlet. I had been using hot water and soap, but I'm going to switch to windex. The black seems to be really stuck.

I would avoid pressure.
The needle I used did not fit tight in the inlet tubes but nevertheless ink/water came out of the nozzles easily.
We are on mostly uncharted territory.
I could imagine if there is a deposit in the chamber it is better to suck it out than pushing it in the nozzles.

 

[Bird333]

It's getting there. I took a syringe I had and hollowed out the end to be able to fit it over the end of the inlet tube. There are a couple of streaks in the colors but black is still the bigger problem but it's getting better.

 

[palombian]

It's getting there. I took a syringe I had and hollowed out the end to be able to fit it over the end of the inlet tube. There are a couple of streaks in the colors but black is still the bigger problem but it's getting better.

I sticked a needle inside the tube, without tight fit.
No idea about applying pressure.
Good luck!

 

[Bird333]

I sticked a needle inside the tube, without tight fit.
No idea about applying pressure.
Good luck!

I was doing that for a while but wasn't getting anywhere.

 

[Redbrickman]

Also when you put the head back in, if you are using carts such as the OEM with chips or 3rd party with an airbag inside try and use your filling syringe to suck out a little air from the bag. As soon as you get it back in the printer do some nozzle checks and if OK do some printing to get the pressure correct in the cart.

 

[Bird333]

My prints had gone from this

to this

The printhead seems unblocked but I'm still getting streaks when I print. Any other suggestions?

 

[Artur5]

It might be that some of the non firing nozzles are electrically dead and no amount of cleaning will revive them but, in all likelihood, most of those nozzles are just clogged and can be recovered with patience and perseverance.

I gather that you use third party ink and not Canon ?.
Sometimes, stubborn clogged nozzles which won’t unclog with normal or out of the printer cleanings will clear progressively when you insert a fresh new OEM cartridge. As forum member @mikling once said, Canon ink seems to act as a solvent for dried residues from third party brands. I’ve seen this happen in my Pro-10, which is also a pigment printer.
Yes, a whole set of Canon OEM carts is expensive. Maybe you could buy only one, magenta for instance, and see if nozzle checks become better in that channel after a while. If not, then no need to buy more OEM carts. Either keep trying your current cleaning method, discard the printer or purchase a new printhead (which probably will cost you more than a secondhand MB5120 ).

 

[palombian]

Chances are clogs will be solved with 3th party ink too (unless it was of such bad quality the clogs appeared soon after switching to this ink).
Personally I would go for a new printhead and continue with 3th party ink.
Outlay is about the same.
The old printhead never will be new again while you will print at least 5-10k pages with a new printhead with 3th party ink.

PS: I do not understand why your nozzle check shows 1-50 pages

 

[Flageborg]

I think the printhead is clogged. This printer seems new even though I got it second hand.

Yes, it looks like it has printed less than 50 pages with OEM ink and stayed unused for a long period. Try cleaning printhead with "Ajax Kitchen" over night and then flush & dry...

 

[stratman]

Ajax Kitchen

Specifically what Ajax Kitchen product. Please supply a link.