Problems with Matte Black and Grey after cleaning and refilling

Hi there,
I'm new here, but have had lots of help in the already posted threads.
I now have a problem which I can't solve.
Just bought a complete refill-kit from Mike (Precision Colours).
I have cleaned the printing head doing:
Placed the head on a paper towel soaked in Windex (plenty of Windex but not so much that the contacts on the rear was wet). Then flushed with plenty of demineralized Water, soaked on a paper towel with Isopropylic alcohol and then flushed in dem. water Again.

Cartridges was flushed once with Isopropylic alcohol and then several times with dem. water before refilling.

8 cartridges Works fine, but even after 4 Deep cleaning I still have issues with 2 inks:
Matte Black does not print at all and the test-rectangle for the grey is showing 2 different Shades of grey. The recatngle is split horizontally in 2 even large parts with the upper part printing darker than the lower part.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Thanks in advance
Lars Moeller, Denmark

Hi Lars,
It doesn’t sound good at all in what you’ve just explained but if you could post a nozzle check that would help us greatly to give you a more acrid diagnosis of your problem.

Going on what you have wrote it would seem you print head may have an electrical problem on the left side of the print head this can be caused by printing while there is no ink flow to those two colour heads or could easily have happen for no apparent reason at all. (Age)

You could try soaking the print head in a plastic container of warm water mixed with a couple of spoonfuls of washing up liquid (Fairy or W5) about 5 cm deep for a day to see if that might save the print head, it just might work.

Remember to completely dry the print head before putting it back into the printer, just shake the excess of liquid off and place it in a warm place for an hour or so that should do it.

Lars Moeller said:

Matte Black does not print at all and the test-rectangle for the grey is showing 2 different Shades of grey. The recatngle is split horizontally in 2 even large parts with the upper part printing darker than the lower part.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Click to expand...

A nozzle check with one or more stripes or rectangles split horizontally exactly at the middle and one half being darker than the other is a sign of a print head that has failed electronically.

A new print head is needed to correct this error, but there is a risk that the failed print head has damaged the logic board in the printer. A logic board damaged in this way might damage a new print head, so replacing the print head is a gamble, and I don't know your odds for success.

There is a very slight chance that the problem is caused by a bad electric contact, so you could try cleaning the contact pads on the print head and the contact springs in the print head carriage with a rag moistened with an electronics contact cleaner or isopropyl alcohol.

It sounds like an electrical issue. First get some compressed air in a can and blow behind the contact board thoroughly to get all water out and ensure it is dry.

Before using the canned air, soak in Window cleaner deep enough to cover the inlet ports. This is important because if the inlet ports are left uncovered it may dry up to end up clogging the inlet ports and you have blocked flow. So soak in cleaner to loosen up any dried deposits there. Matte Black dries the fastest so that is leaving a clue. Matte Black pigment also drops out of suspension easiest as well.

After the soak, place printhead under the kitchen faucet and let a column of water fall on the inlet port. Turn over and let it fall on the nozzle plate. Do this till any and all traces of color is gone and none is exiting the opposite side. You can follow this with a quick rinse of distilled water if you wish.

Thereafter, use the compressed air and dry the behind the contact boards thoroughly. Drying the front as well. Do not try to dry out the inlet ports or nozzles. Always leave these wetted as this will prevent any possibility of left over deposits from drying and causing any blockages. As long as everything remains in liquid form, we should be able to clear it...especially pigment.

Install and perform one head clean and see if anything has changed.

There are some tools that should be in the arsenal of refillers. One is a can of compressed air for drying the contact board and behind cartridge chips and the other a bottle of windex or ammonia based window cleaner for gently loosening deposits without leaving too much chemicals behind and is easy to chase out with water.

Thanks for the inputs...
I've tried with another MBK cartridge without improvements, so definitely not the cartridge.
I've attached a scan of the nozzle check. Don't mind the colours, I had to adjust contrast and brightness to make the patterns visible.
I'll try a good thorough head-clean....

Is it me? Why are the nozzle check colors so "off"?

No, it isn't you. My scanner is crap. I've taken a Photo and attached it here.

Hi Lars
It’s a pity about the grey been damaged because you may have been able to get the Matte black back despite it being missing completely, and a new print head will sort out the problem for you.

So it doesn’t matter what you do to the print head you can’t bring it back from an electrical problem, but if you think it’s possible to raise Lazarus again then try rubbing the electrical contacts on the back on the print head with a pencil eraser, there is a faint possibility that might work !

@ The Hat. You are so right. Managed to get the Matte Black back to life, but the grey is still split in a dark upper and brighter lower half. Looks like a new printhead is due...

One additional question: A lot of my old empty cartridges seems to suck in air. When flushed and drawn empty, slowly but surely (some actually pretty fast) the metal plate is moving out towards the window. Am I correct in assuming that they are ready for the trash bin?

The reason they suck air in is because the internal mesh has become dry. If the mesh under the outlet pad is kept wet, the surface tension of the ink will block any air from entering and will act as a cap. This is the reason why you should always store the PGI-9 carts with the outlet down so that remaining ink will wet the mesh cap the cart and keep the outlet pad wet.

You can revive the old carts by flushing and then refilling immediately..capping of course. To pull the bladder back in, just use the orange cap, pierce a hole through the rubber through which a needle will fit and use the syringe to draw a vacuum and suck out the air.

It is best if a digital scale is used when servicing as when refilled, you can be sure of the filling volume. Once a cart is refilled and kept wet, no air will get in.

http://www.precisioncolors.com/PGI-9_Internals.html

Sounds like this printhead would be a good candidate for using the gloss optimizer as you got the Matte channel going again. With this past you, you are now knowledgeable on how to keep this fine machine running properly. As most experienced Canon refillers know, sometimes the printhead gives up the ghost for no apparent reason other than a weak electronic spot, nothing could have been done to prevent it. At least with the money saved on one set of refills it will likely pay for the printhead.