PGBK doesn't print

tbush

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Hello! I have a Canon Pixma MG5320. A couple of months ago it started printing lines through black text. The test print showed no ink printing in the middle of the PGBK strip. I took out the print heads and cleaned them with water. Now all the colors are still printing perfectly, but there is NO PGBK printing. It's completely blank.

Thanks for any help!
 

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turbguy

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#1 PRINT NOTHING BUT NOZZLE CHECKS UNTIL THIS IS RESOLVED, else you risk overheating the PGBK nozzles and burning them out.


#2 Check your purge system for proper operation. The purge system pulls ink from the cart to flood the nozzles so a solid liquid column is established at the nozzle inlets.

The potential causes for a non-functioning purge unit range from blockage in the vacuuming system ( which requires a lot of patience to unblock, or considerable disassembly to clean), to a disconnected hose in the system (again, requiring disassembly to re-connect). I have had solid blockages in purge systems that required using fine wires as tools to dislodge the blockage in fine passageways in purge pump manifolds. I have had tubes come loose INSIDE the vacuum pump, and also tubes come loose connecting the purge pad to the vacuum pump.

The vacuum pump used by Canon is a peristaltic-type pump.

Test the purge system for operation.

1. Apply cleaning fluid to the purge pads with an eyedropper with the print head in the cartidge change position. You must be able to build up a standing pool of fluid on the pads that stays. If the fluid disappears from the purge pad over a minute or two, that indicates a leak in the purge system that must be found and corrected.

2. If the standing pool of fluid persists as expected, then close the printer cover and let the printer go through a cleaning cycle. Re-open the printer and visually inspect the parking pads. ALL TRACES of standing fluid should have disappeared. If not, then the purge system is not functioning (most likely clogged).

3. Inspect the black rubber gasket around the parking pad(s) for distortion. This gasket seals against the print head nozzle plate so vacuum can be established. If it is distorted, the ceramic insert may have been disturbed. Typically there are at least four rubber "tabs" that lap over the ceramic pad that must be positioned correctly to the gasket has the correct shape. The gasket can be "nudged" with a fine wooden tool if needed.


Post your findings here
 

martin0reg

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"stamp test"
Do a cleaning cycle then take out the PH and press it gently on a paper towel.
There you should see the ink of all nozzle rows, including the longer row for PGI.

- if not:
Dried out and/or clogged ink channel in the PH.
Reason could be the purging unit which is not work properly...follow turbguy's instruction for checking this.

- if there is ink on the paper towel but the print keeps blank: This means ink is flowing but the nozzles don't work. The PH itself could be already defective, burned nozzles and/or electrical damage. Sometimes you can recognize a damaged nozzle row with a loupe. A new printhead is needed...

PGI is more prone to clogging...canon OEM ink is known for better ink flow and cleaning effect than 3rd party ink...special cleaning carts could be helpful...and be sure to have removed the sealing tape on the PGI cartridge to let air in.
 
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The Hat

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I would hazard a guess that you’re going to need a print head because of the length of time you have been using the printer while the pigment black wasn’t working properly. (Burned Nozzles)

Had you not used the printer after you first notice this problem then I would follow all of turbguy suggestions but at this stage I think it’s too late and you’re flogging a dead horse ?

If you do not want to get a new print head (Right now) you can continue to use your printer as it is successfully by changing you paper choice from plain to Matte/ glossy paper for all your printing needs and you can get by that way, it will take a little bit longer to print that is all..
 

tbush

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I really appreciate all of your replies. I'm a mom with two students and not the least bit technically inclined. ;) My head is spinning trying to figure out how to do all the helpful suggestions. The Hat replies that since I have been using the printer with this problem for so long, I probably need a new print head. Can anyone suggest the best place to get it? Canon? Again, thank you all so much. This printer is not that old and I'm disappointed that I'm already having a problem that is beyond my capability to fix without ordering new parts.
 

Łukasz

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Hi,

cut the PGBK HV power supply with electrical tape (eg. TesaFlex) and PGBK will never burn (at cost of PGBK print). Please look at picture below:

gy6-0080-pinout_m_pgbk_off-png.1397


This is also solution for B200 on PGBK nozzles.
Works with QY6-0080, QY6-0072 and QY6-0073 (same but 2 pins are "blind").

B200 for dye nozzles (CLI inks, "colors") can be suppress in similar way:
gy6-0080-pinout_m_cl_off-png.1398


Any CLI ink will stop print. This is solution for MP/MG to make it scanning devices (or black-white copier only).

Lack of PGBK print on plain paper media can be solved in one of 3 ways:
- activating automatic 2-sided print or
- borderless printing (some configuration of default image scaling may be needed) or
- photo quality printing

Good luck,
Ł.
 

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turbguy

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I really appreciate all of your replies. I'm a mom with two students and not the least bit technically inclined. ;) My head is spinning trying to figure out how to do all the helpful suggestions. The Hat replies that since I have been using the printer with this problem for so long, I probably need a new print head. Can anyone suggest the best place to get it? Canon? Again, thank you all so much. This printer is not that old and I'm disappointed that I'm already having a problem that is beyond my capability to fix without ordering new parts.
The best prices for printheads in the USA is from Canon's parts department, call the Canon Parts Order Desk at (866) 481-2569, IF they still supply them. I beleive the print head part number is QY6-0080, but have Canon check that. You can also google QY6-0080 and see where else you can get them.

