Blurry/Wavy PGBK

microrb

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Hi all!

Having a few issues today with the PGBK on my MG5550. It's used relatively frequently and is left on, and has only had photos printed lately. It's approximately 2 1/2 - 3 years old.

I attempted to print a shipping label and noticed the text was doubled - attached is the nozzle check. This check is AFTER a couple of deep cleans, normal cleans, and cleaning the print head in IPA / flushing with water from the tap. It is unchanged from the original nozzle check. The manual print head alignment page has no solid black blocks, they all have the same sawtoothish like appearance.

The cartridges are refillables (and auto-reset, except for the yellow which refuses to reset itself), and have never let them run dry. I previously had an issue with print quality which a head clean fixed.

The sponge and port on the PGBK cartridge is working well and if you remove the bung from the cartridge ink will drip slowly from it.

I have just power-flushed the print head with water hose, and it is now sitting on some towel with IPA to dry off fully.

Any other suggestions? The printer otherwise works well, and is (even if I have to pay £30ish for a new print head) very economical on the ink front being able to be refilled. I've only paid £40 oem cartridges +£25 (refillable carts and 500ml ink) for ink in the last 3 years.

Cheers guys!
 

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PeterBJ

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The error is the same as with the MG6350 in your other thread, and no amount of cleaning can correct the error. One theory is that the error is caused by a third party ink with wrong cooling properties. Maybe the print heads of the PGI-x50/CLI-x51 and PGI-x70/CLI-x71 cartridge generations are more fragile than older print heads? A similar error is often seen in the dye black.

A regular dealer of Canon spare parts like CRC Tasktron UK demands around 50£ and 60£ for the print heads for the MG5550 and for the MG6350.

A price much lower than that is suspect. Beware of Ebay offers from the Far East. The print heads claimed to be new OEM are often used and defective print heads that have been cleaned externally to look like new and repackaged in counterfeit plastic/aluminium bags and cardboard boxes.

Some aftermarket ink cartridges have a label design that is close to that of Canon OEM cartridges, but look for the word "Canon" to determine if an ink cartridge is genuine Canon. This applies to the MG6350 that has been used with possibly aftermarket cartridges.

If you buy a new print head for one or both printers, I suggest to also buy a resetter and if necessary empty OEM cartridges, I have tested a set of refilled cartridges in an MG5550. I have experienced both ink starvation and ink leakage. The ARC chips came out of sync, showing more ink in the cartridge than there actually was, so periodic checking and occasional topping up the cartridges was necessary. The OEM XL cartridges and a resetter is much better for refilling. See this from Octoinkjet UK, they have sold refillable cartridges with ARC chips before, but now recommend the use of empty OEM cartridges and a resetter.
 

microrb

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The error is the same as with the MG6350 in your other thread,
and no amount of cleaning can correct the error. One theory is that the error is caused by a third party ink with wrong cooling properties. Maybe the print heads of the PGI-x50/CLI-x51 and PGI-x70/CLI-x71 cartridge generations are more fragile than older print heads? A similar error is often seen in the dye black.

A regular dealer of Canon spare parts like CRC Tasktron UK demands around 50£ and 60£ for the print heads for the MG5550 and for the MG6350.

A price much lower than that is suspect. Beware of Ebay offers from the Far East. The print heads claimed to be new OEM are often used and defective print heads that have been cleaned externally to look like new and repackaged in counterfeit plastic/aluminium bags and cardboard boxes.

Some aftermarket ink cartridges have a label design that is close to that of Canon OEM cartridges, but look for the word "Canon" to determine if an ink cartridge is genuine Canon. This applies to the MG6350 that has been used with possibly aftermarket cartridges.

If you buy a new print head for one or both printers, I suggest to also buy a resetter and if necessary empty OEM cartridges, I have tested a set of refilled cartridges in an MG5550. I have experienced both ink starvation and ink leakage. The ARC chips came out of sync, showing more ink in the cartridge than there actually was, so periodic checking and occasional topping up the cartridges was necessary. The OEM XL cartridges and a resetter is much better for refilling. See this from Octoinkjet UK, they have sold refillable cartridges with ARC chips before, but now recommend the use of empty OEM cartridges and a resetter.

The cartridges have never run empty - I check them every time i come home and the sponge has always been wet, and the prints have never faded from normal. Looking at the price of the printers, in some cases it is cheaper to buy a new printer than a print head - bizarre!

We will continue to use the printer with paper type set to "Glossy" which is using the Photo black print head and when the ink runs out, or the printer dies, we will invest in another.

My other thread - I haven't got another thread - I think that chap had the same problem and posted about 30 minutes after me!
 

The Hat

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@microrb, This is a common complaint with these compatibles, you need to constantly top up the carts and don’t let the ink reservoir empty completely, disregard how much ink is still left in the sponge side.

It is recommended to purge the ink out of these carts after you have refilled them 5 or 6 times only, this is to bring them back to look and preform like new and it helps them to keep a constant supply of fresh ink to the print head...

These desktop printers will last for ages if used with OEM ink only, but once you switch to 3rd party inks their life expectancy is reduced considerably, the more durable bigger printers can use 3rd party ink without having issues normally...

P.S. A nozzle check at least once a week is essential to keep the print head in good condition...;)
 

microrb

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@microrb, This is a common complaint with these compatibles, you need to constantly top up the carts and don’t let the ink reservoir empty completely, disregard how much ink is still left in the sponge side.

It is recommended to purge the ink out of these carts after you have refilled them 5 or 6 times only, this is to bring them back to look and preform like new and it helps them to keep a constant supply of fresh ink to the print head...

These desktop printers will last for ages if used with OEM ink only, but once you switch to 3rd party inks their life expectancy is reduced considerably, the more durable bigger printers can use 3rd party ink without having issues normally...

P.S. A nozzle check at least once a week is essential to keep the print head in good condition...;)

Having done some research - there are printers that use Piezo heads rather than heating the ink, would these be more suitable for refilling and less succeptable to lower quality inks?

The printer gets uses probably once or twice a week, but some weeks can be used a lot more, and some a lot less. Have also considered using printers that have the heads in the cartridge - but the cartridges seem to be a lot more expensive as a result (even remaufacturered ones).
 
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