Whats going on with my nozzle checks?

[Frankd1]

I noticed this on the last few nozzle checks after a cartridge refill:

I am refilling OEM cartridges using the top refill method and I am using ink from Precision Colors.

My printer is an MP760.

After I refilled the magenta cart I did a print head cleaning followed by a nozzle check and the result was the 2nd image above. I then performed another cleaning followed by a 2nd nozzle check with a similar result (the 1st pic). There is a band through both the magenta lines.
I also noticed a band through the top cyan line although I didn't refill the cyan this time around....

These were scanned in at 300dpi using the MP760. Sorry, I reversed the pics when I uploaded them but they are numbered so you can see which nozzle check I did first.

Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!

Frank

 

[Frankd1]

I just did another cleaning and nozzle check and there seems to be no change. Somethings going on with the cyan and magenta....is this a sign of some nozzles that are clogged?

 

[ghwellsjr]

No, these are not clogged nozzles, it is an electrical problem. Try removing all your cartridges and then tbe print head and carefully clean the gold pads on the back of the print head and make sure all the gold contacts on the carriage are nice and springy and then put it back together. Keep the print head upright while you're doing this so that ink doesn't migrate into parts of the print head where it doesn't belong.

If that doesn't fix it, the electrical problem could be in the printer, such as in the ribbon cable going to the carriage or it could be in the print head itself. If you can find another printer like the MP760, MP780, iP4000, or i860 that which all use the same print head, you could swap them to isolate where the problem is. Most of the time it's in the print head but I'd hate for you to try to locate and buy one only to discover that it doesn't fix the problem.

 

[Frankd1]

Thanks ghwellsjr! I will try as you suggested.

I just so happen to have an ip4000 printer here! I have been in the process of cleaning the head to remove a clog from the magenta nozzles, so once I am finished with that process I will try that head in the mp760.

My method of cleaning has been to place the printhead inside a plastic container sitting on top of a folded up paper towel, I then pour in windex (heated in the microwave but not scalding just warm to hot) so that the ink pads on top are covered. I let it sit over night, rinse with distilled water and then repeat. It has been air drying for about a week now.

While I'm on the subject I have many aftermarket cartridges that are now empty, I would like to purge these clean and then use them as cleaning carts. What type of solution should I fill these cartridges with so that they can be used inside the printer as cleaning cartridges?

 

[l_d_allan]

While I'm on the subject I have many aftermarket cartridges that are now empty, I would like to purge these clean and then use them as cleaning carts.

I infer they are non-oem carts (non Canon). I'd suggest getting rid of those ... don't even use them for clearing carts. It takes time to prep a cart for refilling and/or use as a cleaning cart ... and then purging/flushing ... and that time isn't worth putting into an aftermarket cart, imo. You can get virgin, empty Canon oem carts on eBay for about $1.00 USD each or less, depending on quantity.

What type of solution should I fill these cartridges with so that they can be used inside the printer as cleaning cartridges?

I used 1/3 generic equivalent of Windex, 1/3 alcohol, and 1/3 distilled water. Pure Windex would probably be ok. It's possible mixing Windex and alcohol isn't a great idea, and someone on this forum with a lot more experience than this de-clogging semi-newbie may "correct the error of my ways". Walmart has generic window cleaner that is probably more or less the same as Windex ... for quite a bit less.

 

[ghwellsjr]

While I'm on the subject I have many aftermarket cartridges that are now empty, I would like to purge these clean and then use them as cleaning carts. What type of solution should I fill these cartridges with so that they can be used inside the printer as cleaning cartridges?

If you're going to use them for cleaning cartridges, you don't want to purge them first because the residual ink will let you know when the clogs have gone away. All you have to do is dribble some Windex or other window cleaner into the outlet port until the sponge is pretty much full of ink. You should remove your cartridges and close the cover so the printer thinks you have put in full ink tanks. Then when you put in your cleaning cartridges, the levels will become low and your printer will warn you when it's time to refill with more Windex.

 

[l_d_allan]

just did another cleaning and nozzle check and ...

I was wondering what the nozzle check would look like from a situation where "ink starvation" was happening. I've had nozzle checks that were flawed, but the print-out didn't really look like the examples with streaks ... one of the colors (magenta in this case) was instead kind of "mottled" and "splotchy".

(I should upload a picture to illustrate, but don't have a scanner, and didn't take a picture when the problem was encountered ... sorry).

 

[ghwellsjr]

If you repeat a nozzle check without doing anything else between them and they don't appear exactly the same and generally worse on the second one, this is an indication of ink starvation. Also, the bars that appear for most dye ink nozzle checks like the ones on the first post of this thread (as opposed to the grid pattern for the pigment black ink) are already repeated four times across the page. Each of these four segments should look exactly the same. If you see them "running out of ink" as the bar is printed, this is an indication of ink starvation, or, as I usually call it, an ink flow problem.

 

[Frankd1]

I removed the printhead and cleaned the contacts on the back as well as on the carriage. I reinstalled the head and did an alignment followed by a cleaning and nozzle check and the banding still occurs on the 2nd cyan as well as the 2 magentas....

I printed a picture of a Canon camera as an example and you can see the banding through the pic.

I have yet to try the other printhead from the ip4000 but is there anything else I can check first?

 

[Frankd1]

Here is the picture:

You can clearly see the banding through the camera as well as the red Canon label underneath.....