Canon Pixma ip5000 ---> Help Needed!

[jflan]

Since XP is based on W2K, the iP5000 driver should be the same for both. It's the "upgrade" process vs. a "clean install" of XP that can bork a driver and other things.
The above is an out-on-a-limb assumption that you used an XP Upgrade disk as opposed to a Full Retail or Full OEM version of XP.
It is good that you are regaining functionality of that fine printer.

Edit:
Nope, there is a distinction between the two latest drivers according to CanonUSA.....same date, but the XP driver file name has a "Z" in it.

US drivers for example:

iP5000 v1.80 Printer Driver for Windows 2000
ip5000xp180us.exe
1.80
3.35 MB
04/01/2007

iP5000 v1.80 Printer Driver for Windows XP
ip5000xp180usZ.exe
1.80
3.29 MB
04/01/2007

 

[Zedlum]

It was a full OEM disk, but I transferred the drive from the old machine and upgraded it (from memory, been a while now!). Yes XP is basically Win 2K with mods, not a quantum leap so I would have thought that drivers would be OK --> but obviously not!

The photo prints still have a yellow hue when printing from the camera with the printer unplugged. Its a bit better than it was but still not nearly right. I have turned the yellow down when printing from XP but by the time the yellow hue has disappeared all the other colours dependant on the yellow are impacted.

I think Canon carts are the next step, then if that yields results I might work back through the after market inks and see which colour is the offender (probably all of them!), starting with yellow. That is sounding optimistic --> no? LOL. If not I will proceed to pull my hair out

 

[Zedlum]

I used the...

ip5000xp180enZ.exe

iP5000 v1.80 Printer Driver for Windows XP
Last Updated : 14-Jul-2008
Issue Number : 0900404201

From Cannon Australia.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Before you posted your success with reinstalling drivers, I was going to suggest that you have an electrical problem, in fact, I don't see why drivers have anything to do with the way the normal or extended nozzle checks print out. I think your problem is going to come back. But while it seems to be working, can you redo your two nozzle checks and post them again?

Did you by any chance remove the print head from the printer between the time the printer was not working and you had your success? If you didn't, don't do it now. But if the problem comes back, then remove the print head and clean the contacts with a soft eraser and see if that will clear up the problem. Be very careful to not let any residue ink or other liquid get on the electronics. Best to wrap the print head in a paper towel as soon as you get it out of the printer to soak up the stray ink.

Also, I don't think your problems are caused by your cartridges so you don't need to pull any hairs out--or were you hoping the problems were in your cartridges?

 

[Zedlum]

You are right, the printer initiated tests should not be impacted and have not been impacted by the new drivers. The results from the printer initiated tests are basically the same, the black type is good but the colour seems light. Having nothing to reference that against I don't know if that is as it should be or what?

No the print head has not been touched, I have cleaned it in the past thinking that was the issue but I have never checked the contacts. The print head area stays very clean, every time I have removed the head all that I have to clean is any residual ink sitting in the head itself.

 

[Zedlum]

I just did a test. I opened photoshop and created a grayscale gradient from black to white. There is no colour information in the image at all, yet when I print it the mid tones have a yellow hue. I am suspecting that one of my black inks is crappy (yet another tech term!). How can I tell what the printer is doing in response to a print request? How can I tell if its going for yellow for some arcane reason or which black tank it is using when? I now suspect the photo black, the packaging that ink came in is slightly different from the rest, I never thought much about it before!

 

[Zedlum]

Could this be the result of being supplied a pigmented ink as photo black which I understand should be a dye ink? Would a pigmented black ink print this way? Would it damage the print head or could I clean it and replace the ink with the correct type?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Here is an image of an extended nozzle check for another printer which includes more stuff but the nozzle check is the same as yours:

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/gallery/inkjet-refill-1/canon_extended_nozzle_check_pattern

As you can see by looking at your two nozzle checks, your light cyan and light magenta are not printing at all. They use the same ink cartridges as their darker versions just above them so we know it is not a problem with the cartridges. This type of problem is usually an electrical problem. I would suggest now that you try to clean the contacts on the print head and where it makes contact with the carriage it rides on.

Another thing that is suspicious to me is that your cyan is much lighter than it should be. Could it be that you refilled with Photo Cyan instead of Cyan?

Canon printers do most of their printing with the lighter set of nozzles in order to maintain greater control of color mixing. So for large portions of your photo prints, you are using very little of the cyan and magenta which leaves the yellow cast.

Your dye black ink nozzle test is showing no problem so even if you have a pigment black ink, it is not causing a big problem. You can easily tell if your ink is 100% pigment by doing a nozzle check on plain paper and after it dries, drip water across the different patterns to see if it smears. Pigment ink won't smear but dye ink will. Pigment ink where you should have dye is especially bad for the iP5000 because its lighter nozzles deliver only 1 picoliter per squirt. The other nozzles are all larger.

Let's see, you aren't suggesting that all of your inks are pigment are you?

In general, the larger pigment black ink cartridge is used only on plain paper and the dye black ink is always used on any photo paper. There are times when the dye black is also used on plain paper. See the Inkjet FAQ's link at the top of this page for more information. Also, you can find links that address the issue of how Canon printers mix various colors of ink to produce shades of grey. That is why you are seeing a yellow cast in your greyscale printouts.

 

[Zedlum]

Nope... just suggesting that there is something wrong with my so called "photo black" and I think I just went a long way to proving it. I have a set of cleaned carts that are full of Windex that I use for cleaning (yikes I hear the crowd scream!) hey it works I pulled the photo black and put in the windex cart, did a deep clean, then printed the test gradient that I made in photo shop (black to white with no colour at all, grey scale image) low and behold the yellow cast disappeared ---> the only element missing was the photo black. Therefore I think that is the source of the yellow cast.

I can't work out why when I originally tested with the Canon carts supplied by the ink supplier that this didn't become obvious. All I can think is that the driver issue somehow masked the issue.

Anywhooo... next step is to replace the photo black cart with an original Canon cart and see what results are. Then replace the rest if I get no joy! If it works then I will buy in a replacement for the photo black from Inktec, at least that way I get to use most of the ink I bought.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I pulled the photo black and put in the windex cart, did a deep clean, then printed the test gradient that I made in photo shop (black to white with no colour at all, grey scale image) low and behold the yellow cast disappeared ---> the only element missing was the photo black. Therefore I think that is the source of the yellow cast.

I'm confused. Are you saying that when you print your grey scale image with the photo black cartridge missing and your windex cartridge in its place, you get no yellow cast? Keep in mind that for a solid grey tone of less than about 80%, the photo black ink is not used at all and so it should not matter whether you have the photo black cartidge in place or your Windex cartridge in its place. I don't see how cleaning just the photo black could have any bearing on the outcome of your test.

I also don't think you are having any problem with the photo black. It appears in both nozzle checks without any problem. I think you should focus on doing nozzle checks. Without your light cyan and light magenta working, your printer is always going to print with a yellow cast.