Canon ip5000 won't stay on

[PeterBJ]

Are the two first photos the nozzle check made when receiving the printer, and the third photo the nozzle check after reinstalling the original print head? If so, it looks to me like no further damage was done by the print head swapping.

It looks to me like the pigment black is not damaged electronically, but is severely clogged. The magenta and light magenta seems totally missing. This could be caused by clogging in the magenta and light magenta nozzles or the ink channels for magenta ink in the upper part of the print head. I think that the missing magenta could also be caused by an electronic failure in the print head.

In case of an electronic print head failure, only a new print head might help. A failed print head can damage the logic board, and a logic board that has been damaged this way can damage a new print head, so replacing a failed Canon print head is a gamble and I cannot tell the odds for success.

Here is a service manual covering both iP4000 and iP5000, and here is a zip archive with a service manual for iP4000 and a parts catalog for iP5000 plus a couple more documents. See this instruction before download.

See page 1-20 in the iP4000/5000 service manual for preparing a printer for transportation. It is seen that the cartridges should be left in place as stated by turbguy in post #9

 

[jbclem]

These photos were taken of the nozzle test done after I had reinstalled the original print head (and after I had done the puff test on the cartridges). All the photos are of the same nozzle test, I was just trying to get one where the colors matched the actual nozzle test...so I tried indoors, outdoors, and with flash.

The question right now seems to be should I try a nozzle cleaning(cleaning cycle), using the printer's Maintenance Mode, or just take the print head and try to clean it like I did the other one.

Thanks for the links to Electro Tanya and the manuals...very useful stuff.

 

[jbclem]

Well, I've been cleaning the print head over the past week. In the nozzle test, everything except the 3eBK lines look good. The 3eBK actually looks a little worse than the first photos I submitted. I've tried a cleaning cycle (just for the 3eBK) and it's a little better, but still far off. I'm using an unsealed(new?) 3eBK cartridge so I don't think it's the cartridge. After cleaning the print head, there was no evidence of any ink left in the 3eBK nozzles.

This is the most recent nozzle test, that's a shadow across the lower left side.

What can I do to try to bring back the 3eBK section...keep making nozzle tests?, more cleaning cycles? Print a sheet of paper in gray scale? What's the best thing to do at this stage...

 

[turbguy]

Looks like serious head clogging to me. I would attempt a out of printer printhead clean...

 

[jbclem]

I just spent 4 days doing an out of printer printhead clean. I cleaned (using water, hot and regular) until there was no sign of any ink. I've soaked the nozzles over night more than once, but only using water.

So there must be dried ink in the 3eBK side that is resisting my cleaning. Is that the only possibility? If it is, then I'll have to try a DIY Windex mix and see if that'll pull some more out.

What's a good strong alcohol mix that I can make up to get at the difficult clog?

 

[PeterBJ]

Instead of water you can use the "Original Windex with Ammonia-D". It should be used "as is", not diluted. You could also use "Pharmacist's cleaning solution". If you cannot obtain propylene glycol, the three parts of the glycol could be substituted by two parts of glycerine. Do not use ethylene glycol (anti-freeze) which is highly toxic. Windex or a European equivalent has been used successfully for print head unclogging by many members.

Note that Pharmacist's solution contains 20% of isopropyl alcohol. Don't use more than that; a strong alcohol can act as a desiccant drawing water from the ink and so make the problem worse. Undiluted isopropyl alcohol is a no-no for print head cleaning.

 

[The Hat]

If your head is in a spin as to which solution is best to soak the print head in and can’t get some of the stuff mentioned then just use warm water and a couple of spoonfuls of washing-up liquid (Fairy/Dawn) in a dish for 24 hours..

 

[jbclem]

Thanks for the warning about isopropyl alcohol. In the past I've used a 50/50 mix(with water) without thinking about it. It makes sense to use it for drying out the ears after swimming, but I won't be using it that way in a print head again.