Stubborn magenta clog on MP830

[pkk]

Hello All & thanks for all the great info this forum offers. I just did a big (for me) printing with my MP830. I was printing greeting cards on heavy card stock. I let the printer rest a few days & then went to print a few more cards. The magentas were completely clogged-nozzles checks were white. I tried swapping the carts-no help- so after 2 regular cleanings & a deep cleaning I got the nozzle check in the attachment. Several more cleanings & deep cleanings did not help. I'm also now getting smudges on the front & back when I run card stock-not regular paper. I've done the roller & bottom plate cleanings but no help. Is this due to all the nozzle cleanings? Both my Canon printers may be due for some preventative maintenance. I've never done anything to them but put in ink. I refill OEM carts with Precision Colors ink. Thanks again.

Pkk

 

[websnail]

First question would be to ask what age your ink is? Given the age and spread of your posts, would I be right in guessing over 2 years?

If so, it could simply be that your ink is starting to develop algae, which naturally reduces ink flow within the cartridge so flushing your cartridges (or getting new ones), flushing your printhead under the tap (as per this thread) and refilling using a fresh supply of the ink may well help resolve the problem.

Either way referring back to Precision Colors would be a good plan as he'll doubtless be able to pull up your original order details and give you some more pointers.

 

[The Hat]

I can go along with that, a complete purge of any or all of the magenta cartridges would be advisable.
You should also limited the use of deep cleans to one or two and no more, after that it only wastes ink.

As for your smug problem it maybe down to your purge unit,
bring the print head into the centre and remove all of the cartridges and print head,
then pull the power plug out of the wall.

Give your print head a good soaking in about 1" of Windex for a few hours;
dribble some Windex onto the inlets where the cartridges sits also.

While the print head is getting a good soak you can work on the printer itself,
squirt some Windex all over your purge unit and mop it and any ink up thats around the whole area
including the little plastic wiper, use cotton bud for the hard to get places.

Next turn you attention to the platen area and either remove the sponge
under the little plastic fingers or clean it where it sits.

If you soak a paper tissue with Windex fold it up one way till its about 1 wide and press it down onto the sponge firmly,
it will mop up a lot of the ink thats accumulated on it, removal of the sponge does a better job.

Please remember to dry your print head really carefully someplace warm for a few hours before re-installing it.
Here are two links on how to purge a cartridge and one on drying your cartridge afterwards.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=63019#p63019
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=59370#p59370
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=34175#p34175

websnail Your link to flushing a print head is not correct ops, please can you correct it..

 

[pkk]

Thanks for the quick reply. My ink is about 6 months old. This last round of refills pretty much got down to the bottom of those bottles. I flushed all my carts less than a year ago & they haven't been refilled more than once. I have about 70 carts for these 2 printers & I have wondered about the shelf life of a refilled cart. Unless I'm going to do a big printing I don't fill all of them and I rotate them so oldest is used first. I'm thinking the cleaning operation described by The Hat is in order. My Pro 9000 is also leaving a track on the back of a thick card print but it is only at the far right edge (facing the printer) Can I get in there & clean only that part of the roller & bottom plate? Thanks again. I'll report back how it goes but I'm out of town for a few days. Could be next week.

Pkk

 

[mikling]

Do what Hat recommended and also pay attention to the following aspect. Flush the intake area of the printhead to make sure that it is actually not blocking ink. You can determine this by flushing the nozzle plate and inspecting whether little droplets are exiting the intake port. Do this until it runs clear.

Whenever a printer that has been performing fine and rests for a period and then gives problems on startup, check the intake port area in particular the rubber seals to make sure they are not squashed down too much. Also check the outlet of the cartridge as well to make sure ink has not dried there. You'll notice that the intake port is smaller than the outlet of the cartridge. If the rubber seals do not seal well, drying of the intake port area can occur, the ink becomes thick and will not flow through well.

Since you have used newly flushed carts, I would rule out a cart problem, flow is an issue and it would center on the printhead somewhere.

 

[websnail]

websnail Your link to flushing a print head is not correct ops, please can you correct it..

Whoops... Obviously didn't copy properly and didn't notice in the paste... Corrected now.

For ease, the link is this: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=53386#p53386

 

[pkk]

Success!! I;m printing again. And after following Hat's advise I'm not getting the smudges. This is the first time I've removed & cleaned one of my printheads. It all went as advertised. I haven't done anything about the Pro 9000 smudging on the back yet. It can wait. Thanks again to all.

Pkk