Canon Pixma iP 5300: still clogged or flow problem?

[DorianFox]

Hi everyone,

I follow that forum already for some time, and appreciate it as an invaluable resource! That is my first posting...

I was able to clean 2 Canon Pixma print heads using alcohol, (heated) window cleaner, ultrasound. But now with a 5300 at hand: no success.

Some time ago, the cyan and magenta cartridges have been interchanged, it has been tried to clean the head with no success and it was given to me. I use non-OEM (probably refilled) cartridges.

I tried the usual stuff (alcohol, window cleaner, ultrasound), but cyan and magenta still shows strong "banding"/white areas. I don't know how to describe it exactly in english, just have a look at the photos below:
img232.imageshack.us/i/img2944pg.jpg
(sorry for the not working hyperlink, it's due to restrictions for brand new users here at nifty-stuff.com...)

The interesting thing is, that just after putting the head and cartridges back into the printer and one cleaning cycle, the test print is like the one posted above, i.e. mostly OK, only in the red and blue segments, some ink seems to "miss".

But the 2nd or 3rd try is getting much worse, more like the service test print below:
img80.imageshack.us/i/img2945w.jpg

2 questions:
1. Could anyone explain to me the difference between "normal" banding, i.e. horizontal stripes in the test print due to clogged nozzles and my white areas?
2. Any ideas how to fix the printer? Maybe looks more like a flow problem, doesn't it?

Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Best from Germany!

 

[qwertydude]

That's definitely an ink flow issue not a print head issue. Sorry to say but your non-oem cartridges and ink probably are to blame. Cheaper cartridges are often blamed as "clogging" the printer but in most instances it isn't clogging that's a problem it's inadequate inkflow as evidenced by the ok printing up until the end when the ink can't keep up with the demand of the print head and the print head starves. Clogged print heads will always show as solid bands that simply don't print and are consistent from print to print, that's a sure sign of a clog, or even a burnt out nozzle if after a really good cleaning they still band.

Best way to fix this problem is get new OEM cartridges and if you want to refill them, refill them with a known good quality ink like Image Specialist ink.

 

[DorianFox]

Thanks qwertydude for your reply!
That confirms my concern, that cleaning will not provide any solution in that case...

But one of my previous Pixma printers showed the same "white areas" in the test print and I got it working after intense cleaning and a good portion of patience without cahnging the non-OEM cartridges. In that particular case it was probably helpful to not completely let the print head dry after soaking in alcohol.

Any suggestions how to make these two cartridges give enough ink to the head?
I already searched the forum for flow problems and then tried
- to drip a drop of ink on the metal filter of the respective color in the head and
- blew into the the cartridge until ink came out of the bottom of the head

Would it be helpful to enlarge (or scale down) the hole in the cartridge where air gets in?

Buying OEM cartridges does not sound like an economic solution to me, taking into account that success is not guaranteed.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ghwellsjr]

Would it be helpful to enlarge (or scale down) the hole in the cartridge where air gets in?

I would not modify a cartridge. To see if there is a problem with air flow, remove the cartridge, hold it to your lips and gently blow into the air vent to see if you can easily get ink to flow out the outlet port. If you cannot, then you could have an air flow problem or an ink flow problem in the sponge part of your cartridge and you should either replace the cartridge or purge it (run water through it to clean out dried out ink, etc, and then dry it before refilling).

 

[DorianFox]

OK, thanks. It is very easy to get ink flow out of the outlet port.
And, stupid me that I did not think about it earlier, as the carts work perfectly in my Pixma 4500, there should not be a problem inside the cartridges.

That means, the problem must be inside the the purge system or still inside the head...

 

[DorianFox]

One more update:
I checked the purging unit by putting windex on top of the two pads, the color one works perfectly (holds windex in the idle mode; any liquid disappears after one cleaning cycle), the black one instantly soaks up all windex. But as I don't have any problems with printing black, might not care about that.

Any ideas how to get red and blue ink flow to the nozzles?

 

[qwertydude]

Dripping ink only temporarily adds ink. It's not going to solve the ink flow issue. I've experimented with some additives before. I've noticed that extra surfactant tends to make ink flow. But sometimes too much surfactant seems to make the foam swell up and after a while the swollen foam doesn't allow ink to flow fast enough and even after a purge the foam doesn't tend to want to absorb ink. So another way to get the foam inside flowing is to use denatured alcohol. You're going to need to purge the the cartridge, instructions can be found by using the search feature, then dehydrate the cartridge using pure denatured alcohol. Rubbing alcohol doesn't work as effectively. Drip denatured alcohol into the ink outlet until the foam is saturated, then blow out all the alcohol and let the cartridge dry. This should restore the foam. But keep in mind it swelled up probably because the ink is a bad formula and within a few refills the foam may swell up again causing the cartridge to have flow issues. This long involved process is a lot harder than just buying new OEM and a good inkset.

Oh and also one thing the aftermarket cartridges also lack is a properly designed vent. Sometimes it's just a hold drilled in the top. This can cause ink to dry up in the foam again causing a problem with ink flow. A purge solves this too.

 

[DorianFox]

Thanks again, qwertydude!

But isn't it to correct to assume, that if the carts work perfectly in my Pixma 4500, there should not be a problem inside the cartridges?

 

[qwertydude]

It's not always the case that a cartridge working fine in one printer automatically means it'll work fine in another. Some printers have more print heads than others or are programmed to print faster. This means they'll place more ink demand on the cartridge and if the cartridge can keep up on the slow one it doesn't necessarily mean it'll work on the fast one. For example the IP3600 has half the color print heads therefore half the ink consumption rate of the IP4600 if the cart was just slow enough to show slight banding on the 4600 it'd look just fine on the 3600. The only absolute way to eliminate the cartridge as a problem is to use a brand new OEM.

 

[DorianFox]

Hmm, good point, although the 4500 is even supposed to print a tiny little bit quicker than the 5300...

Hmm, I' gonna try my luck with additives... as a last step before giving up and looking for affordable OEMs.

If anyone has another idea what else I could try: thanks!