HOWEVER, the problem may or may NOT be the printhead, as it was working earlier. I would not purchase a new printhead without testing the purge system, first. You can use "original formula Windex with ammonia D" and an eyedropper to perform the test. You might need a flashlight to see what's going on at the purge (parking) pads at the parking station. The parking station is the place where the print head “rests” when it is not printing.Usually it’s on the right side of the printer (looking at the printer from the front).The parking station has rubber seals that are supposed to surround the printhead when it’s parked.These seals have two purposes: 1) to keep the printhead from drying out when it is not printing, and 2) to provide a tight seal for strong suction when the printer is self-cleaning the head.Some printers also have rubber wiper blades that move across the bottom of the printhead to remove accumulated ink.All these rubber pieces get “gunked” up over time with condensed ink.This prevents a tight seal, allowing the head to dry out.The good news: the rubber can be cleaned! Best tool is a Q-tip dipped in the windex. You’ll need several Q-tips. For easier access to the parking station, open the cover of the printer so that the print head carriage comes to the middle (as if to replace an ink cartridge). Unplug power from the printer. Then use your hand to gently slide the printhead carriage over to the left, so that you can access the parking station (at right) more easily. When you are finishing cleaning and testing, close the printer, plug the power back in, and turn it on. The printhead will automatically return to the parking station.

As also mentioned by others above, if all else fails, lie to the printer, tell it that you are using photo matte paper in the printer settings window, and it will mix color inks to make black text. The PGBK (PiGment BlacK) ink is only used for black text printing on plain paper. PGBK ink it much more water-resistant than the color dye inks.
 
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martin0reg

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... I took out the print heads and cleaned them with water. ...
Just one thing came to my mind:
Hopefully you have cleaned the (one) printhead, not the 5 cartridges...
Here is an instruction for external cleaning of a canon PH (there are many others to find, this is a translated version from my preferred german site)

http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=2723&t=printer_cleaning_how_to_clean_canon_print_heads

While the PGBK ink (used for text on plain paper) is more prone to clogging the printhead, the print head nozzles could have survived...
So if you did not clean or did not clean long enough the printhead - I would give it one more try ... see the instruction .. you can leave the PH in the "footbath" for hours, maybe overnight..

If this does not help, next step for me would be the "stamp test" and/or cleaning/flushing the purging unit. If you feel prepared to do it...
 

ghwellsjr

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2. If the standing pool of fluid persists as expected, then close the printer cover and let the printer go through a cleaning cycle. Re-open the printer and visually inspect the parking pads. ALL TRACES of standing fluid should have disappeared. If not, then the purge system is not functioning (most likely clogged).
The idea to "close the printer cover and let the printer go through a cleaning cycle" is one that I promoted for years but it is not a correct method. The correct method is to manually command the printer to go through a cleaning cycle.

The reason why so many of us thought that merely closing the cover would automatically cause a cleaning cycle is because our printers had a defective purge system. Let me explain:

There are two holes underneath each of the purge pads. The one closer to the front of the printer goes to the peristaltic pump. This pump goes through a cycle under many different situations including closing the cover. Whenever the pump cycles, it works on both pads. There are not two separately actuated peristaltic pumps. However, the other hole goes to a solenoid actuated valve that allows air to be sucked through the purge pad system so that the printer can selectively purge just the pigment inks or the dye inks. If the printer is working correctly, those two valves are opened when you close the cover so that ink is not sucked out of the print head and down through the peristaltic pump and into the waste pads at the bottom of the printer.

So if you flood the two pads with cleaning fluid, close the cover, wait till the noise stops, reopen the cover and one or both of the two pads are completely dry, that usually means that there is dried ink in the tubing going to the solenoid valve for that pad. It appears that the printer is purposely going through a cleaning cycle but it shouldn't be. There may be a reduction in the fluid level but it shouldn't be completely dry. However, if you manually command the printer to go through a cleaning cycle for both types of ink, both pads should be completely devoid of cleaning fluid but they may be some ink deposits on them.

What does this mean? Fortunately, if one or both of the tubings to the solenoid valves gets clogged, the printer can still function correctly in that it will be able to purge, prime and clean the nozzles of the print head but it will waste ink and the printer will not keep track of this ink going into the waste ink "tank". Eventually, the "tank" will overflow and you will get ink coming out of the bottom of your printer before the printer warns you of the waste ink approaching 100%.

So what should be done?

First, don't rely on merely closing the cover to cause a purge cycle and don't advise others to do so. People who have a correctly working printer may think it is defective when it isn't. Instead, tell the printer to do a cleaning cycle. It's takes a lot longer but it won't result in people incorrectly diagnosing a problem with their printer when there isn't one.

