Canon i455 probable blocked black print head

[RoyThomas]

Hi All,
I've just got from a relative a Canon i455 inkjet printer that appears to have the black print-head blocked. The colour works perfectly.

I've tried all the obvious cleaning of the print head and then re-tested but still have no black print at all.

I then soaked the print head output nozzles in cartridge cleaning fluid overnight and this resulted in some streaky black print that looked like it was mostly cartridge cleaning fluid. The longer I tested it the less it was printing. Therefore I assume that the ink is not getting through from the cartridge to the print-head, but that the print-head is still working.

I have read on this forum some ways of clearing a print head blockage (if I am right that this is the cause of the problem) I am currently trying to clear it leaving a pool of cartridge flush at the base of the cartridge well in the hope that this will dislodge any blockage between the cartridge and print-head.

Any other suggestions would be most welcome.

Many thanks,
Roy

 

[Nifty]

Roy,

Have you tried using a new black ink cartridge? This sound like it may be an ink supply issue and not a nozzle issue. If a new cartridge doesn't help then try the other techniques listed here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=63

If you still don't get anything then you could use some more drastic methods to clear out the head by using a syringe to pull or push cleaning solution through the inlet and nozzles of the cartridge.

Keep us posted!

 

[RoyThomas]

Thanks for your help. Its definitely not the ink cartridge as I've tried a couple of them that work on my other Canon printer (S200).

I'll see if pushing the cleaning fluid through the inlet hole works.

Its interesting that the only black printing I've got so far was after the print head nozzles where soaked - I suspect that old ink mixed with cleaning fluid that had found its way into the head was the "ink" being printed. It quickly stopped printing again after 2 pages.

The cost of a new print head for this model in the UK is well over 50 UK pounds (I see that the price in the US is around $55).

Thanks again for your help - I'll keep you posted.
The site is excellent!
Regards, Roy

 

[RoyThomas]

I've now purged the black part of the print head using cartridge flush drawn upwards from the nozzles and out from the inlet hole. After several goes (producing jet black cartridge flush) and retesting the head now prints black again!
But it appears not to be able to get enough ink to the head to print large blocks of black. After printing some black text halfway down the page it goes streaky - although the nozzle test pattern is almost OK.... I've heard of this problem before somewhere on this site but not sure where.
Thanks again for a great site!
Regards, Roy

 

[Nifty]

Great progress... there may be hope after all. Your newer problem sure sound like an ink delivery issue. If it isn't in the cartridge, and the nozzles seem to be firing properly then my guess is that it has to be somewhere in-between the two.

I had some nozzles under my BCI-6bk cart that were really particular about the ink that I used. If it wasn't really good / clean ink then then I'd start getting results similar to yours.

Keep trying and let us know what does and doesn't work.

 

[RoyThomas]

Strangely enough the problem with the ink going patchy does not occur when high quality output is selected I havent tried a genuine Canon cartridge yet (its using a new compatible think cartridge) and wonder if this might solve the problem as it could be an ink quality issue.

Windex (ammonia version) or other window cleaner like it does not appear to be available in the UK. Scanning the supermarket shelves I couldnt find any cleaning product that contained ammonia. Does anyone know of a product in the UK that would do instead of Windex? Windolene spray has been suggested but Im not sure that this has an ammonia version.

Thanks again for the help.
Roy

 

[Nifty]

My guess: From what I was told by alotofthings, these printers take twice as many passes during high quality setting and only drop ink on one pass. I was also told that they drop less ink. In theory, if you are having an ink feed problem then these two items could explain why enough ink is getting to the nozzles during slower printing and not during faster printing.