- Joined
- Nov 27, 2010
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- Location
- Copenhagen Denmark
- Printer Model
- Canon MP990
The service manual is a better source of information than Google in this case. See pages 1-28 and 1-29. All nozzles checks produce grid patterns so all nozzles can be verified, but the patterns (rectangles) are small, so a magnifier is a good help. Here is the dark regular cyan rectangle enlarged to show the grid lines:What information is included on the extended nozzle check "Service Test Print" page?
I Googled your term, but couldn't find anything, so I'm confused.
The regular and extended nozzle check is much more important than a text print. Can you tell from this EEPROM print if this printer is OK?The print quality, at least for the black printed on the eeprom test page, looked fine.
But the Service test print reveals a serious defect:
And so does the regular nozzle check from the driver's maintenance tab in normal user mode:
The print head was perfectly OK, until all regular magenta nozzles were clogged by "The Killer Fungus". I have not been able to unclog the print head, so I think the printer is a write-off in spite of the low D-value.
Price? Too high, let's put it that way. I don't know why these things tend to command such a high price on eBay, Amazon, etc. Yes, they're darn good printers, but 50% of retail cost after they're used and 10 years old ?!?
Greed is the explanation. The price is a function of supply and demand. But printers of this age can fail for no apparent reason. the print head can fail and nylon parts tend to become brittle with age. I would consider 10 to 20 Dollars US or Canadian a reasonable price. You are gambling when buying a 10 year old printer.
How difficult/annoying is it to clean or change the waste reservoir sponges on the IP6700/IP6600 in case I have to do that?
Very difficult, especially if you haven't tried it before. This model is more difficult than the other iP models because of the panel and display on top of the printer. Be very careful not to damage ribbon cables and their connectors. Washing the absorbers is a very messy job, good rubber gloves are recommended. I recommend to study both the service manual and the druckerchannel.de instruction.
Is there anything other than the print head and the sponges that wears out on these models?
A print head that is damaged electronically can damage the logic board, making the printer a total loss. Nylon gears, bearings and other parts become brittle with age and can break and become worn. Rubber rollers can harden and lose their grip. The purge unit can also fail. The purge unit keeps the print head in good condition. IF it fails, the print head stops working. There are more parts that can fail, but I think these are the most likely to fail.
This printer model is not on top of my wish list. The photo cyan and photo magenta inks are diluted versions of the regular cyan and magenta. The printer uses a lot of these photo or diluted inks. I prefer printers that do not use these photo inks.
Don't buy the printer unless the nozzle checks are perfect. I think a new print head is nowhere to be found.
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