Canon mg5720 pgbk printing crooked pattern. Is it a printhead problem?

I went through all the maintenance steps and refilled all cartridges and this pgbk isn't getting this pattern right. What's the usual culprit here?

The split lines of the Pigment Black nozzles indicates there is irreparable warping of the print head for these nozzles most likely caused by heat over time.

You can still use the print head and its color cartridges to print images.

In order to bypass the Pigment Black and still print text on Plain Paper you will need to select a Paper Type other than Plain Paper, ie one of the photo paper settings. Doing this will force the printer to use the dye-based color cartridges to make Black. Experiment with the various Photo Paper Setting Types to find the best in your opinion.

The down sides are potentially less sharp fonts, black that is not as black, and no water/highlighter resistance.

To fully resolve the issue and get back to using Pigment Black with Plain Paper you will need to buy a new print head or get a new printer.

Thanks. Makes sense

I will also add that you will still need to have a functional Pigment Black cartridge installed because the printer requires ALL cartridges be inserted into the print head and not be marked as Empty by it's chip in order for the printer to print. Ink will still be drained from the cartridge via automatic maintenance cleanings / purges.

The Hat said:

I would also like to add, if you get a new print head, then only use OEM ink just for the pigment black to prevent the same thing happening again..

Click to expand...

Why just for pigment black? And how does ink do that anyway? I soaked the printhead in hot water for good while too. I wouldn't guess this to be an ink problem. But idk this stuff

A theory is that the damage is caused by an aftermarket ink with insufficient cooling properties. This causes the nozzles to overheat and warp. Dye black is also often affected by this phenomenon. In the dye black the error shows as fuzziness. See this post for a link to the theory and also this thread.

PeterBJ said:

A theory is that the damage is caused by an aftermarket ink with insufficient cooling properties. This causes the nozzles to overheat and warp. Dye black is also often affected by this phenomenon. In the dye black the error shows as fuzziness. See this post for a link to the theory and also this thread.

Click to expand...

Ah, interesting. Good to know. Thanks