Canon i9900 - Banding on first .25" of a print

[muzicman82]

Hello all,

I have a Canon i9900. It's fabulous.

Recently, when I print, the first 1/4" of every print has banding.. After that first 1/4", the print is flawless. It is also consistent over 50-100 prints. I'm thinking the printhead is going out? I've cleaned the printhead with Windex as well as compressed air. The nozzle check prints perfectly.

I use Weink.com inks.

Any suggestions would be great!

 

[lolopr1]

Hello all,

I have a Canon i9900. It's fabulous.

Recently, when I print, the first 1/4" of every print has banding.. After that first 1/4", the print is flawless. It is also consistent over 50-100 prints. I'm thinking the printhead is going out? I've cleaned the printhead with Windex as well as compressed air. The nozzle check prints perfectly.

I use Weink.com inks.

Any suggestions would be great!

Do you check the TIMING SLIT STRIP (FILM) maybe is dirty with ink.

 

[fotofreek]

Are you sure it is the first 1/4 inch? What size print are you doing and is it borderless? I have had the last 1/4 inch banding with borderless prints on my i960 printer and have read about this problem on the Canon support section of their web site. They claimed that it was due to a slight curvature in the paper and suggested pulling each piece of paper over the edge of a table to reverse the curve. I solved the problem by always storing my photo paper flat and not leaving it in the feed area of the printer.

Someone posted about this on an i9900 some time ago - it may have been Grandad35. Whoever reported on this issue felt that it had to do with the feed mechanism not holding the paper as well for the last quarter inch of printing. This would only be a problem on borderless prints. I believe that the solution was to put something on the output tray that would support the paper as it comes out of the printer. I don't have an i9900, but the i960 output tray is much lower than the slot where the print exits the printer. The weight of the paper could very well cause undue pressure on the feed mechanism when the paper is nearly all out of the printer, and the last increment of the print would be done with the paper less secure in the feed mechanism. Worth a try. Let us know how it works out.

 

[muzicman82]

It's definitely the first 1/4" of the page. It's currently happening on borderless 4x6" prints, but last week I had about 300 pages to print of 8.5x11", and it did it on that too. On those sheets, the print didn't start until about 1" from the leading edge of the sheet, and it seemed like the first couple passes were missing a color or something.

I've always used Red River papers, and they come flat as can be. No curling whatsoever.

And yes, I did clean the timing strip.

Maybe it's time for a complete disassembly for a complete cleaning?

Anyone know where the cheapest place is for a new printhead. Unfortunately, I'm a few months out of my 1 year warranty.

 

[Grandad35]

What does the nozzle check show? Can you post a scan of an example? You might have to adjust the contrast in the scanner's software to make if more visible.

Is the first 1/4" missing all colors, or only one? Can you post a high resolution scan of the first 1" of a print?

Does it also take 1/4" for an 8x10 to clear up?

Does a second print made immediately after the first show the same effect?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Another question, first see this link:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=9079#p9079

Does the printer behave this way no matter what print mode you select, ie, uni- versus bi-directional, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4- or 8-pass, plain or photo paper?

 

[Tin Ho]

I have seen an i960 did something similar. There was one color channel starving from ink feed. This can be an early sign of problem with ink or ink cartridge. If you have a set of OEM carts on hand you should swap them in and use them for a few days to see if that tells you anything.

 

[fotofreek]

I bought a printhead for my i960 from www.inkcessories.com/ . Decent price, fast service, factory sealed new unit. Some people have found the printhead they need on ebay from this same vendor at a better price than from thier web store.