Canon pixma IP5000 - no cyan at all

[QE2]

Hi,
I've got an IP5000 which I like a lot. Lately the color's been weird - very red/yellow. So I did multiple cleanings, deep cleanings, alignment checks, test prints from nozzle check, shutting on and off etc. (I'm on a mac). Tried all the usual options using the Canon IJ printer Utility. Tried it all on several different days, different computers too. No luck.

Turns out there's no cyan at all reading in the test pattern from the nozzle check. Sometimes a little cyan (blue) shows up after I restart or push down on the cartridge, but one or 2 test patterns later it's just blank white. The cartridge is full.

I see threads about removing/cleaning the heads but I'm not even sure how to get the heads off (the instructions that I saw seem to assume basic knowledge - didn't understand how to remove the head form the start) and afraid I'll really break the thing as I'm not much of a mechanic.

Any suggestions why the cyan won't show up with all the tests etc, and what might be the simplest/least invasive steps for a novice to try?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

PS: using non canon cartridges from LD products/4inkjets.com. Never had a problem before, but they seem to have switched suppliers. Tried another new cyan cartridge (same brand) and it didn't work either. Under the cartridge when I took it out the little circular pad is wet with ink.

 

[qwertydude]

It doesn't sound like a clog if you push it down and you get some printing then you've got a cartridge flow issue. Have you checked to see if there's any damage to the outlet of the cartridge or the rubber seal on the printer or anything that would let air in like a scratch or dent? If those are still good then your third party carts just aren't flowing well. You might want to try putting a drop of windex on the inlet of the print head and maybe a couple drops in felt of the outlet of one of your carts then run a cleaning cycle.

I'm a big fan of third party cartridges too since they're cheap and so far they tend to flow more ink and not need purging and rinsing after a dozen or so refills like when I use oem carts. What I've found is the ultimate flow enhancer for especially difficult carts is a drop of liquid dish soap on the felt of the outlet, this breaks up the surface tension of the ink and lets it really flow. Sometimes when you put the drop of ink onto the outlet it's a good idea to let it soak overnight with it's protective cover on. This lets the soap permeate through the whole sponge, I've even seen it actually suck ink from the reservoir after treating with the dish soap, the ink level will go down and you'll see the sponge saturate, then you know it's flowing well.

 

[QE2]

Hi,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Just to clarify, it never really printed well, just a bit of cyan a couple of times. Pretty much there's no cyan at all. not a bit. I pressed down on the cartridge a few times tonight and then tried a test print and the cyan just came up white.

RE: "Have you checked to see if there's any damage to the outlet of the cartridge or the rubber seal on the printer or anything that would let air in like a scratch or dent?"
I didn't notice anything on the cartridge and I did try a brand new one and it printed the same. I swabbed off the little rubber seal that meets the base of the cartridge (if that's what U mean by the 'rubber seal on the printer' and there didn't appear to be any scratches or damage. But the cartridge does not seem to fit in super tight after it clicks in.
Perhaps it's not tight enough to seal?
The other colors of the same brand do not seem to be printing poorly though... just the cyan...

RE: "You might want to try putting a drop of windex on the inlet of the print head".
I don't know what the inlet of the print head is. Are those the little black-looking 'sponge' squares on the far right inside the printer when the head is seated (before I open the cover to look inside the printer)? The head moves to the center and exposes them after opening? Can you clarify? I don't mean to be lame, but I just don't know anything about printers

I will try the soap trick if you let me know.
It does seem that plenty of ink is flowing out of the cartridge because the little gasket under the cartridge is wet thoroughly with ink. But maybe it is the seal - not tight enough? or the receiver of the ink after it gets out of the cartridge?
or the Cyan head has a bit of stuff stuck in it?
Thank you again for your thoughts!

 

[ghwellsjr]

I just bought a used mp780 which has a similar print head to the iP5000 and I'm having exactly the same problem as you are having. Please don't remove the print head from the printer, you run the risk of damaging it. As qwertydude pointed out, this is an ink flow problem, not clogged nozzles or an electrical problem.

The "inlet of the print head" is the round screen with the rubber seal around it.

Remove the rubber seal and clean it and look for a crack or dent in it.

Just as a test, you could swap rubber seals with one of the other colors to see if the problem shifts to the other color.

Another test you could do is remove one of the other seals and put it on top of the cyan seal, in other words make the seal twice as thick. I haven't tried this yet so I don't even know if it will be too thick.

