Slight problem with MG7550 nozzle check

Hi

I've had an MG7550 for about a month and am using OCP ink and refillable cartridges - I'm generally very happy with the photo output. The carts have ARC chips that reset at 20%, but (probably because I only filled the sponge section, as per the supplied instructions) the ink started running out before they reset. Not serious starvation, just some slight banding, and I refilled immediately. Most photos now looks great except for slight micro banding in light blue skies. The nozzle check shows mostly solid colours (maybe a slight blip on magenta) but the second cyan strip has some faint white streaks (easier to see in the scan than in real life). I have done a couple of standard head cleanings, which didn't help, but not yet a deep clean. Is it better to remove the head and soak it in deionised water (or stronger)? Or maybe just live with it as I don't usually notice the problem in most of my prints. I'm hoping I haven't burnt anything out. I guess it could also be a flow problem with the cartridges. Your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

I do not see a problem with your nozzle check. Not saying you haven't, just that i do not on my monitor.

ninj said:

refillable cartridges

Click to expand...

What cartridges are these?

ninj said:

The carts have ARC chips that reset at 20%, but (probably because I only filled the sponge section, as per the supplied instructions) the ink started running out before they reset. Not serious starvation, just some slight banding,

Click to expand...

Please link the cartridges and instructions for refilling so we can read it. Running out of ink can cause permanent damage even if a short time while printing. The ink is used to cool the print head nozzles as they heat up during use.

Do not do any more print head cleanings, printing, or soaking of the print head until further information is known. Nozzle checks are fine. Maybe you can do another or provide a better quality image of the current nozzle check to more prominently show the missing ink.

Thanks for replying.

It's a bit difficult to see in real life. The jpeg was scanned at 600dpi, but I think might have been downsampled after uploading. I'm uploading a tight crop of the first two cyan strips, which I hope will be easier to see.

I bought my ink and carts here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CANON-MG7...GENUINE-OCP-/251941451432?hash=item3aa8e176a8

He's a helpful guy and I'm a repeat customer (for a different printer). I've scanned and uploaded the refill instructions.

@ninj it maybe to late to save your print head but I’d still recommend you don’t print anything other than nozzle checks till you can get this issue fixed.

Try soaking the print head in washing up liquid (Fairy or Lidl W5) and enough water to 2” deep and make sure you cover the ink inlets, I’d leave it soaking for at least a couple of days the longer the better and don’t forget to dry the head thoroughly before putting it back in the printer.

In the mean time I’d dump those cartridges quick sharp because they look totally useless to me, and get yourself a set of proper refillable compatible cartridges and while you at it maybe even get new inks also, that ink may not be suitable for use in the MG7550.

You don’t have to take my word for it but just look at the problems you’re having now with you printer and you may even need a new head, now that’s going to be costly if you do, try this link for proper cartridges and ink..

http://www.octoink.co.uk/categories/*-Canon-Printer-Products/MG-Series/Pixma-MG7550/

Excellent advice from @The Hat.

It would be expensive to replace your cartridges, but being able to fill your cartridges - including the spongeless side - will help prevent running out of ink while printing, especially if Octoink's ARC chips behave like Canon's OEM chips.

An email to Octoink, or a member on the forum, might answer the question of how the ARC chips function. The owner of Octoink is a forum member named websnail. You could try messaging him on the forum. He is a trusted member and his Octoink is a respected place of business.

@The Hat - Thanks very much for your advice. Can you advise the ratio of Fairy (or W5) to water? Since it will take me at least a couple of days to get either Fairy or W5, would it be safe/worthwhile to start now by soaking the head in Pharmacist's conditioning solution? (I have IPA, deionised water, and glycerine but don't yet have any ammonia to make the actual cleaning solution - but might be able to track some down.)

@stratman - thanks. In fact the Intelli-ink cartridges can be filled on the air side as well (I confirmed this with Intelli-ink) and that's what I did on the second filling (with hindsight I think the 20% calculation assumes both chambers full).

If all else fails I'm in the fortunate position that I have a 2 year John Lewis warranty on this printer, and also a set of unused OEM starter inks. In all honesty the several prints I've made since refilling (I know, I know.....) on Lidl/Sihl photo paper look perfect to me (I rarely do blue skies, this being England, but even then they look OK at normal viewing distances), but I guess there's a danger of things getting worse if the head is damaged.

Since the 3 densities of cyan are produced in this printer by the same cartridge, and the upper bold cyan seems to have all nozzle dots printed, I am not 100% sure it is the head.

Try to make a scan with higher resolution (at least 600 dpi) to see the individual dots to verify this.

It could be the ink or the cartridge.
I can imagine the flow or the physical properties of the 3th party ink do not allow to produce the smaller dots needed to produce light and very light cyan with the same ink.

The best test is mounting an OEM Cyan cartridge .

PS: I solved several times comparable nozzle checks by soaking the head (demineralised water with a drop of washing liquid as Fairy - Dreft).

You can use just water by itself but if the nozzles still have hard ink particles stuck/dried to them then a little bit more friendly persuasion may well be needed.

@pharmacists solution will help also but a tea spoonful of washing up liquid in water will dissolve any leftover ink and so will W5 window cleaner, especially when used together, plus a lot of patients on your part.

Your print head in showing signs of nozzles miss-firing and it may continue like that for some time but it will eventually fail due to over heating at a later date, usually when it’s just out of warrantee..

@palombian: I've uploaded a 1200dpi scan of just the cyan strips (zipped so it can be downloaded and viewed properly at dot level). Because the plain paper was rough and confusing at this resolution I have printed this test on (my least favourite!) glossy paper. I have also, I think, eliminated the possibility of an ink/cartridge flow issue by installing fresh OEM cartridges that I was saving for just such a rainy day. The nozzle check looks the same with both sets of cartridges. The solid cyan looks OK to me, but the lighter strip has sections where the dots are fainter. It seems that no dots are entirely missing though. Not sure if this is a good or bad sign (I'm guessing bad, being a pessimist).

@The Hat: Thanks, I'll have a go at soaking it and take it back if no luck.

In future I will aim to refill whenever the air chamber is empty rather than rely on ARC chips, which should also minimise need for flushing. I'm used to refilling opaque OEM HP920s using a digital scales to monitor ink levels, so transparents are a bit of a luxury!