Pro9000mkII Nozzle check - Is this terminal?

[mikling]

I used the same inks in my iP6700 for years and concurrenty on MP500 and two of my sisters's MP830 and MX8.
And it only occurred on my Pro9000 with a strange PM that could not be cured. Two printheads totally different batches and all fresh as I take to use from incoming ink and not from the same bottle. So it is not a bad batch I think. Again ink does not clog up by itself not printing unless it is being heated. Within the confines or the purge station total dehydration is not likely to occur unless there is some source of heat. Take ink, put it on a saucer and leave it open for days. Then rinse it. It instantly dissolves. Now take the same ink, bake it at high temps and then try to dissolve it. Different scenario. Like I said, even the worst ink you can find will dissolve. Maybe there is bacterial growth in the printhead but overnight?

The overlooked common element in these recurring clogs on the 9000 are usually the same body or logic board. Can they magically fix themselves...yes, sometimes but it is lurking to come back. My HDTV decoder box has acted up now and then for years but this time, it will not fix itself. And this is real. My main TV is down and I own the box.

My car breaks down...... I fix the car and it breaks down again. Gotta be the gas.

If you get a printhead that locks up for no known reason be cautious with the replacement printhead..there exists the possibility the same or similar issue could return. For those residing in the USA, if this happens on a Pro9000. I'd doubly check if I would replace the printhead or just go purchase a Pro-100 and get the rebate. The latter is possibly more prudent.

The one common thing in all of this as well is that refillers put a lot of more miles in their machines than OEM cart users do because who can afford to print like crazy with OEM carts? Very very few and fewer these days. These guys are afraid of clicking the print OK button. When was the last time you worried about the cost of printing? That could say a lot about why OEM users have fewer problems. The other thing is one refill round and you've saved enough for a new printhead.

 

[barfl2]

Surely there must be plenty of professional photographers or other commercial operations/colleges etc who will print high quantities and only use OEM inks.

If there was a serious problem with the Pro9000/9500 printers surely Canon would soon get the complaints flooding in and have to solve the problem ?

 

[andy_48]

There are several threads on head failure, magenta and (particularly interesting) mikling's FLUSHING....WHY? discussion and videos.

I've had two head failures in the past month, on a PRO9000mkII and an MG5300, caused by failure respectively with photo magenta and magenta.

Following mikling's advice, I've embarked on a programme of more regular flushing. In particular, I've concentrated on my PM carts.

I thought I'd extract the remaining PM ink from my latest cart using a syringe and noticed a small blob of congealed ink sort of hanging at the tip of the needle after probing the bottom corner of the reservoir nearest the sponge side. No amount of flushing will clean the channel that connects the reservoir to the sponge chamber.

1. 1. Is this unusual?
   2. Could this have affected the ink flow and caused the head to burn out? (I have discarded the recovered ink and "retired" the cart).
   3. Is there a recognised shelf-life for ink, esp. magenta?
   4. Might it be a bad batch?
   5. Will storage conditions affect the viscosity?

 

[The Hat]

Again there’s no point in just blaming the ink for something that you’re not entity sure of, there could be any number of reasons for a print head failure.

98% of all so called clogs are in fact caused by the cartridge itself, so if you encounter poor ink flow you should investigate that first before running endless cleaning cycles and under no circumstances should you continue to run test prints till you can resolve the problem.

Proper flushing of a problematic cartridge can usually clear out any remaining ink from within the cartridge which you could then use @pharmacist solution to recondition it before refilling it for use later.

Most inks will keep fresh if kept in a sealed bottle and stored out of direct sunlight and will last till the bottle in empty, unless of course its 500 ml bottle and you don’t print very often.

Hygiene is essential in the practice of good refilling, and putting unused (old) ink back into the original bottle is not a good idea, the use of SquEasy bottles are a much better alternative I reckon..

 

[andy_48]

Thanks. Not blaming the ink - just wondering! Especially what might cause it to apparently congeal slightly at the bottom of the reservoir. I want to eliminate behaviour (mine!) that might lead to premature head failure.

I'm using SquEasyFill bottles and inks from OctoInkJet. 100ml bottles that I've had for nearly a year and stored in my cool, dark garage.

The picture of the stubborn PM cart was after thorough flushing and being filled with Pharmacist's solution over night.

 

[The Hat]

Maybe you just needed to be a little bit harder with your purging and use a stronger rinse aid like Windex or what I use, fairy washing up liquid then finish with @pharmacist solution..

 

[andy_48]

Thanks Hat. Being more aggressive with the fairy ( ) seems to have worked! I've read several of your posts referencing Fairy but hadn't appreciated it was OK to use it on carts as well as print heads.

 

[andy_48]

So, having started this thread, I'm back to square one.

I've bought a new print head for my Pro9000 mkII.
I've flushed and refilled the carts.
I've even bought a new Canon OEM PM cart.

AND LESS THAN 2 MONTHS LATER, I'VE GOT A CLOGGED PM NOZZLE AGAIN.

I'm getting seriously fed up, with an unusable printer and I'm well over £100 further out of pocket.

Should I cut my losses and bin the lot?

 

[paulcroft]

I'm getting seriously fed up, with an unusable printer and I'm well over £100 further out of pocket.

Should I cut my losses and bin the lot?

Well, that's what I did back in July and I don't, thus far, regret my decision. In March this year I had exactly the same problem when the PM clogged and I couldn't clear it. This was the second failed head on my Pro9000 II which I bought in 2010. The first head lasted about 3 years, failing in May 2013, and I'm pretty sure that was a PM failure. Anyway, when the first failure occurred a new head seemed a good option as I was very happy with the printer but, when this second head failed in March this year, after just 10 months, I pondered then whether to get another head for c.£100 or a Pro-100 for c.£400, and I opted for the former. I am very careful with my cartridges, I only use OEMs and ink from Octoinkjet, and I never let a cartridge run to empty but, even so, come July the PM clogged in the printhead once again and, again, I couldn't unclog it.

Now, the Pro9000 II sits in the garage, in its box, ready for when I next head off to the council tip, and a Pro-100 sits in its place in my office.

I don't notice any significant difference in my colour prints. If I examine them in detail I can see marginal improvements, particularly in the blacks and greys, but few others would notice and I was always extremely pleased with the prints from the Pro9000 II - but two printhead failures within 4 months, both of them exhibiting near identical failures in the same colour channel, convinced me that Canon has a design fault with these particular replacement heads and I don't intend to subsidise their manufacturing defects any further.

For what it's worth, I'm UK based and I bought my last two heads from CRC. When this second failure occurred, they told me that, had the head been less than three months old, they'd have replaced it FoC. Have you thought of contacting your supplier? I'd certainly not have bought the Pro-100 if I could have had a replacement head under warranty.

 

[jtoolman]

Please don't get me wrong when I say that I am actually pleased to hear that it seems to be associated with Magenta. Although I seriously do not believe that it is attributed to the actual inks.
Everyone that is experiencing an incurable magenta head clog ( including three heads for me ) has to realize that we are all using Magentas from different source. SO either there is a really evil anti magenta demon covertly attacking out PRO 9000 MKII heads, or...... there is something going drastically wrong with out PRO 9000 MKII! Mikling suggested various theories as to what might be occurring.

But I am seriously leaning toward the printer acting up. I have tossed mine out and still have a new one but no head as I used that extra print head on my older machine which lasted about 1 month, a third head also died within a few weeks.

I might sell the headless new one for very cheap.
Joe