Pixma printer doesn't print black. Monochrome laser stupid buy?

[PeterBJ]

bluecrabby wrote:

I ran out of PGBK on the new, full cartridge, and drilled a hole in the ink chamber to relieve vacuum pressure and plugged the hole with a standard refill plug. This worked to get ink flowing again but ink density was still bad.

I don't understand this. Does it mean that a new OEM cartridge, that was never refilled, failed to deliver ink? I can imagine two reasons for that.

Either the vent was not opened properly prior to installing the cartridge, see this post: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=60520#p60520 or the cartridge ink outlet doesn't make a proper seal to the printhead ink inlet.

A bad seal should not occur when using OEM cartridges, but it certainly can with third party cartridges. Try to clean the the rubber gasket on the ink inlet and check that it is not misplaced. If it doesn't seal properly due to wear, you could try and cut some thin plastic 0.5 to 1 mm in thickness to the same shape as the rubber gasket and place it under the gasket to improve the seal.

I have seen the "picket fence" pattern with a failed Canon printhead, note 50% missing. This normally also means an electric failure of the printhead, but try cleaning the contacts as suggested by ghwellsjr.

For instructions on the topfill method for Canon cartridges see this thread: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6264&p=1

Note in posts #1 and #4 that there are two different ways the top fill can be performed, either with or without sealing the vent. It is necessary to use one of these methods to avoid overfilling the sponge compartment and blocking the vent with ink. Also note post #12. It is very important that the refill hole is sealed completely airtight after the refill, else the cartridge will leak.

A refill method that does not unseal the ink compartment is the "German" or "durchstich" method. Instructions are here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=2465

A third method of refilling, suitable for the the transparent cartridges, is the Freedom refill method. For using this method you will have to make a suitable adapter yourself. There are many suggestions in the thread. For good results with this method it is important that the adapter is airtight and that the vent is sealed airtight during refill. Link is here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6750

Which method is the best? You decide. It's individual what method is preferred, but as you use the top fill method I suggest to study the topfill thread and make sure you are not overfilling the cartridges.

The problems with the PGBK cartridges could also be caused by too old or dubious quality pigment ink. I remember in the good old days when the Pixma iP4000 was new, that a lot of people bought (too) cheap third party cartridges online. Often the pigment ink was a bad quality and blocked the PGBK nozzles. The subsequent attempts to clean the printheads killed many Canon printers. Later some of the third party PGBK cartridges were filled with dye black to avoid this problem, not a perfect solution but better than ruining the printer.

I don't know your brand of ink, but as it is old I suggest to replace it. Good brands of refill inks for Canon printers that are recommended on this forum are Image Specialists, OCP and Hobbicolors. There might be more, you can search the forum.

I hope some of this helps.