Confused about nozzle checks

Hello dear memebrs.
After about 3 years i opened up my mp 540,reconnected the disconnected pgbk pipe and started testing nozzles.as you guessed,there were some clogged nozzles after these years,so i took the head under direct water pressure and waited a night to reinstall.the results were good except for my photo black color which seemes to be worse.
I also made the mistake of mixing dye black into pigment cartrdige.

As you see my photo black is like having strips.is it dangerous and can burn out my nozzles?
What do you suggest me do?
Should i re rinse it or use amonia based glass cleaner or alcohol?
My pgbk has one or two clogged nozzles.is it the result of mixing it with dye based color?can it burn out the nozzles?
What should i do about it?
Thank you all

I am unable to tell what is happening based on the small images you uploaded. Please crop the image so that only the nozzle check portion is showing. That way we can see a large version of the image.

sx57 said:

reconnected the disconnected pgbk pipe and started testing nozzles.

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What does this mean about the pgbk "pipe"?

sx57 said:

I also made the mistake of mixing dye black into pigment cartrdige.

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This should not hurt the print head unless there is a chemical reaction between the two different types of ink. Usually, mixing dye-based ink with pigment based ink results in less waterproofing and diminished intensity of the color.

sx57 said:

Should i re rinse it or use amonia based glass cleaner or alcohol?

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Good question that has as many answers as their are people giving their opinion. If print head flushing does not work (see this and this), typically we hear that alcohol alone, such as isopropyl, is not as effective as an ammonia-based glass cleaner alone which may not be as effective as a liquid dishwashing soap such as Dawn or Fairy alone. Some swear the efficacy of mixtures such as Pharmacist's Solution or adding ammonia to liquid dishwashing soap.

For now, do not print anything except a nozzle check as anything else risks burning out nozzles permanently. Post the larger cropped images of your nozzle check so we can help you better.

thank you for helping me.sorry for late response .it was about 2 am and went to sleep.
<q>What does this mean about the pgbk "pipe"?</q>
i meant the pipe related to purging system was out and i had no pigment black.so i reconnected it.
i re uploaded as requested my friend.
i have uploaded two scans.one of them is two time printed in the same page and location,as you see the photo black overlapping seems to be composed of two sections.is it normal?
what about the stripes?
my pigment black have a few clogs too.

All in all, the nozzle check does not look too bad for a printer / print head left alone for years.

sx57 said:

i meant the pipe related to purging system was out and i had no pigment black.so i reconnected it.

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I still do not understand what you mean by "pipe" or "reconnected"? Do you mean some tubing related to the purge system was disconnected? Where and how did that happen?

If the pruge system does not work properly then the print head can develop clogs from stagnant ink. You can test your purge system easily with some water, Windex or alcohol as per @turbguy 's instructions.

sx57 said:

i have uploaded two scans.one of them is two time printed in the same page and location

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The overlapping is of no help. Nozzle checks should be printed once on an area of the paper and never overlapped on either side of the page of paper. We are trying to see detail as well as general printing output.

The Pigment Black (PGBK) appears to have 3 problem nozzles. This may or may not be an issue when printing with that cartridge. You will be the judge of acceptable output, eg if there are missing portions of alphanumeric characters in a document. There is a workaround to avoid using the PGBK cartridge but that may not be an issue for you yet.

There appear to be some fine white horizontal lines in the greyish colored vertical bars for the dye-based inks in the nozzle checks. This may represent either lack of ink or be an artifact of scanning and converting the image to a JPG. Do you see this fine white striations? If so, then it is possible they will go away with usage and further nozzle checks. A cleaning or deep cleaning may remove them. A soaking of the print head in liquid dish washing soap may also do the trick -- the key is PATIENCE! - letting the print head soak for several days or even a week or two as the link from @The Hat I provided above states.

All of this could represent permanent malfunction, though I wouldn't give up hope yet. May of us have had similar issues and they have resolved. Try soaking the print head in Fairy/Dawn or equivalent soap in your country. Do not print anything but nozzle checks until we see what happens. Even if this represents irreversible damage, the degree of malfunction may be slight enough to not render your printed output undesirable. Time will tell.

Last thing, and this may be critical, you did not tell us about the cartridges you are using. Are they old, new, OEM Canon, aftermarket brand, refilled???? Please detail this information.

If the pruge system does not work properly then the print head can develop clogs from stagnant ink. You can test your purge system easily with some water, Windex or alcohol as per @turbguy 's instructions.

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i have solved the problem of purging system.

