A dedicated photograph printer?

[stratman]

I think that the Canon's print head is beyond help and is clogged from lack of use

We cannot make that determination yet, though you may be correct. Canon print heads require liquid (ink) to keep cool during printing, otherwise they may burnout nozzles and you will have streaks of no ink on the printed paper. Ink clogs from dye-based inks (water-based) can be unclogged using a liquid such as ink itself or water or mixtures of different solvents and lots of patience. Until you provide more information we cannot know or advise further. Post a nozzle check. If you need instructions on obtaining a nozzle check or posting in the thread then ask. Someone will help.

Concerning regularly printing something to keep from clogs... it isn't difficult or time consuming. All you need to do is print something that uses ink from all the ink cartridges, such as a nozzle check, once every week. I have gone longer than a week, but the general recommendation on the forum is once a week. Printing a nozzle check takes seconds once the printer is booted up and can provide early warning of a problem as well as help diagnosing the cause of a problem.

 

[martin0reg]

The IP6000 is too old to buy a new printhead.
It costs as much as a new printer...

Sometimes there are cheap ones..just found ebay item 290970189081
"refurbished" ip6000 printhead for 20 euro .. might be not as good as new, no guarantee .. but I have bought several heads from there for older canon's and they seem to work..

REMARK: There are PH's offered (on ebay mostly from hongkong or USA) as "new" - but probably ALL PH's for older printer models are refurbished, NOT new!
My qy6-0049 was in a sealed bag but without serial number on the bag. Original PH have this on top left of the bag (should be the same as on the PH itself)
So it's on your own risk - but some PH are out of production and simply not available or much too expennsive..

 

[PeterBJ]

The iP6000 is a dedicated photo printer using the transparent, unchipped and decent capacity BCI-6 cartridges, that are easily refillable. The printer is also a higher build quality than the new Canon printers for home use, so I think it would be a pity to discard it without first trying to clean the print head. Even if the print head seems to be hopelessly clogged, you might be lucky and save it. Here is a such success story.

Instead of pharmacists cleaning solution, you can also use a window cleaner with ammonia. If you are located in the USA then the window cleaner recommended for print head cleaning is the "Original formula Windex with Ammonia-D"

 

[BML]

I did a nozzle check which was a pretty awful sight and uploaded it now to try and see what a replacement printing head is.

 

[BML]

Right, its time for a review of all the suggestions which I think come down to the following:

1. The Canon iP6000D is fundamentally an effective colour printer.
2. It is possible to buy a replacement obviously not the same model but of that type.
3. The print head was probably wrecked by lack of regular use.
4. It is possible to clean the print head by washing it.
5. It is possible to buy a replacement print head on EBay for £15.00
Conclusion. Unless otherwise advised not to I will first try cleaning the print head and if that does not work I will buy the EBay replacement one.
I have one confession and that is I have used none Canon ink so could someone tell me if that could have messed the print head up as the manufacturers claim?

Many thanks to everyone who has offered advice. It has been a pleasure to open the Emails.

 

[martin0reg]

Print head failures are mostly due to any kind of bad ink flow inside the PH (and printing with stripes burns the nozzles of canon PH's) ... which can be the result of
- defective cartridges with no air exchange (or forgotten tapes) - no printing for a long time - bad sealing of the ph on the parking station / purge pad - and whatever more...including poor quality ink..

 

[The Hat]

Try soaking the head in 2” of warm water with a bit of Fairy washing up liquid in it for a couple of day, then dry it off in a warm place and see if it has improved the nozzle print any.

First run a deep head clean before doing the nozzle print..

 

[martin0reg]

...
5. It is possible to buy a replacement print head on EBay for £15.00
...if that does not work I will buy the EBay replacement one.
...

In addition to posting #11:
There are PH's offered (on ebay mostly from hongkong or USA) as "new" - but probably ALL PH's for older printer models are refurbished, NOT new!
My qy6-0049 was in a sealed bag but without serial number on the bag. Original PH have this on top left of the bag (should be the same as on the PH itself)
So it's on your own risk - but some PH are out of production and simply not available or much too expennsive..