Possible black cartridge issue?

[martincregg]

Printer: Canon Pro-100, PC Inks.
I was printing out 12 large characters yesterday in black on 13x19 Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-gloss. The first 11 were perfect. The 12th one started to develop banding about half way through (see image below). I've done a nozzle check, deep clean and still have similar problems on other images.

I created this chart of solid colors. Middle image is the screen. There is slight banding on the purple area and the black section is not black. The black section on the B&W image also is not black. Any suggestions as to what I can try to fix this?

 

[PalaDolphin]

Listening...

 

[The Hat]

Any suggestions as to what I can try to fix this?

It’s most likely that you’re not refilling your carts when they first show low ink, and you’re going beyond that point and then later refilling them, by doing this you are using up some of the remaining ink that was stored in the sponge.

Then when you refill, the sponge is more reluctant to accept ink back into parts of the sponge that had dried out, the only way to restore this balance again is to purge the cart and start again, this time don’t use the carts’ after the low ink warning.

The ink that’s stored in the Canon cartridge sponge is never meant to be used up, this conundrum only applies when refilling your own cart, so remember only use the ink in the reservoir side, when that’s gone the printer will warn you.
It's a classic case of ink starvation commencing...

 

[PalaDolphin]

It’s most likely that you’re not refilling your carts when they first show low ink, and you’re going beyond that point and then later refilling them, by doing this you are using up some of the remaining ink that was stored in the sponge.

Then when you refill, the sponge is more reluctant to accept ink back into parts of the sponge that had dried out, the only way to restore this balance again is to purge the cart and start again, this time don’t use the carts’ after the low ink warning.

The ink that’s stored in the Canon cartridge sponge is never meant to be used up, this conundrum only applies when refilling your own cart, so remember only use the ink in the reservoir side, when that’s gone the printer will warn you.
It's a classic case of ink starvation commencing...

Oh, of all I've read on this website I've never heard this warning.

 

[martincregg]

Oh, of all I've read on this website I've never heard this warning.

Oh - it's quite common, @PalaDolphin!

Seriously, I'm aware of not going beyond the low warning message. I reset and refill ALL my cartridges when one goes low. I'm wondering though, if I accidentally missed resetting the black cartridge the last time I did this... that doesn't make sense though does it? If I didn't reset it it would still show low ink even though it was now full. Anyway, I appreciate the explanation from @The Hat and also the sarcasm/humour from @PalaDolphin.

 

[stratman]

The consensus on the forum is to refill your Canon CLI-42 cartridges when the LOW warning is first displayed. Resetting and topping off all cartridges will cut down on refilling encounters and the maintenance ink that is purged by the printer when a "new" cartridge has been inserted in the print head. Some people have a second set of cartridges filled and ready to go so they do not have to hurriedly or immediately refill to continue the print job.

Back to the Low warning... this warning is not precise and some ink from the sponge may be depleted. The sponge and or ink is now more exposed to air and will begin to dry. Over time, several refills, this drying ink may make re-saturation difficult and alter the flow of ink from the sponge into the print head resulting in the appearance of ink starvation -- your issue.

It may be that a complete reset and refill will re-saturate the sponge and return the printer to perfect function given enough time for the new ink to make the drying ink more soluble. However, you may need to flush and then refill to return ink flow to its usual. I would suggest the latter flushing to make sure you are back in top form.

Now would be a good time to get a second set cartridges, preferably OEM Canon. Besides purchasing from PC or other online source (eg eBay), consider another Pro-100. For $130 after rebate from either Adorama or B&HPhoto you will get all the ink cartridges and their chips!, a spare printer, and a spare print head. The OEM inks alone are nearly worth the money, but the extra print head makes this an awesome deal. If all you want are the inks then sell the rest on eBay or Craigslist and get your cartridges for a pittance.

 

[stratman]

The black section on the B&W image also is not black

This is most likely due to either refilling with the wrong or bad ink, or, there is cross contamination from another color. In the latter situation you may see leaked ink in the print head, inside the cartridge(s), or outside on the cartridge(s).

 

[Roy Sletcher]

I am of the opinion that we sometimes read too much into a simple knowledge check, and then with a good nozzle check blithely continue printing with a false sense of security.

A nozzle check on a Canon printer is absolutely vital to tell you that you can now proceed to print without IMMEDIATELY frying your print-head. HOWEVER, it is still necessary to proceed with a measure of caution.

All that the nozzle check tells you is that at the time you clicked the nozzle check button the printer performed the nozzle check and fed a very small amount of ink through the nozzles, and the resulting image if it looks good indicates the nozzle firing procedure is probably performing to specifications. NOTHING MORE IS INDICATED. Most times following a clean nozzle check all works as expected and life is sweet.

If you are using refilled OEM carts the nozzle check tells you nothing about the condition of the sponges, or the quality of ink in those carts, or that the ink will feed without starvation when printing dense colours under stress. If you are using third party carts then even more variables are introduced into the mix.

Hence the need for caution, and the recommendations on this site to have a reserve set of carts ready to change the entire set at the first LOW INK indication, of even sooner if very caution. This is far better than a hasty in situ change of carts.

Of course if not refilling and instead using all OEM carts then the need for caution is not so extreme, although there are occasional reports of OEM carts with bad ink flow.

I have experienced the occasional ink starved cart after a refill and found best defense is prevention by following the procedures on this site. The Hat and JToolman constantly extol the virtues of these procedures and I have learned that they are correct the hard way.

Just my opinion - have a couple of fried print-heads over the years as the cost of tuition.

rs

 

[mikling]

Nozzle checks do not stress a cartridge flow characteristics and that is what is happening in this situation.When there is a heavy demand for ink only then will a cart in suboptimal shape show this behavior.

Does what Hat recommends always guarantee a perfect result. No. Eventually carts at some point for some reason will need to get flushed out and recycled for unknown reasons.

I will repeat I have over the years seen/experienced situations even when flushed carts are used, when refilled once or twice seem to act up. Why? I don't know exactly except the situation was cured when another cart was used with the same ink and it worked well afterwards. Thereafter adopting what Hat recommends keeps that cart running smoothly for the longest time but NOT forever. Well, if your print demands are low, flow characteristics do not rear its head that quickly. The Pro9000 and i9900 because of their print engine desiring lots of light colored ink are more picky about the condition of the cart.

So while, we are getting better at trying to keep refilling and printing smoothly, there are some situations where you throw in the towel and start again. Flush the carts and then refill.

I am now seeing that some people get problems refilling after a flush. They then resort to Pharmacists solution. While you may think this is a cure it is a symptom of something else. If this is so, it quite likely is a case where there is residual glycol left on the fibers inside the cart due to .....inadequate flushing of the carts . It is better to use warm to hot water and also use windex as a preflush solution and let it soak first. Don't stop as soon as it gets clear, you need to do some more again. How much, it depends of the temp and rate at which water is passing thru. I see the dollar store this summer had drip line watering kits that allowed small tubes that could be used for flushing to be hooked up to the garden hose and laundry faucet. Remember though easy does it as line pressure will destroy carts.

There is no way to describe it perfectly, suffice to say that over time you will learn and this knowledge will keep panic at bay.

 

[martincregg]

Love all the responses - thanks. I'm going to do a Windex flush today and see what happens. I've done it before when I accidentally used Photo Magenta in my Magenta cart. The nice thing for me is there is never need for panic. I'm just a keen hobbyist and love to learn. I love it when I have these kinds of issues... just an other opportunity to gain understanding and get better