All colours faint MG5250

[pebe]

Pigment black is OK, so from what I have read I suspect the purge pump colour tube is blocked or disconnected.

I have downloaded the manual for the MG5220, but the dis-assembly procedure to get at it looks daunting. Is there a short cut that will enable me to see the connecting tube?

 

[ghwellsjr]

What does a nozzle check show?

 

[pebe]

Pigment black OK. No yellow and no photo black.

Magenta and Cyan both showing 2 faint bands each instead of 3 bands for each - 1 band faint and 1 fainter band (it obviously couldn't make the last one). The bands are clean and even - ie. No gaps in the print from missing nozzles.

I tried a new set of carts, but results were the same. I am assuming that the print head is being starved because of lack of purging (or is it priming?).

 

[IanYY]

Check your purge pump using the instructions in post #1 here ... http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=4569

Note that some printers seem to need turning off and on again at step 4 rather than just closing the lid (though the MG5250 doesn't need this extra step).

My MG5250 had a similar problem recently, with a sudden and complete failure of cyan. Maybe my fix will work for you.

The story ...
1. Suddenly cyan stopped printing - no cyan on the nozzle check but all other colours OK.
2. Checked the purge pump using the above instructions and it passed OK.
3. Ran the "Clean" process. No improvement whatsoever.
4. Removed the cyan cartridge and re-seated it in case of air leak around seal. No improvement.
5. Removed print head. Cleaned contacts. No improvement.
6. Removed cyan cart. Blew through the air vent until the cart dripped (over a sink, of course). PRINTER WORKED PERFECTLY. A page or two later, cyan faded within a couple of lines and then completely failed. Repeated this test many times with exactly the same effect every time.
7. Put this cyan cartridge in a different printer - it worked OK.
8. Put a different (known working) cyan cart in this printer. This failed in exactly the same way as the original cartridge.

Repeated all these tests several times over several days without fixing the problem. All the symptoms pointed to a purge pump problem, even though it had passed the purge pump test!

Then, after another day ...
9. Ran the "Deep Clean" process once.
PRINTER FIXED IMMEDIATELY, and has now been working with no problem for just over a week.

I have no scientific explanation for this. But it worked.
Ian

 

[IanYY]

... I have no scientific explanation for this. But it worked ...

To guess an answer to my own question (only a guess).

Maybe the purge pump was weak - it could suck enough to pass the purge test but wasn't sucking hard enough to pull ink through the head. Maybe the cleaner applied during the purge tests eventually cleared something and improved the suction.

Ian

 

[pebe]

Hi Ian,
I used a syringe to deposit water (containing a few drops of ammonia) on to the pads as described in your link. It remained there. I closed the lid and did a head clean. The result was as before. I opened the lid and got the carts to the centre and found the water had gone. I was not at all sure whether it had been drawn off by the purge pump or just swept away by the moving head.

So next, I removed the pad to see if it was blocked with congealed ink. I found it was made of a hard porous material not the soft spongy material I had expected. I washed it under the tap and it cleaned immediately to a white finish. Then without refitting the pad I filled the well left by the pad with water and closed the lid. After the machine had done its purge cycle I opened up the lid again. Most of the water was still there. I replaced the now clean pad and purged again. This time the pad was stained from the magenta and cyan nozzles nothing more than that.

I think now its pretty certain I have a problem with the purge pump, so unless anyone has more ideas, I think I will have to bite the bullet and start dis-assembling.