More MP830 trouble

pkk · Apr 19, 2014

Hello All,

Well here I am back again with another problem with my MP830. I posted last fall about a stubborn magenta clog & got the printer working again with the help of the forum. What I didn't post was that after several days of heavy printing the problem returned so I finished that job on my Pro 9000. Despite the excellent resources on this forum my time for extensive troubleshooting is very limited plus I got it in my head that I may have damaged the printhead from ink starvation so I recently bought a new head for the 830 on Amazon. Worked fine for a few weeks but then it started printing all of the magenta with cyan ink. Here's the nozzle test. So I changed the cyan & magenta carts, did a couple of head cleanings & got back to printing. I printed about 100 A4 full color pictures. Then after sitting a few days I tried to print again & got the same thing. Same solution. So It's working at the moment but I'm putting this before the forum to try to preempt another problem. I should say too that I go on printing binges and then may not do much printing for a few months. I have a total of 80 carts for these two printers of which about 50 came from ebay, allegedly after one use. They certainly had not been prepared for refilling. My problems did seem to start about that time though. (I also have issues with the Pr0 9000-another thread.) All of my carts were flushed last summer. I try to gauge my refilling so the carts don't sit more than 6 months after filling. My last batch of ink from Precision Colors was shipped last Sep & it's almost gone. Both of these Canon printers have been terrific workhorses until last fall & I want to keep them running but I need reliability too. I'll be most grateful for any input from the forum.

The Hat · Apr 19, 2014

When you have constantly poor ink flow it’s usually down to your cartridges but if several cartridges start to do the same after a short while then it’s the print head that has the intermittent blockage, this can happen when you have introduced cartridges from an unknown source sometimes.

Try soaking the print head in warm water with some washing up liquid in it and maybe a drop of ammonia too, leave it to steep in about 3” in a plastic bowl for a couple of days, then rinse the head upside down under fast running water for a few minutes, then dry it very well and leave it in a nice warm place for an hour or two to thoroughly dry out.

Pop it back into the printer and do one normal head clean followed by a nozzle check to see if it’s back to normal again, the print head should now be working perfectly but if you still suspect the cartridges then purge them also.

I should say if you’re worried about the quality of your water then you should do a final rinse in distilled water..

pkk · Apr 19, 2014

The Hat said:
When you have constantly poor ink flow it’s usually down to your cartridges but if several cartridges start to do the same after a short while then it’s the print head that has the intermittent blockage, this can happen when you have introduced cartridges from an unknown source sometimes.

Try soaking the print head in warm water with some washing up liquid in it and maybe a drop of ammonia too, leave it to steep in about 3” in a plastic bowl for a couple of days, then rinse the head upside down under fast running water for a few minutes, then dry it very well and leave it in a nice warm place for an hour or two to thoroughly dry out.

Pop it back into the printer and do one normal head clean followed by a nozzle check to see if it’s back to normal again, the print head should now be working perfectly but if you still suspect the cartridges then purge them also.

I should say if you’re worried about the quality of your water then you should do a final rinse in distilled water..

pkk · Apr 19, 2014

Thanks, Hat. But how is the cyan ink getting into the magenta part of the head? This is supposed to be a new print head. What about making a set of cleaning carts with windex in place of ink? That's the one thing I didn't try before I bought a new print head.

thanks again.

stratman · Apr 19, 2014

A "new" print head from China may be a refurbished print head despite what is said or shown in the image. Clever copycats can copy packaging with little issue nowadays. Also, any print head may fail at any time, even when new. Can you link the sale on Amazon please?

Was there ink pooling inside the print head around where the cartridge's connect? This would mean lack of a good seal between cartridge ink outlet port and the O-ring that secures the seal with the print head's ink inlet port.
Make sure all the O-rings are seated properly inside the print head where the cartridges' cylindrical ink outlet ports are supposed to be flush up against when the cartridge is inserted into the print head.

Lack of Magenta and Cyan overflowing into Yellow and replacing Magenta can be due to the Print head, the cartridges, and or the logic board assay. You need to pare down the choices if possible. The following are initial suggestions.

You don't say what refilling technique you use. If you use the top fill method then make sure there is an air-tight seal with the refill hole. Regardless, at this point, the best choice would be to obtain new OEM Canon cartridges (followed by aftermarket cartridges and then lastly freshly flushed or KNOWN working cartridges) for C/Y/M color cartridges. The Black pigment and dye-based inks look ok so no change needed.

6 months of sitting in a cartridge under who knows what conditions may be way too much to expect for ink not to dry and cause ink starvation when printing. The idea is fresh ink less than 2 years old in the storage bottle and even fresher ink in the cartridge. Time and environment are not your friends.

You cannot expect proper function of the printer if you neglect to print regularly. Print something that uses all the cartridge colors, such as a nozzle check, once a week. Otherwise you might as well get an Epson or a laser printer that can withstand longer periods of non-use.

