Canon MultiPASS F30 questions

[The Hat]

@SuperareTech, Your print head wont print pigment black again so therefore no amount of cleaning will restore that side of the head because it has suffered an electrical failure, it will however continue to print colour for you if you wish..

 

[turbguy]

@PeterBJ I don't think the printhead is actually dead, just severely clogged. It prints faint traces of black (I have seen this with clogged printers before. Also, I use Windows XP for some stuff, so I could still use it on there.

If you see faint traces of black, your print head nozzles for that color are probably firing. Any fluid that enters the nozzles, even from the "discharge" or "outlet" side will be ejected if they are firing.

For instance, if you flood the parking station pads with cleaner, and a cleaning cycle does not remove that flooding, due to a clogged purging system, small amounts the cleaning solution will seep into the nozzles when the head "parks", and provide "traces" of dirty/stained cleaning fluid to be fired.

That said, your black ink is a "pigment" ink. The colors are dye inks. Pigment inks can and do clog more easily due to a high solids content, and can be difficult to unclog (patience, patience, patience). Pigment inks also can clog the purge unit, requiring SIGNIFICANT printer disassembly and mechanical cleaning of the dried pigment solids in the purge system passageways. Once pigment dries, standard cleaning fluids (that don't cause other damage) are really ineffective. That's why pigment inks are waterproof (or highly water-resistant). The black pigment is typically a carbon based ink. Nothing dissolves solid carbon except VERY aggressive solvents (hydroflouric acid, or a wire brush).

Do you know how to test the purge system for proper opreration?? We can get you pointed that way if you don't. It's easy to test...and I would recommend that you test it.

The optical prism built into the bottom of the carts on the reservoir side was (and still is) a VERY reliable detector of "low ink". Chips do not add anything to "detecting" low ink in Canon printers. Chips were were added as electronic countermeasures (ECM's) to prohibit refilling (until chip-resetters were invented).

 

[turbguy]

BTW, DON'T use hydrogen peroxide! Use only Original Formula Windex (with "ammonia D", whatever that is), and distilled water, PERIOD!! I also use the Walmart equivalent window cleaner with ammonia. Other fluids can damage the microelectronics in the LSI printhead chip.

And don't be tempted to use an ultrasonic cleaner, either. That's very damaging to the geometry and materials of the LSI chip, unless VERY carefully controlled!

 

[SuperareTech]

Thank you. I don't know how to test the purge unit, but I sprayed some windex on it. (That seemed to help with the clogging) I figured the black was pigment, because the black cartridge is entirely opaque. Too bad the optical sensor was discontinued. (I noticed how well it worked when Magenta was low) I have never heard of ultrasonic cleaners (probably good that I haven't).
Also, where can I find the driver for Windows XP? On the Canon website, it has downloads, but they are just PDFs. Is there a different way to download it?
(I have just been testing by photocopying color documents)
Thanks for your help.

 

[PeterBJ]

You can download drivers and software from the Canon website here. You can select downloads for Windows XP, there are no downloads for newer OS'es.

 

[turbguy]

Thank you. I don't know how to test the purge unit, but I sprayed some windex on it. (That seemed to help with the clogging) I figured the black was pigment, because the black cartridge is entirely opaque. Too bad the optical sensor was discontinued. (I noticed how well it worked when Magenta was low) I have never heard of ultrasonic cleaners (probably good that I haven't).
Also, where can I find the driver for Windows XP? On the Canon website, it has downloads, but they are just PDFs. Is there a different way to download it?
(I have just been testing by photocopying color documents)
Thanks for your help.

If you use a 3E-Bk Cart, it should be clear plastic...the ink is opaque. The prism system has not been discontinued...it's still there in modern carts as reliable back up for the internal ink use firmware.

 

[PeterBJ]

@SuperareTech It looks as if you are right about the driver availability from Canon. They only offer this updater for download: MP40x_WXPSP2UPD.exe. It is an updater which should be run after installing an older driver, which they do not offer. But a little Googling found this driver: Canon MultiPASS Suite 4.0 (Windows 95/98/Me/NT 4.0/2000*/XP*) here. After installing that driver you should be able to use the Win XP SP2 updater. Hopefully this will work.

The drivercollection com site is ad sponsored, so be careful not to download anything extra/unwanted. Make sure boxes for additional downloads are unchecked. Do not accept an offer to run a scan for outdated drivers.

The download works, and AVG Internet Security found nothing wrong with the download.