MP600 - Faulty printhead?

[pebe]

I have read about this problem before and have used the 'search' but cannot find it.

My MP600 has given excellent service. It is is used mainly for mono printing, but recently I wanted a colour copy. The print was missing yellow in stripes. A nozzle printout showed the lower half of the yellow block to be missing. All other colours printed perfectly. I did a couple of cleaning cycles, and as they would not improve the print, I did a deep clean. Still the same result.

I removed the print head and cleaned the contacts, but to no avail.

Could this be a hardware fault?

 

[The Hat]

I have read about this problem before and have used the 'search' but cannot find it.

My MP600 has given excellent service. It is is used mainly for mono printing, but recently I wanted a colour copy. The print was missing yellow in stripes. A nozzle printout showed the lower half of the yellow block to be missing. All other colours printed perfectly. I did a couple of cleaning cycles, and as they would not improve the print, I did a deep clean. Still the same result.

I removed the print head and cleaned the contacts, but to no avail.

Could this be a hardware fault?

You should have posted a nozzle check which is a much better way to explain your problems,
can you do one even at this late stage please.

The straight stripes in the yellow may have been like that for some time and you didnt notice
so there is a good chance that the print head has been burned out and is beyond repair.

Even if your only mono printing it is good practice to print a nozzle check at least once a week just to keep an eye on the rest of your colours,
its also the best way to keep everything in good working order..

 

[PeterBJ]

Like The Hat requested I would also like to see a scan of a nozzle check. But maybe your nozzle check are like those found in these threads: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7385 and http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=6747 , but with the problem in yellow?

If your nozzle check is like those I linked to, the cause of the problem is an electrical fault in the printhead, clogged nozzles will show a much more random pattern, and only a new printhead might help. It did in these two cases, but there is a risk that the defective printhead damaged the motherboard in the printer. A defective motherboard can burn out a new printhead, so replacing the printhead is a gamble.

I think that if the printhead was damaged after cleaning it outside the printer, water left on the electronics might have caused a short that burned out the printhead. In that case there is a high risk that the motherboard has been damaged. But if the printhead just failed without being exposed to water, I think that the risk of a damaged motherboard is much less.

 

[pebe]

Here is a print of the nozzle check. Because the poor contrast between yellow and white doesnt show up the problem clearly, I have also added another printout of the colours as columns.

I have always used good inks initially from Hobbicolors but latterly from Octoinks. I have a spare set of OEM carts which I rotate in sequence. As soon as I see the warning (!) sign I replace, refill and reset the cart. The head has never been allowed to run dry of any colour, so I dont know how the print head could have burned out.

The print head has never been cleaned outside the printer I have occasionally had to do a head clean and that has hitherto overcome any problems. The only time the head has ever been removed is now, as a result of this present problem, I have removed it to clean the contacts at the back and wiped the heads with a tissue in case the problem was due to a build up of ink residue.

I am a bit dismayed by your remark that a damaged motherboard could damage a new print head. Would discarding this printer and buying a new one be the best way forward?

 

[barfl2]

Pebe
Unfortunately I think PeterBj is right. Your technique is more or less the same as mine with one difference. I am printing a mixture of mono/colour and I regularly do a nozzle check once a week. The Hat has advised this before and I adopted his recommendation.

I have had my share of problems but mine were streaking or bits missing not the whole colour.

If you have to scrap your printer there are plenty of good deals out there at less than the cost of a print head. I was watching on e-bay on Sunday and nearly bought a pixma MP620 as a spare which had only been used for a university project about 50 Mine was ex display 38 absolutely immaculate came with test print and scan but not with OEM carts.

If yellow has not been printing I would assume that the other colours need changing more often. Although lack of yellow would have shown up in the output.

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi pebe

You have done nothing wrong. You have treated your printer in the best possible way.

Canon printheads can on rare occasions fail in this manner for no apparent reason. This error is then most likely caused by an open circuit in the electronics decoding which nozzle is to print. In this case the motherboard is most likely not damaged, so I would buy a new printhead, if it were my printer.

Here you find a new printhead: http://www.crc-tasktron.co.uk/index.php?app=ecom&ns=prodshow&ref=61

These older Canon printers are a much higher build quality than newer models, and the cartridges are higher capacity and easily refillable because they are transparent, so again I would take the gamble and buy a new printhead.

The printhead used is the same as used in the iP5200, so I think the print engine is an ip5200, which I think is one of the best 5 cartridge printers Canon ever made. I got an iP5200 for free from my sister and her husband. It would not power on because of a defective printhead. They didn't want to gamble with a new printhead, they bought a new printer. I bought a new printhead, and the printer was back in business. I'm glad I took the gamble and won.

Good luck with a new printhead
Peter.

 

[The Hat]

Our suspicions were correct with the first diagnoses your print head is indeed damaged.

As to how this could happened is open to conjecture but it is usually caused by continued printing
while there is insufficient ink inside the print head to cool it in any one of the coloured sections.

I said conjecture because it is not just one thing; it could have been a clog (Dried Ink)
because that is usually the culprit that everyone blames first (My Print Head).

But the most probable cause is poor ink flow from your cartridge (Ink starvation) and its usually the last thing unfortunately that anyone checks,
90% of the time thats the cause but you dont really know till you investigate it further.

Just because youre only printing in mono doesnt necessarily mean youre not using the rest of your colour (Inks),
again 60% of the time you will use both unknowingly and thats why it is important to check all cartridges regularly.

The chances of your Logic board being damaged are very slim because your problem started
long before you cleaned your print head so a new one will most definitely be worth while getting.

The freedom that refilling gives us all are immense and we can sometimes forget to check
that all our cartridges are working properly from day to day.

To start up each day you print it would be good practice to print a nozzle check first before anything else,
you can output on the back of the previous days nozzle check to save on paper and also to examine them both for the slightest changes..

 

[pebe]

Just to let those who replied know that they were right.

I ordered a head from CRC as recommended by PeterBj and it's now firing correctly on all colours

Thanks again to all.