Canon MP780 with a "wrong cartridge" error code

[leo8088]

Zman, I have been there and only after buying a new print head fixed the problem. Before I bought the print head I talked to Canon's tech support on the phone. They asked why I needed to buy a new print head. I told them the wrong cartridge message. They confirmed that it is likely the print head is defective. I was then told that the print head can not be returned if the problem is not fixed. But it did fix the problem. I have used the printer almost daily since then (almost a year now) and never had the problem again.

 

[zman]

That's good to know, I'm at the point wondering should I take the plunge and invest $50 or so on a printhead only to have it not fix the problem or go buy a cheap $100 printer and call it good. Where did you get your printhead from?

 

[ghwellsjr]

You can buy the print head on eBay but buying directly from Canon will probably be cheaper. If you can find a local authorized Canon repair shop, they may be willing to order one for you and not charge shipping if they are already ordering other parts.

 

[emerald]

Posts number 3 & 5 by ghwellsjr and 6 & 9 by trigger 37 on this string are indeed very helpful. I've marked this string on my Windows favorite list and review it from time to time. It helped me with the following problem:

Recently I acquired a Canon iP5000 printer found on a local Craigslist. The owner replaced it with a more modern version because it recently began showing lines or banding on some photos. I put it in the "service mode" to check for clogged nozzles. It displayed none. I printed a 4 color test bar on plain paper and indeed there was some banding on the cyan and very light streaks on the black. The 5 ink cartridges are genuine Canon cartridges and nearly full. I flushed the print head under a stream of warm water in both directions until there was no trace of color on the inlet nozzles. I then dried the print head for twenty minutes using a hair dryer. After I installed the print head and cartridges I got the dreaded 5 orange blinks indicating "no print head." ghwellsjr has many posts on this forum admonishing users to use caution in flushing a print head because water on the electronic chip in the print head can lead to failure. I figured I failed to dry out the print head thoroughly and was paying the price. I had other things to do so I left it set with the print head setting unparked in the center for a couple of days.

This morning, I reviewed this string. After cleaning both the print head contacts and the flexible contacts inside the print head housing with a pencil erasure and alcohol, the printer works. I didn't make a test prior to cleaning the print head so I won't know if the problem went away because it dried out in two days or the pencil erasure and alcohol cleaning fixed the problem. I did a nozzle check and printed a 4 color test bar on plain paper. The nozzle check looks perfect and there is no banding on the 4 color bar test pattern.

Did flushing the print head fix the banding problem? Did cleaning with a pencil erasure and alcohol fix the "no print head" problem? I'll use it for a few days to see if the problem reappears and report back.

My thanks to Inkjet Masters ghwellsjr and trigger 37.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nov 20 - After using the iP5000 printer for 3 days producing about 10 print-outs, it is still trouble free.

 

[zman]

I tried all the cleaning methods and ultimately bought a new printhead from Canon and that fixed my no print head problem.

 

[Trigger 37]

Emerald,... I guess we will never know the absolute answer. I, like many others, always blow dry the heads after I clean them, and I use about 80 PSI from my large compressor to do it. I also have to take care not to dislodge any of the pads around the filter screens. If anyone of those are missing the vacuum is lost and it can't suck any ink.

Now to the banding issue, or as I call it Streaking issue. My belief, that I have not proven, is that these streaks are caused by insufficient ink flow during the heavier printing. When you print a nozzle check or a Service Test print, the nozzle patterns use up SO LITTLE INK THEY WILL TEND TO PRINT GOOD IF THERE IS THE MINIMUM INK AVAILABLE. If the printhead has some clogging internally then the total ink flow is restricted. A better way to say this is that there is not sufficient EMPTY space in the printhead reservoir to hold enough ink to sustain printing over a large portion of the page. A nozzle check is easy. When you try and print several color bars, now you are really putting a demand on the ink flow,... all the way from the ink cart down through the head, and you are testing this flow in volume to each nozzle. That is why I use these color test charts all the time, especially before I go to print a LARGE photo, say 13" x 19". Just one streak of missing any color will totally ruin the print. Most of the time you may never have this kind of volume demand on anything you print,... but it all depends on the image you are printing and if it has a large section of sky or water, etc.

So my answer is, the head was probably partially clogged which had restricted the ink flow, and when you cleaned it you cleared up the problem. One last point is that this exact thing can happen if one or more of the ink carts are old and the exit port has becomed partially clogged which restricts ink flow. A tiny air leak anywhere in the path will cause the same effect. When the entire system sits for awhile, the ink will gradually fill what empty space is available inside the head. There is always enough ink their to print a good nozzle check, but as soon as more demand starts, starvation begins.

You have to visualize this on the microscopic level. Imagine each ink bubble as the size of a basket ball. As that ball is ejected out of the nozzle, it creates a vacuum as it leaves. This vacuum "Suck" more ink out of the ink "Chain" to fill the void the bubble left,... and the process starts all over again. It is easy to see that any kind of break in the "Liquid Vacuum Chain" will result in some ink not getting to the right place. The next time that nozzle is fired, you get out a softball instead of a basket ball,.... streaking is just "Missing Ink"