Give me an opinion on this nozzle check

Roy Sletcher said:

Thanks Stratmen.

I have used that number in the past. Unfortunately as soon as I give my credit card number, and it is recognised as a Canadian Domiciled card, they say "Hold the line <CLICK> <CLICK>, Hello Canon Canada" and then not surprisingly the price doubles. I think our UK cousins across the pond know the feeling.

However I will try it again. I have a US accommodation address in upstate NY, and see if I can talk my way into getting a US purchase. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

RS

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Roy, let us know the results. I also have a accommodation address in NY. This might be interesting, Thank's.

Emulator said:

Do you mean to say there is more than one of them?

I can see the vertical striations on M, C & BK but not on the others, so I don't think it can be a display "effect", you could try another nozzle check. The missing top to the C does look as though there is partial blockage and a prolonged soak might clear it. But be cautious of printing anything other than a nozzle check, as it has the classic signs preceding a print head failure of C.

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Hi Emu - quick reply as I am on my way out for a photo shoot - first day of mild temp here in over a month. Only -12c

I now see what you mean - I was looking at the original printed nozzle check, where the striations are NOT visible.

I can see them on the posted image on this site. I think the fact that they are visible in the posted image could be due to some degree of moire patterning from a poor scan on a cheap scanner.

On my way out of the door - Will have more to add this afternoon.

RS

Emulator said:

Do you mean to say there is more than one of them?

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Double the trouble, twice the price!

If all else fails, you might consider cleaning the electrical contacts on the printhead and the corresponding ones in the printer with something like isopropanol. Take care that you don't zap either with static electricity. (Ground yourself before touching a potentially sensitive part. Use the water-free contact cleaner rather than the medicinal stuff. Wear gloves and don't poison yourself.)

Is the printer out of warranty? If you're more interested in making the problem go away than saving the last dollar, you might consider trading it for a refurbished unit.

Just as a thought from outside the printhead box. Have you considered whether the Photo Cyan cartridge is feeding ink properly? Perhaps try refreshing the ink in it using a flush clip and the process described here just to rule that one out?

Might be unlikely but figured I'd throw it out there just in case.

I would not touch the gold plated contacts, it's a very thin layer and even light abrasion would be detrimental.

Emulator said:

I would not touch the gold plated contacts, it's a very thin layer and even light abrasion would be detrimental.

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There are excellent reasons for not touching electrical contacts inside electronic equipment. This is NOT one of them. That supposedly delicate gold plating has to survive the wiping force of insertion and removal. If the plating were so flimsy that it were to come off with careful cleaning, it could never fulfill its intended purpose of providing a long lasting low resistance contact. (Of course, there is always someone who will insist on SCRAPING the contacts clean. They help to keep the professional service people employed.)

One very relevant reason for not touching electrical contacts is contamination by oily or other resistive coatings. It may be hard to believe that one could cause a contact to fail just by touching it, but it happens. Spilling a bit of ink on a contact may also leave a film. If this occurs, one may need to gently clean the contaminated contacts with an appropriate residue-free solvent.

Another very important reason to avoid touching electrical contacts is potential damage by static electricity. The threshold for damage, if I recall correctly from my training, is under 100 volts for unprotected circuits. Wearing an anti-static wristband connected to a proper ground is a good precaution.

(I don't intend this to be any sort of an adequate explanation of how to decontaminate electrical contacts fouled by fingers or misdirected ink. I just want to point out that it is sometimes necessary, depending on circumstances/clumsiness.)

LATEST REPORT - and things are looking promising.

Thanks to all respondents for the guidance and advice. This truly is an amazing site.

Soaked head in windex overnight. Dried it off gently this morning. Carefully and gently wiped all electrical contacts, then let it stand for a few hours to (hopefully) dissipate any residual moisture.

Just printed out a nozzle check and it looks good. Have aligned the heads and printed another nozzle check and still looking good. At the moment am running OEM cyan. I don't think my my refilled cyan was the problem as is feeds ink with a gentle squeeze on the side. Will confirm all this tomorrow when I will have time to do additional tests and confirm consistent flow printing colour images.

My precious experience has been that resuscitated cartridges sometimes revert back to the defective status in a couple of days. I am hoping not.

Also had a second stroke of luck. Doing a more intensive search on eBay for a replacement head last night I happened on an auction for a NEW pro-100 head closing in 15 minutes. Bid and won a new head for US$73.00 from a seller in Illinois. Should be delivered by Friday or so. If current head holds up will be used as a spare.

So far so good.

RS

Stationair206 said:

Roy, let us know the results. I also have a accommodation address in NY. This might be interesting, Thank's.

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Hi,

My last dealing with Canon USA was a few years years ago, and without thinking gave them my Canadian address. Before I could explain I wanted the product delivered to a US address they connected me to Canon Canada in Mississauga.

My advice would be to give your US accommodation address as the primary address, and if possible not mention your Canadian location. This may be problematical because Canadian credit cards have a Canadian domicile encoded in the number.

For most US retailers this is not a problem when you are paying with a Canadian credit card, provided you can give them a verifiable US address, where they can get a clean signature. They get your money at time of sale, and can prove it was delivered to the address you gave them. If it vanishes after that, it's your problem.

eBay is more involved if the vendor only accepts paypal and won't ship outside the US, because your confirmed Paypal address, which the seller has to ship to as a term of his sales agreement, is listed in Canada. There are legal ways around this, but probably not something we should discuss on this forum. Send email or PM if interested in more details.

RS

@Roy Sletcher, And there was I going to suggest you get one of the Canon Pro pigment printers if the head was damaged.

I found PayPal were very accommodating when it came to addresses, I have 5 different ones that work without any issues..