Canon MP830 won't print clearly/not all the way

[embguy]

I just purged the left side (rectangular one), and it seems like the windex is just staying there. There is still a pool of windex after closing the lid.

After doing a cleaning cycle, is the Windex still there? If yes, your the pigment tube may be clogged.

 

[krouchchocolate]

Is the pigment purge pad just for the big black cartridge, the pgbk one?

 

[ghwellsjr]

There are two purge pads, a rectangular one on the left for the larger pigment black ink cartridge and a square one on the right for all the narrower dye ink cartridges. The PGBK is for the pigment black ink.

Try a nozzle check and see if the Windex disappears. If not, close the lid until the activity stops then reopen it. If the Windex is still there, you have a clog in the purge system.

The clog can be in the purge pad itself, in the tubing connected to the bottom of the rubber tray holding the purge pad, or at the exit of the tubing deep inside your printer. The first thing you want to do to remove a clog is remove the porous purge pad from its rubber tray and wash it in water. You can hold it to your lips and see if you can suck air through it. If not, you will need to soak it in Windex and try again.

You should also clean all the ink out of the rubber tray as much as possible using cotton swabs and Windex. After it is clean, you can see if Windex on the rubber tray will get sucked away. If it doesn't, you will have a very difficult time getting the purge system working again. But let us know how these other steps work.

When you do this work, open the cover of your printer and remove the power cord from the printer so that the print head will remain in the center and you can move it to the left to gain more access to the purge pads. Be very careful of the thin timing strip that goes along the width of the printer and through the carriage that the print head sits in. You don't want to get any ink on it. Also, note the orientation of the notch (if there is one) in the purge pad so that you can get it back in the same position. The printers I have repaired have a notch in the rear left corner of the purge pad.

Check both purge pads, because your dye ink black nozzles are not printing either.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

 

[krouchchocolate]

I forgot to mention that I purged the other square pad, and it seems like the windex is being sucked through it. I am assuming that purge unit is fine? Could there be a clog on the BK part on the print head that is not allowing it to print while doing the nozzle check?

 

[krouchchocolate]

There are two purge pads, a rectangular one on the left for the larger pigment black ink cartridge and a square one on the right for all the narrower dye ink cartridges. The PGBK is for the pigment black ink.

Try a nozzle check and see if the Windex disappears. If not, close the lid until the activity stops then reopen it. If the Windex is still there, you have a clog in the purge system.

The clog can be in the purge pad itself, in the tubing connected to the bottom of the rubber tray holding the purge pad, or at the exit of the tubing deep inside your printer. The first thing you want to do to remove a clog is remove the porous purge pad from its rubber tray and wash it in water. You can hold it to your lips and see if you can suck air through it. If not, you will need to soak it in Windex and try again.

You should also clean all the ink out of the rubber tray as much as possible using cotton swabs and Windex. After it is clean, you can see if Windex on the rubber tray will get sucked away. If it doesn't, you will have a very difficult time getting the purge system working again. But let us know how these other steps work.

When you do this work, open the cover of your printer and remove the power cord from the printer so that the print head will remain in the center and you can move it to the left to gain more access to the purge pads. Be very careful of the thin timing strip that goes along the width of the printer and through the carriage that the print head sits in. You don't want to get any ink on it. Also, note the orientation of the notch (if there is one) in the purge pad so that you can get it back in the same position. The printers I have repaired have a notch in the rear left corner of the purge pad.

Check both purge pads, because your dye ink black nozzles are not printing either.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

How do I remove the porous purge pad? Do i just stick my hand in there and pull it out?

 

[ghwellsjr]

When none of the nozzles for a particular color print, there could be several causes:
1) It could be an electrical problem, which is not fixable unless it is something trivial like a dirty contact on the back of the print head.
2) It could be a problem in the cartridge that prevents ink from flowing out of it.
3) It could be a clog in the print head in the path the leads from the cartridge port to the nozzles.
4) It could be all the nozzles are clogged inside the print head.
5) It could be a clog on the outside of the print head such as dried ink covering all the nozzles.

The first test is to remove the narrow black cartridge and see if there is black ink on the screen covering the inlet port to the print head. If there is none, look to see if ink will come out of the cartridge when you blow into the air vent on the top of the cartridge. Make sure you some paper towels ready to catch the ink if it comes out.

You could also remove all the cartridges and then the print head and blot the bottom of the print head on a paper towel soaked in Windex. Be very careful that you don't allow stray ink to migrate into the electonics inside the print head which means you don't want to turn it upside down.

Resist the temptation at this point from washing your print head in water or any other solvent.

Let us know what you learn.

 

[krouchchocolate]

How do I remove the porous purge pad? Do i just stick my hand in there and pull it out?

 

[krouchchocolate]

Also I did what you told me to do. I blew through the air port on the small black catridge (bk), and a thick blob of ink came out. I thought this was weird, so I blew on the other cartridges and then the ink came out like in a stream like pattern. I am going to assume that my bk cartridge is old, and that I should replace it with a new one.

 

[krouchchocolate]

For some reason, my printer does not have a porous purge pad for the pigment purge pad. Could this be the reason why my bgbk is not printing correctly? Does anyone know where i can purchase the porous purge pad by itself?

 

[ghwellsjr]

So you can see where the pigment purge pad goes and all you see is an empty rubber tray?

Other people have looked for a place to get the purge pads and aside from buying a new purge unit from Canon for a lot of money, about the only way to get one is from another printer that has succummed or from some nice person that has such a printer and is willing to part with their purge pad.

There is a good chance that your purge pad is inside your printer somewhere. It probably will be very difficult to find and remove it without taking the printer apart.