The two pads off to the right where the print head parks are part of the purge unit. This sucks on the nozzles on the bottom of the print head to get the ink flowing. Put some Windex or other window cleaner or just water on them, close the cover for ten seconds and then open it and see if the liquid has disappeared. If it hasn't, then you have a purge unit problem. Let us know.

 

[embguy]

Is the cyan ink level go down after a few cleaning cycles?

If the cyan ink level does not go down and all other colors do, this means:
1. your purge system is working
2. the seal between the cyan cartridge and the rubber washer is not air tight.

I had the same problem with the photo black cartridge on my MP830. I switched the yellow rubber washer with the photo black. It fixed the problem. The problem has not moved to the yellow yet. This was done a few weeks ago. Time will tell this is the permanent fix or not!

I took the rubber washers out and washed with hot water. The indentation on the rubber washer seem to be less after washing in hot water.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I decided to remove the seal on my cyan and, sure enough, it was cracked so I switched it with a good one from another print head that I wasn't using, but it didn't fix the problem.

Also, now that I have actually seen one of these rubber seals outside the print head, I can see that my suggestion to double up on the seals won't work, they actually have a lot of depth to them and a cylindrical part that goes down into the print head.

So, more investigation is in order.

 

[embguy]

The rubber washer is not a solid piece of rubber. It will not work to double up.

Here is another idea to try to increase the thickness of the rubber washer:
You need to find a expired credit card or gift card plastic. Use the rubber washer as template. Cut a washer slightly larger than the rubber washer. Use a hole puncher to cut a hole in the middle. Put your home made plastic washer between the print head and the rubber washer. I have not tried the credit card washer trick. But the increase thickness may give it a good seal.

 

[qwertydude]

You can also try some silicone grease this will also help to condition the seal. I wonder if you can buy the seals just by themselves or if you can find one that works. I bet if you look online you can find some silicone rubber washers that will fit.

 

[QE2]

Hi again, and thank you all for your time and your suggestions.
I tried everything fairly systematically:

Removed the rubber seal and cleaned it and looked for a crack or dent in it. I didn't see one. Even wore my glasses!

Swapped rubber seal with one of the other colors (magenta) to see if the problem shifted to the other color. It did not. After the swap the cyan showed up some, a bit streaky on the first nozzle check test print, then not at all (just white paper), consistent with what happened on all the prior tests. After a cleaning it was always completely white - no cyan at all after any recent cleaning.

RE: "The two pads off to the right where the print head parks are part of the purge unit. This sucks on the nozzles on the bottom of the print head to get the ink flowing. Put some Windex or other window cleaner or just water on them, close the cover for ten seconds and then open it and see if the liquid has disappeared. If it hasn't, then you have a purge unit problem. Let us know."
as per above:
Yes, I used clean water and syringed a few drops onto the little pads. The water seemed to have disappeared/been absorbed.
After a test print (nozzle check pattern) the cyan showed up and I was excited. A second test print and there was a big white streak in the cyan bar. A third and the white streak was bigger - almost no cyan. A fourth and fifth were blank white.

I think the cyan cartridge ink level seems to be draining more slowly than the other color levels after the cleanings/tests.

Any further thoughts based on this info would be much appreciated. I'm determined to try to fix this (although it has taken up quite a bit of time...). I like the printer and also think it's a crime to keep throwing away electronics and buying new ones. Part of a bigger problem...

Thank you very much!!!
Note: The test prints are light on all the colors. Solid bars (except for cyan) but not super strong saturated colors. For example, in the test print, the magenta prints as a darker pink (but not the super hot pink that shows up in the pop-up window for the Printer Utility) and a lighter pink. I assume that's the way they're supposed to look. Just thought I'd mention this...

 

[dougsewell]

From what I make of all this cleaning and testing with no improvement is that this is more likely to be a flow problem connected with the non OEM carts themselves. Have you checked to see that the small vent channels on the top of the carts are clear of any tape. If that is ok then I see the cause as an ink feed problem as a result as -a) poor quality ink . b) Inner sponge unable to release ink quickly enough due to sponge structure being inadequate for the job. c) insufficient air intake due to poor cartridge design. The latter point seems to be borne out by the fact that the cart prints (in a fashion) when first installed then very quickly ceases to function as more demands are made on the ink supply with a partial vacuum forming within the cart. Other colours are also weak which could be the same problem on a smaller scale or could simply be poor ink quality. Suggest trying again with genuine OEM carts from Canon and if this works, refilling with good quality inks. You could also flush out the offending cart with hot water in an effort to open up the sponge structure and clear any blockages but I have my doubts if this will work.
Good luck

Doug