Canon Pixma iP3000 Won't Print Black on Discs But WILL on Paper

[Hjourzt]

New to this forum, hope I can find an answer to my weird problem.

I have a Canadian Canon Pixma iP3000, which you may know can print on discs. Right now mine is not printing black ink on discs, but it does seem to be printing black on paper just fine.

I have had this printer for about 3 years and it has worked very well the whole time. I use it to print professional labels on inkjet DVDs with very basic logos and colors, although occasionally I print a photo image on marketing demo discs, and have been very satisfied with the results. I have had problems in the past with the black or the red getting weak, but this has been solved by changing the empty ink cartridge. Until about a month ago.

Now, my text is coming out in a dark maroon color, clearly some blend of the three colors available. I checked it by printing some tests with very large font letters and a black box or two. Printing a lot of black area in high quality clearly did not clear the blockage, if there is any. I tried running all the cleaning cyles, with no visible difference.

But when I print a regular piece of paper, the text is as black as ever. Or at least it appears black.

There can't be any malfunction in the chip, because these cartridges have no chip.

So, before I get a head flushing kit, does anyone have any idea why it would not print black on discs but will on paper?

Some other details:

The software used with this printer for discs is CDLabelprint, downloadable from Canon Europe. It is a basic application, but does the job just fine.
I have been using G&G ink refills for about a year or so. The problem did not arise immediately after starting this.

Thanks.

 

[The Hat]

The simple answer to your problem is that the yellow is not printing properly or at all.

When you print on paper the printer only uses the black ink cartridge to output text but if youre printing coloured graphics or photos
then the printer mixes the magenta, cyan and yellow together to make black it doesnt use the black ink cartridge at all.

The BCI-6 cartridges that you use comes with a prism sensor inside them and will work flawlessly if you let it,
like when your low on ink in any one cartridge the on screen message will tell you,
more so when youre out of ink altogether. (Change cartridge Now)

You shouldnt print anything other than a nozzle check till you get your ink problem solved
because youll run the risk of burning out your print head
while trying to print something with little or no ink and that will cost you plenty to replace.

There are two things you can try to resolve your ink problem, one is to replace your yellow cartridge
with a new one and then do a normal head clean followed by a nozzle check.

If youre missing any of the colours then make sure you have sufficient ink in all of your cartridges and run another nozzle check.
If there is no improvement between the two prints then its time for the second option.

Remove all of the cartridges and print head now stand the print head in a bowl
with about 1 deep of Windex (Window Cleaner) and leave it soaking for 24 hours.

Next day dry the bottom of the print head with a paper towel making doubly sure you didnt get the printed circuit board on the back wet at all,
if you did then let the print head dry in a warm place for a couple of hours to be sure.

Put the print head back in your printer along with the cartridges and do a normal head clean First, followed by a nozzle check,
now compare all three of your printouts (Nozzle check) and hopefully you will have cured your print problem,
if you havent then the only other option is a new print head.

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi Hjourzt

I agree with everything The Hat wrote in his answer above, but I have a couple of additional questions.

Could you please upload a scan of a nozzle check? Instructions are here: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=36 . There is a 24 hour quarantine period before new members can upload pictures and post links, so you are now allowed to use these features. To get the best picture quality it is a good idea to crop your picture to show only the area of interest.

I noted this:

...I have been using G&G ink refills for about a year or so. The problem did not arise immediately after starting this.

Could you give more details of your cartridges and ink ? Your chances of good results from your canon printer are best when using Canon OEM cartridges, either new or refilled with a good quality brand name refill ink. Third party prefilled cartridges may work well, but only if used once, they should never be refilled. If refilled they will likely cause inkflow problems.

Even with perfectly functioning printhead and cartridges, your black on discs might not be perfect, as your printer has no photo black cartridfge but produces photo black from mixing the three colors. See this thread: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1642 . I think your black printed on discs will be best with a good quality ink though.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I believe the problem is that the black ink is used only when you tell the printer that you are printing on plain paper. It has nothing to do with what you are printing (text or graphics). Printing on CD's forces the printer to use only the color dye ink cartridges. As a test, you could tell your printer that you printing on matte paper but actually print on plain paper and see how dark the black is. It should be similar to what happens when you tell it you are printing on a CD. So on a CD, it has to use all three colors when you want black which may not be as dark as the black ink used when you tell the printer you are printing on plain paper.

But as was pointed out earlier, you should do a nozzle check to make sure all your dye colors are working correctly. If it's not perfect, this could cause the black on CD to be less dark than it should be.

 

[The Hat]

The reason I mentioned the printing of text/graphics is that for text only he would be using a standard write editor
but if he was printing both of them together then he would be using a graphic editor
which would output as a raster image hence no black ink can be used..