Canon ix4000 is printing red instead of black

Christina Marriott · Jul 16, 2014

Hi , I am having problems with my Canon ix4000 the black is printing red , when I do a nozzle check . the black is seems fine , but then so does the cyan . This is also with word docs as well as photoshop prints. It never seems to use any black ink either , have I got settings wrong ?

Christina

Łukasz · Jul 16, 2014

Hi,

if You want to print black and wihite only on plain paper, please consider using "Grayscale Printing" option in printer driver.

There are some constrains in printer driver options, for example:
- using "Borderless Printing" option forces using CMY dye inks instead of sole Pigment Black even if "Grayscale Printing" option is selected
- selecting other media type than plain paper may result in printing black using CMY dye inks.

Ł.

Christina Marriott · Jul 16, 2014

Thank you very much for the help, out of habit it is always set to matt photo paper as that is what I use most , I will try it tomorrow

Christina

stratman · Jul 16, 2014

At first blush, this sounds like either a failure of the cartridge(s) causing leaking of Magenta into the Black ink inlet port on the print head OR a print head failure causing a breach of the Black nozzle channels from adjacent ink channels. I suppose it could also be a failure of the logic board assay. Replacing an ink cartridge is easy and inexpensive. Replacing a print head or logic board assay may be quite expensive.

1) Do you refill? If so, do you use OEM Canon cartridges or aftermarket cartridges? What method of refilling do you use? If top fill, are all plugs secure so as to prevent ink leaking?

2) Do you notice and ink on or around the print head and/or cartridges? This may signal cartridge leaking. You may try taking the cartridges out of the print head and looking around with a flashlight (torch?). If you want, take the print head out of the printer and inspect the print head and the printer. If you rinse the print head with water then make sure the electronics are bone dry before placing back into the printer or else risk of shorting out the electronics and needing a new print head and/or logic board.

3) You say the Black seems fine but then you write that you never seem to use any Black ink. Have you tried a new Black cartridge to see if this is a flow problem? (My suspicion is this is not an ink starvation issue but a contamination of Magenta based on you post)

4) Please post an image of a nozzle check that displays the problem.

The Hat · Jul 16, 2014

Christina Marriott said:
Thank you very much for the help, out of habit it is always set to matt photo paper as that is what I use most , I will try it tomorrow
Christina

Hi Christina,
It sounds like there’s a lot more going on in there that you can imagine, firstly you say your nozzle check is ok, but you also say that your text is not black either.

Can you post a nozzle check for us to examine and then we will be able to give you a much better idea on what’s going wrong on you, but please don’t print any more test prints or word documents till you can resolve this problem, only nozzle prints are acceptable at this time.

This is what your nozzle check print should look like..

click to enlarge.
Edit @stratman was a bit quicker than me at responding..

stratman · Jul 16, 2014

The Hat said:
Edit @stratman was a bit quicker than me at responding..

Only because I'm younger and prettier than you, uncle.

stratman · Jul 16, 2014

What Lukasz suggests is bypassing using the PGI-5 Pigment Black cartridge and instead using the Dye-based CLI-8 colors to make black. A great workaround but not necessarily good if you need sharper text that is also waterproof, especially since you sell your printed work. The Dye-based inks will bleed more on your paper and, being water soluble, will streak if water gets on the printed material or a highlighter is used. If it works for you then OK.

pharmacist · Jul 17, 2014

One moment: the ix4000 does not. have photo black, only pigment black.

Christina Marriott · Jul 17, 2014

Łukasz said:
Hi,

if You want to print black and wihite only on plain paper, please consider using "Grayscale Printing" option in printer driver.

There are some constrains in printer driver options, for example:

Łukasz said:

Hi,

if You want to print black and wihite only on plain paper, please consider using "Grayscale Printing" option in printer driver.

There are some constrains in printer driver options, for example:
- using "Borderless Printing" option forces using CMY dye inks instead of sole Pigment Black even if "Grayscale Printing" option is selected
- selecting other media type than plain paper may result in printing black using CMY dye inks.

Ł.

Click to expand...

Hi Lukasz
Thankyou for the adivce , I tried setting the paper on plain ,and as you said it must be using the black , it was perfect after a few sheets of printing !
After testing the matt photo setting it was still red print , so that is very usefull to know .
I was pretty busy all day , and didn't get around to trying again till just now .
tok out the cyan and it seemed to be fine , full of ink , but it still didn't work so tried another one . The ink was dripping out of it as it was unpacked and after a couple of cleans is working fine I can only think a dud cartridge , maybe no air getting in ?
thankyou again for the useful tips !

Christina

Łukasz · Jul 17, 2014

Unfortunately, pigment ink used in PGI-5 cartridge is intended for plain paper like media and is not suitable for better matte photo papers.

It is an fix to allow photographic quality grayscale prints from partially clogged printhead. May be considered quite awkward.

Here's a hint

Ł.

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