Printhead alignment problem

[Serville]

I still have an old i255 printer that recently developed printing alignment problem.
The black printhead seems to misalign on some columns, and the Canon printhead alignment utility can not help.
In nozzle test, all the lines are printed (no missing lines), but some lines are shifted above the others.
It looks like something like this :

I tried to use printhead alignment utility, and it looks like there are 2 columns where each rows are printed with extreme streaks.
There are all equally bad, and any choices would not make any difference. Something like this:




When printing text & photos, no noticeable streak can be seen. It looks like normal.
But if I try to print a table, the horizontal/vertical lines would be jagged.

I have tried to clean the printhead with distilled water, but it doesn't help.
Somehow I think this is not a clog problem.
Do you think it is a printhead or printer problem ?
I'd like to buy a new printhead, but I just need be sure.
Thanks.

 

[canonfodder]

The nozzle test errors certainly look like the firing of the wrong nozzle, not an alignment or clog problem.

The error is more likely in the printhead circuitry, but could be in the printer. It may be too costly to find out. Wish I could help more.

 

[Serville]

For me, suddenly this printer becomes valuable now. The new Canon printer is much more difficult to refill, not mentioning the price of cartridge. . This i255 compatible cartridge is sooo cheapppp. Only $2 for black & $2.5 for color, and it lasts forever. I've been using the same cartridges for 2 years. LOLLL
I never used it much though since I was using i865, and now IP3500.
Thanks anyway.