Canon PIXMA MP830 - from printing perfect to spewing blanks

[jmmatlock]

Hi there - Brand newbie here, so please bear with me.

2 days ago, my PIXMA MP830 was printing just fine. I print 95% of the time in grayscale/b&w (using the large black cartridge), saving the colors for photo printing. I had several cartridges showing low ink levels, but I always ignore the warnings and tell the printer "ok" and continue to print until the printer says they're empty (when the warning over the ink tank in the display changes from ! to X). Somewhere between ! and X on the large black, the printer started sending out completely blank pages. It's not as if the printer went from fine, to lined pages, to blank. Just fine one print job, and less than 20 minutes later, blank page on the next print job.

I tried changing the cartridge - nothing. I tried cleaning the print heads (both the regular and deep cleaning, in fact, probably wasted the entire new cartridge and the rest of them by doing a total of 4 deep cleanings!) - nothing. I called Canon customer service and they suggested that the problem was with the new cartridge, and they are sending me a new one to see if that fixes the problem (which I doubt).

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Does this sound like a clogged print head or something else?

I can print okay in color - as long as it's ALL color. Any black text is either completely missing, or seriously messed up (prints a line here and there, but very randomly).

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[leo8088]

The nozzles of your PGI-5 (black) channel are probably clogged. Plugging in a new PGI-5 cartridge may not unclog it. You need to flush the PGI-5 nozzles then install a PGI-5 filled with dye black photo ink. Use it to print some large black text. It will clear up the nozzles. I know this is hard to believe. But it worked for me several times already. I learned about this trick somewhere on the internet (maybe from this forum).

Do a nozzle check from the maintenance panel first to confirm that the PGI-5 nozzles are clogged of course.

 

[jmmatlock]

PS - When I print the nozzle check pattern, the top line (which the manual says should have black vertical line, PGBK, black vertical line, then a graph-like pattern) is completely missing. No white stripes in the C, C, M, M, Y, or BK lines, but the top PGBK is not even there.

 

[jmmatlock]

You need to flush the PGI-5 nozzles

Is there a tutorial on how one does this?

then install a PGI-5 filled with dye black photo ink.

I'm assuming this involves refilling a blank cartridge with a different ink that it normally takes? Again, I will definitely need to be walked through this step.

What I probably should have disclosed is that I am a buy-it-off-the-shelf ink user. Straight off the shelf, just what the manual says. I've never stepped outside of this into refills, especially into DIY-world.

 

[ghwellsjr]

You need to first make sure you purge system is working. Open the cover and look off to the right where the print head parks. You should see two black pads. The one on the left is for the large pigment black ink cartridge. Use a syringe, eye dropper, or pinched straw to put some Windex or other window cleaner or just plain water on it. Then do a cleaning cycle and see if the liquid has been sucked away. If not, you will not get anything to work. Try this first, then the other suggestions.

You can also make a cleaning cartridge by turning over an empy cartridge and dripping Windex into the outlet port until the sponge is saturated.