ip4200 no color printing

Hi All!

I have a Canon Pixma ip4200 from 2006 that refuses to print colors. I can get black from the PGBK5 cartridge, but nothing from the CMYK 8 cartridges. This includes no color printing on the nozzle check test print and none on the Service test print.

The color inks all stopped printing at the same time. I used service mode to reset the Waste Ink Counter just in case that would help, but no dice. I am using new Canon cartridges that have not been refilled.

The printer throws an error 2500 when I attempt automatic print head alignment. the EEPROM information print telsl me the printer has printed not quite 6,000 pages total. Ink head temperatures are scarcely higher than environmental.

Give that none of the color inks are printing, print head clogging seems an unlikely diagnosis. Is this a logic board problem or a purge unit problem, perhaps?

I have not, at this point, attempted any disassembly of the printer.

Thanks for any help.

Greg
Town Creek, NC

I would start with testing the purge unit for operation... see this post.

http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/pgbk-doesnt-print.9121/#post-71451

Report back your findings.

Canon iP4200:
Flash 11 times

2500 Error code
automatically align the print head Press Resume / Cancel to cancel the automatic alignment This error occurs when the printed sample, no picture or sensor AD (located on the carriage) does not "see" this picture.

You can also use search
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/canon-pixma-ip4200-alternate-flash-11-times.7611/page-4

Hi guys!

Thanks for the advice. I believe my purge unit is not draining -- at least not the skinnier pad of the two, which would be the one for the color inks, as I understand it. Best approach for unblocking the problem? Appears the area below the ceramic pad has two holes in it.

Thanks!

Greg

Here are the pads and the gasket holding them. The long rectangular pad is for pigment black and the almost quadratic pad is for the dye inks. Note that one corner is cut off from the pads. The pads have a flat and polished side and a more rounded side. This is to make sure the proper flat and polished surface is towards the print head. By placing the cut off corners at the "upper left" corners in the gasket the pads are properly positioned.



Sadly the total lack of colours could also mean that the print head or the logic board has suffered an electronic damage.

You find a service manual for the iP4200 here. Have patience, the manual is slow to load. The error 2500 means that automatic print head alignment cannot be performed, with the most likely cause that some inks are not being printed.

To test if the missing colours are caused by a clogged print head/ failing purge unit or an electronic damage, you could run a print head cleaning and remove the print head and press the bottom of the print head against a soft paper handkerchief. If no colours show in this "stamp test" the problem is a clog/purge unit problem. If colours are present the cause is most likely an electronic damage.

Greg Hankins said:

Hi guys!

Thanks for the advice. I believe my purge unit is not draining -- at least not the skinnier pad of the two, which would be the one for the color inks, as I understand it. Best approach for unblocking the problem? Appears the area below the ceramic pad has two holes in it.

Thanks!

Greg

Click to expand...

What exactly did you do to come to this conclusion? If your dye ink colors are not working, then it should be the other pad that is not working.

I added a post #9 explaining what those two holes are for in the thread linked to in post #2 of this thread:

http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/pgbk-doesnt-print.9121/#post-78042

Thank, Peter!

The service manual doesn't seem to provide any instructions about removing the printhead, which I'd like to do in order to do a stamp test. Can you provide some tips on printhead removal?

I misunderstood which purge pad was for which nozzle. So are you will try the purge system test recommended by turbguy and report back.

Thanks!

Greg

To remove the print head:

1. With the printer turned on, open the lid as if you would change a cartridge. and wait for the print head to stop at the centre.
2. Pull the power cord without first turning the printer off.
3. Remove the cartridges.
4. Open the print head locking lever and remove the print head.

Installing the print head is the "reverse" procedure.

If all the colors (or all the textblack) are missing completely all of sudden,
AND the stamp test looks okay, which means the PH is not clogged,
then it is most likely an electronic failure of the PH than a defective purging unit IMO...

If the stamp test shows NO ink, which means the PH is clogged,
then it could be due to the purging unit ... but IMO a non working purging unit results rather in clogging over time or in cross contamination than in a suddenly blocked printhead...

So I am curious to hear what is going on...

Greg Hankins said:

I have a Canon Pixma ip4200 from 2006 that refuses to print colors. I can get black from the PGBK5 cartridge, but nothing from the CMYK 8 cartridges. This includes no color printing on the nozzle check test print and none on the Service test print.

I am using new Canon cartridges that have not been refilled.

The color inks all stopped printing at the same time.

Click to expand...

A little more information may get you an answer quicker. Please describe if the loss of color printing was all of a sudden or did it disappear over time? How long was it between when all the colors were printing and when they were not? Have you done anything to resolve this issue?

A sudden loss of all colors at the same time would point to a print head and/or logic board assay failure. In this situation, a new print head may resolve the issue. However, if the logic board assay is malfunctioning then it might ruin the new print head.

A purge pad/pump failure would occur more gradually - unless you let the printer sit for a long time without printing, which, in this case would falsely appear as if the color loss was all of a sudden. Check the purge system as suggested in the previous posts.

It could be the electrical contacts on the print head and/or printer are fouled. You can try a lint free cloth and Isopropyl alcohol or a soft pencil eraser to clean the contacts.