Now I'm not sure if all printers work the same in that closing the cover does not result in an intended purge cycle. The only simple way to know for sure is to perform the test on a new printer to see if the fluid is completely drained away just by closing the cover.

Second, if it is determined that those solenoid valves should be open during closing the cover for your printer, then the test can be used to determine if there is a clog in those tubes. If there is, then you have to decide what to do about it. From my experience, it is very difficult to unclog dried ink from those tubes because most of the time the solenoid valves are closed making impossible to try to clean them by removing the purge pads and forcing cleaning fluid down the holes. The only way I succeeded in cleaning them was by dismantling the printer, detaching one end of the tubing and attaching a longer piece of tubing that I could attach a syringe to. I can't remember exactly how I did this but it was so cumbersome that I finally lost interest in fixing more of those printers and just recycled them.

But as long as you're aware that the printer has limited life, then you should place the printer over a shallow pan that can collect the overflow ink that will eventually show up under your printer with no warning.

I want to apologize for promoting bad recommendations with regard to this subject for so many years. I have tried to clear the record in the past but apparently they have not become well known.
 

turbguy

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The idea to "close the printer cover and let the printer go through a cleaning cycle" is one that I promoted for years but it is not a correct method. The correct method is to manually command the printer to go through a cleaning cycle.

The reason why so many of us thought that merely closing the cover would automatically cause a cleaning cycle is because our printers had a defective purge system. Let me explain:

There are two holes underneath each of the purge pads. The one closer to the front of the printer goes to the peristaltic pump. This pump goes through a cycle under many different situations including closing the cover. Whenever the pump cycles, it works on both pads. There are not two separately actuated peristaltic pumps. However, the other hole goes to a solenoid actuated valve that allows air to be sucked through the purge pad system so that the printer can selectively purge just the pigment inks or the dye inks. If the printer is working correctly, those two valves are opened when you close the cover so that ink is not sucked out of the print head and down through the peristaltic pump and into the waste pads at the bottom of the printer.

So if you flood the two pads with cleaning fluid, close the cover, wait till the noise stops, reopen the cover and one or both of the two pads are completely dry, that usually means that there is dried ink in the tubing going to the solenoid valve for that pad. It appears that the printer is purposely going through a cleaning cycle but it shouldn't be. There may be a reduction in the fluid level but it shouldn't be completely dry. However, if you manually command the printer to go through a cleaning cycle for both types of ink, both pads should be completely devoid of cleaning fluid but they may be some ink deposits on them.

What does this mean? Fortunately, if one or both of the tubings to the solenoid valves gets clogged, the printer can still function correctly in that it will be able to purge, prime and clean the nozzles of the print head but it will waste ink and the printer will not keep track of this ink going into the waste ink "tank". Eventually, the "tank" will overflow and you will get ink coming out of the bottom of your printer before the printer warns you of the waste ink approaching 100%.

So what should be done?

First, don't rely on merely closing the cover to cause a purge cycle and don't advise others to do so. People who have a correctly working printer may think it is defective when it isn't. Instead, tell the printer to do a cleaning cycle. It's takes a lot longer but it won't result in people incorrectly diagnosing a problem with their printer when there isn't one.

Now I'm not sure if all printers work the same in that closing the cover does not result in an intended purge cycle. The only simple way to know for sure is to perform the test on a new printer to see if the fluid is completely drained away just by closing the cover.

Second, if it is determined that those solenoid valves should be open during closing the cover for your printer, then the test can be used to determine if there is a clog in those tubes. If there is, then you have to decide what to do about it. From my experience, it is very difficult to unclog dried ink from those tubes because most of the time the solenoid valves are closed making impossible to try to clean them by removing the purge pads and forcing cleaning fluid down the holes. The only way I succeeded in cleaning them was by dismantling the printer, detaching one end of the tubing and attaching a longer piece of tubing that I could attach a syringe to. I can't remember exactly how I did this but it was so cumbersome that I finally lost interest in fixing more of those printers and just recycled them.

But as long as you're aware that the printer has limited life, then you should place the printer over a shallow pan that can collect the overflow ink that will eventually show up under your printer with no warning.

I want to apologize for promoting bad recommendations with regard to this subject for so many years. I have tried to clear the record in the past but apparently they have not become well known.
I gotta think about this one...since the pads on my Canon printers actually DO dry upon closing and re-opening the cover.

Yes, there's only one pump assembly, and it is actually a dual pump (two separate pumps in one casing, that operate simultaneously). Canon manifolds the suctions together on single pad printers, it separates the suctions (one for each pad) on dual pad printers.

Since the solenoid valve allows air to enter the enclosed area (break the meager vacuum) at the parked print head, the pump STILL pulls fluids deposited on the "parking pad", and drys it off (at least removes the standing fluid). If the pad(s) stay wet, then SOMETHING is plugged. Either, the air inlet, or something on the pump side. Your observation just increases the parts "at possible cause".

Another scheme Canon can use is to prevent nozzle firings on the nozzles not selected in the driver for cleaning. That said, I've never been certain that the nozzles actually fire during cleaning...I've depended on the opinion of others.

Expanding the recommendation to command a full cleaning cycle is still valid, though...
 
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