No black Ink and Print head problem

[Sandprint]

I have a Canon i9950 printer which is not printing the black. I tried to print a PDF file from the post office and it came out ok apart from the lack of ANY black.
I took the print head out and cleaned it as suggested by a youtube clip with distilled water overnight and then left to dry for 24 hours but still not working.
Because I needed to print the form I got another printer (this time a Canon i990) out of the cupboard and tried to print it out with this one. This printer did not have cartridges in so I put the ones from the i9950 (minus the green which is not included in that model). On this printer the lights are flashing 5xorange and then green in a repeated cycle and I can't get it to do anything (eg - nozzle check, cleaning, print head alignment etc, from the Maintenance page).
In case it is significant, I have only ever used Canon inks in these printers!
These have been very good printers in the past and I would like to get at least one of them working again! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[turbguy]

Typically, 5 orange blinks infer the print head is not detected, or the EEPROM data in the print head is faulty. You might also get an error report screen on your connected computer...

I would remove the i990's print head, clean the contacts lightly with a pencil eraser, and re-install it . All with power OFF (pull the plug with the print head in the cart change position). Then install the carts and power back up.

That said, this might not make any difference.

Depending in how you laid-up the i990, the print head and/or purge unit may be clogged with dried ink.

Good luck. Keep us posted.