Test your purge system to rule out any issue.

In order to check to see if the purge pump is working:

1) Locate the rectangular pads that the print head sits over when the printer is idle or turned off. Looking at the front of the printer, the print head usually parks itself to the extreme right. The rectangular shaped purge pads, one for the PGI-5 cartridge and the other purge pad for all the CLI-8 cartridges, will be visible (flashlight helpful) because the print head will move to the center of the printer after you lift the cover. The purge pads may be blackened.

2) Using a syringe or other suitable tool, drip water or Windex-D onto the surface of each purge pad until the fluid visibly pools. If the fluid doesn't pool then you have a problem with the purge system.

3) Now close the cover, allowing the print head to park itself over the purge pads.

4) Perform a cleaning of all colors.

5) Now open the cover and look to see if the fluid has drained from on top of the purge pads.

If the fluid has drained away then the purge unit is working, if not then there is a problem with the purge system requiring a different approach.

Try The Hat's suggestion for soaking.

jimbo123 · Apr 20, 2014

agreed, try soaking the print head, then let completely dry before using.

please do post the amazon link. just that i purchased an MP830 print head on amazon a few months ago, from a CA address that was supposed to be genuine new canon. still sealed in its wrapper. wrapper looked correct but who knows.

also what cartridges are you using ? genuine canon carts ?

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Active Printers: MP830, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: Hobbicolors and OCP
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

pkk · Apr 20, 2014

I'm soaking the printhead as I type. Is the link below what you are looking for? To answer more of the questions these are all OEM carts, top filled. The plugs are tight & I have't had this particular problem before at all. I've put the carts I removed from the 830 into my Pro 9000 & so far they have not shown this particular problem. The MP830 get's plenty of exercise. It is our office dog and still does fine on documents. All of my carts had just been filled prior the problem showing up with the ink I bought in Sept. This particular problem just started with the "new" printhead. I'll check out the purge pads as soon as I can but I'm wondering if making up some cleaning carts would be worthwhile. Run cleaning fluid into the head that way. I'm thinking of doing a set for the pro 9000 anyway. I'm just thinking that if this printhead is bad that's the one thing I didn't try on the original printhead in the MP 830. Maybe I can salvage it. Thanks again everybody.
Shipment Details

Canon QY6-0061 Printhead for Pixma Photo Printer
Sold by BELLGRILLS
Condition: New

$69.90
Item Subtotal:$69.90
Shipping & Handling:$4.62
Total Before Tax:$74.52
Shipment Total:$74.52
Paid by Mastercard:$74.52

stratman · Apr 20, 2014

Truly a great price for a print head which is now nearly double at $120 at the link you provided. Strangely, the same seller lists 3 new print heads of the same model for $80 -- http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Printhe...=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1397977265&sr=1-7. What's up with that?

Try a search on eBay and you will see all manner of this model print head for sale, from the USA to China, from refurbished to new. Counterfeiting the packaging is a snap with today's technology. Have not read of counterfeit print heads for this model but anything is possible.

Given the information you have provided, that the cartridges worked perfectly in another printer, either the print head or the logic board assay is bad.

The seller of the print head states it is non-returnable. Maybe he will send a replacement instead of a refund. If you paid with a credit card then you might have a chance for credit back. Alternatively, you can start a complaint process with Amazon. Most likely you have a slim to none chance for a remedy.

If this issue is a malfunctioning logic board assay then any print head you install will show corruption and may itself become damaged reciprocally. Then you are out two print heads and still have a malfunctioning logic assay board. I suppose trying your old print head would be a reasonable choice with the knowledge that if the printer continues to malfunction you are looking at costly or laborious repairs potentially requiring a scavenger hunt to find good parts as the MP830 completed its life cycle with part manufacturing in 2012.

I sympathize with you on your wounded MP830. I just swapped out my old workhorse MP830 for a "new" refurbished MP830 I had stored for years this past week.

pkk · Apr 22, 2014

Hello again everyone. Now that the holiday is over we can get back to the fun stuff-fighting with inkjet printers!! The soaking job didn't help. I am really thinking now after stratman's input that I got a bad printhead or the printer corrupted it. I'm going to try to return it. I did get out my old head & try it but it showed no improvement-doesn't feed magenta consistently. It's odd that the problems are so different. Looks like the old 830 will go into semi retirement as just a black & white printer-leave the color jobs for the 9000.
Thanks again & I'll report back how my return attempt goes. Maybe they'll replace this head.

stratman · Apr 22, 2014

So Magenta is the problem with both print heads? Can you print a nozzle check for the original print head since we already have the nozzle check for the new Amazon print head? Just want to compare the two.

Also, have you used different Magenta cartridges for these new nozzle checks? Want to be sure it is not a Magenta cartridge issue with failure to feed ink.

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