The Pigment Black (PGBK) appears to have 3 problem nozzles. This may or may not be an issue when printing with that cartridge. You will be the judge of acceptable output, eg if there are missing portions of alphanumeric characters in a document. There is a workaround to avoid using the PGBK cartridge but that may not be an issue for you yet.

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quality is good but what abut the nozzles safety?won't it burn?

There appear to be some fine white horizontal lines in the greyish colored vertical bars for the dye-based inks in the nozzle checks. This may represent either lack of ink or be an artifact of scanning and converting the image to a JPG. Do you see this fine white striations? If so, then it is possible they will go away with usage and further nozzle checks. A cleaning or deep cleaning may remove them. A soaking of the print head in liquid dish washing soap may also do the trick -- the key is PATIENCE! - letting the print head soak for several days or even a week or two as the link from @The Hat I provided above states.

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yeah the photo black has those white lines that makes me worry about burning nozzles.
it printed fine before washing the head.after washing the head,other colors had some of these white lines but the lines went away after a few cleanings and deep cleaning and then leaving the printer for a day or two with cartridges fully charged.only the the photo black which appears grayish in the test has this problem(even after more cleanings).my cartridges are original canon but from about 3 years ago (in the printer unused)and are refilled with wox brand inks.
i believe the photo black cartridge itself must be healthy because it didn't have the white lines before washing the head.the pigment was fine two before that and my mistake of mixing the colors.i completely agree with you about patience and hope.i just am worried that i may damage my nozzles,otherwise printer's print quality is good.


by the way i read somewhere that after forcing the printer to ignore the ink amount instead of RESETTING the chip sets,it will waste ink.is it true?

sx57 said:

quality is good but what abut the nozzles safety?won't it burn?

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There is always this risk and is why I recommended to soak the print head some more and only print nozzle checks for now. Three missing nozzles in the PGBK test may not cause any altered perception in printed text. The only way to know is to print a small amount of text and look.

sx57 said:

my cartridges are original canon but from about 3 years ago (in the printer unused)and are refilled with wox brand inks.

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I would have flushed the cartridges before refilling or gotten new OEM Canon cartridges. Three years sitting around may allow fungal elements to inhabit. Plus, the functioning of the sponges may become altered and lead to ink starvation regardless of any contaminants.

Like I said in my last post, the striations and missing nozzles may go away with use, remain, or get worse. Soaking in Fairy/Dawn liquid dish soap for an extended period of time may resolve the issue. Or you can try any other method that seems reasonable to you. Refilling and problem solving often allow for individuality.

sx57 said:

by the way i read somewhere that after forcing the printer to ignore the ink amount instead of RESETTING the chip sets,it will waste ink.is it true?

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That is what some members have written. It is also written that the issue may resolve itself after ink level monitoring is restored with either new cartridges or refilled cartridges after the chips are reset. The experience is variable and may depend on the printer/cartridge type and the member's perception.

Thank man.yor helped very much.now i know what i have to do.thank you very much.i will report the results if i succeed.

edit:

Dear stratman can you kindly help me with this also?

I searched for ink starvation and fond a test file called colorcard.pdf.

I printed using matt photo to force printer into using photo black.

As you see there is no sign of those white stripes seen in the nozzle check patter>

Does it mean there is no clogs or ink starvation?

Shouldn’t those stripe appear here also?

I had to decrease resolution to upload the image .if you need full resolution I can email you .there were some small dots that seem to disappear in low resolution. maybe paper related?

sx57 said:

I had to decrease resolution to upload the image

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The small size of the image makes it less useful for discerning fine detail.

I have had those small striations in the vertical black bars in a nozzle checks. They did not necessarily show up in image print outs. I tried 2 cleanings and one deep cleaning initially still had some striations. Over a period of time (20 days), the striations resolved as the printer sat unused for the last 15 days which points to a clog that dissolved or improved ink flow through the sponge. Unfortunately, there are different results for different people. The phrase "Your Mileage May Vary" has never been more true.

Keep your course steady and try the print head soaking and consider new cartridges or flushing the old ones. Use printer initiated cleanings sparingly, especially the deep cleaning, if at all. Patience and good fortune.

(management) has asked me to recommend you thoroughly let dry the print head before putting it back in the printer. A wet print head may cause an electrical short and fry the print head resulting in an expensive paper weight.

Sage advice from the parsley-colored one.

Dear stratman,i am very thankful.you helped me a lot.it was very positive.i will be patient and heed your advice.thanks bro.