alternative Pro9000II head cleaning

[jjohnl]

After getting my printhead to a state where it seems to work okay, I find there's still a very faint white line in the black block when I print a nozzle check. Rather than doing a bunch of head cleanings that waste other colors, I thought I'd just print some sheets of black ink. When you put a drop of the black ink in water, it appears to actually be very dark purple, but I assume it still contains more black than whatever other colors are in it. Does anyone know what colors Canon actually uses to print "black"?

 

[jtoolman]

Glad you posted your question here as I suggested.
The purplish shade of the black is actually what most if not all black dye inks look like when diluted in water.

The guys here should lead you to the correct way to clear that little missing nozzle on the black channel. No guarantees though.

Joe

 

[jjohnl]

FIXED!
Although I did have head problems, with several other colors having white bands in the head check, it turns out the faint white line in the black block was a bad cart.
Last night I started to print some text on plain paper, which I haven't done before with this printer. I noticed that the first couple inches of the page were good, then the white lines started and got worse the further down the page it printed. It seemed like ink starvation, even though I knew the cart had plenty of ink. So I filled up a different black cart and voila! Perfect text. Did a head check and, again, perfect.
I spent so much time trying to fix the problem with the black by cleaning the head because I knew that was the problem with the other colors. It never occurred to me until last night that the cart could be the problem.

 

[The Hat]

99% of all poor print output from a Canon printer is usually down to the cartridges not providing enough ink to give good coverage and only 1% is caused by the print head.

There are many reasons why you get poor ink flow (Ink starvation) the main ones can be due to the quality of inks used and the method you use to refill and maintaining the cartridges.

At the very first sign of poor output you should investigate all of the cartridges and not just the one you think is having the problem, often it’s not what or where you think the problem is, you should avoid the temptation of removing the print head and making your problems bigger.

The most important thing of all is to remember not to continue to print while there is clear evidence of poor output and use the nozzle check as your only guide till the problem has been rectified completely.

When you think you have the situation under control and resolved then run a couple of sheets with one inch colour strips on them to check for proper ink flow, BUT if there is any signs that the original issue still exists then STOP the printer immediately by pressing the Resume button, reinvestigate the whole problem again.

So ends the lesson..

 

[Roy Sletcher]

99% of all poor print output from a Canon printer is usually down to the cartridges not providing enough ink to give good coverage and only 1% is caused by the print head.

There are many reasons why you get poor ink flow (Ink starvation) the main ones can be due to the quality of inks used and the method you use to refill and maintaining the cartridges.

At the very first sign of poor output you should investigate all of the cartridges and not just the one you think is having the problem, often it’s not what or where you think the problem is, you should avoid the temptation of removing the print head and making your problems bigger.

The most important thing of all is to remember not to continue to print while there is clear evidence of poor output and use the nozzle check as your only guide till the problem has been rectified completely.

When you think you have the situation under control and resolved then run a couple of sheets with one inch colour strips on them to check for proper ink flow, BUT if there is any signs that the original issue still exists then STOP the printer immediately by pressing the Resume button, reinvestigate the whole problem again.

So ends the lesson..

AMEN, and pass the Windex.

The above coincides with my own real life experiences. Except I fried a print head as part of the learning curve.

Expensive lesson. Now I dream about nozzle checks in sRGB, or is it aRGB, or even Prophoto.

AAAAAGH - here we go again!!!

 

[rodbam]

My problems seem to be mostly in the 1%.

 

[The Hat]

@rodbam can I ask:- How can your problem be in the 1% category when it is clearly in the 99% ?
The print head in the 9500 just doesn’t clog !

 

[rodbam]

I meant my 9500 problem was bad ink (just reread your post so this is in the 99%) & my two 9000 problems have been the print head.The 9000 head has been cleaned out 3 times with no success & after reading about your week long soak bringing back a head I'm now into the 5th day of soaking mine. I had it in Fairy liquid for 3 days & have now replaced that with Windex which will sit for another 3 days.
The reason I didn't carry on with the Fairy liquid was after seeing a link here where a bloke tested what liquid will dissolve dry ink so I tried it on an 2 week old print, the Fairy liquid didn't dissolve any ink but the Windex & Isopropyl alcohol did. I soaked the head in Isopropyl for a couple of hours & now it's in the Windex.
If this doesn't unclog the light magenta then it's a new head. I have tried two different carts so it doesn't seem like a feed problem.

 

[Roy Sletcher]

I meant my 9500 problem was bad ink (just reread your post so this is in the 99%) & my two 9000 problems have been the print head.The 9000 head has been cleaned out 3 times with no success & after reading about your week long soak bringing back a head I'm now into the 5th day of soaking mine. I had it in Fairy liquid for 3 days & have now replaced that with Windex which will sit for another 3 days.
The reason I didn't carry on with the Fairy liquid was after seeing a link here where a bloke tested what liquid will dissolve dry ink so I tried it on an 2 week old print, the Fairy liquid didn't dissolve any ink but the Windex & Isopropyl alcohol did. I soaked the head in Isopropyl for a couple of hours & now it's in the Windex.
If this doesn't unclog the light magenta then it's a new head. I have tried two different carts so it doesn't seem like a feed problem.

HI Rod,

I guess Australia is like Canada. No sweet deals for replacing your 9000 with a brand new Pro-100 cheaper than the cost of a 9000 print head.

Although technically the deals do not exist in Canada, it is just a matter of driving to the border (40 minutes for me, less than two hours for most Canadians) and get the cheap deals. At the same time fill up with some of the cheaper US gas, the saving pays for the trip. Enjoy a leisurely lunch beside the St Lawrence river and back in Ottawa for afternoon tea.

How on earth did I ever have time for work before retirement!. Life is sweet. Print more - enjoy it more.

Roy

 

[rodbam]

Gday Roy
I was in the shop the other day picking up a PGI9 magenta cart & I had a look at the pro 100, $750 & pro 10, $900. Geez I wish we had a border to drive over