Canon PIXMA IP5000

[Rooster]

Ok, please bear with me because I'm not too experienced at cleaning/maintaining/altering printer! I have a Canon IP5000. Recently printing some pages of text, the text was coming out streaky as if the cartridge was running low. I checked the cartridge concerned (the larger black one) and it was less than half full, but definitley not empty. I persisted for a while, but with no improvement, so eventually gave in and installed a new cartridge, but with the same results. Does my print head need cleaning? If so, where do I find it (!), and how should I clean it?

Hope someone can help me out!

PS: Printing with any of the other cartridges (ie in colour) is fine.

 

[Manuchau]

A head cleaning or 2 is definitely worth a try....as is printing a purge page. If your colours are fine, just draw a box and fill it with black, then print it out. This often does the trick. If it doesn't, then please re-post here.
Purge pages are easily found online,..here is a series which should come in handy http://www.inksupply.com/html/zip/purge.zip

 

[fotofreek]

If the nozzles that use the bci-3ebk cart are actually clogged you would best run a cleaning cycle or two rather than printing a purge page. I believe that the ip5000 can run a separate cleaning cycle for either the black bci-3ebk or the four photo color carts. You find the head cleaning utilities by cllicking Start - settings - printers - click on the printer in question, click on properties, do the head cleaning routine and do a nozzle check. You can do a few regular and one or two deep cleanings, but more will probably do no better. Do a nozzle check after each cleaning. Still a poor nozzle check? Click on the FAQ section at the top of the forum page and read through the first FAQ - what to do when your printer isn't printing properly.

 

[Rooster]

Thanks for the replies. I have tried numerous cleaning and deep cleaning of the BCI-3bk cartridge with no success. Printing the nozzle check page, the first half of the Black is streaky as if the cartridge was low, and the second (lower) half of the printed area is fine. The colours and the small black cartridge are still fine. I will try the purge page as you suggest.... fingers crossed....

 

[jflan]

Utilizing a "cleaning cartridge" would be a good next step.
http://www.printpal.com/printer/canon_ip5000.html
Not recommending the ink, just the G&G cleaning cart...free shipping.

Once I see some flow (following instructions), I will print a purge page to get the cleaning solvent flowing.
Let sit overnight for bad clogs.

 

[Rooster]

Ok - I've printed a purge page. All except for the very last bit has printed fine, but I'm wondering whether the printer used the small black cartridge to print this, not the larger BCI-3eBK one which is the problematic one. Is there any way to know? So I now have a piece of very floppy black paper. I then tried printing a page of text, and it is still streaky. The other thing which is wierd which I forgot to mention is that the streakiness seems to occur on every other line, not over the whole page.... ???

 

[Rooster]

Are there any more suggestions for what I can do to clear my problem up? I have printed several purge pages. All were completely fine except for the very last section printed which came out streaky. Why would it only have a problem with the last line? Why, when I print text, does it print one line perfectly, and the next one streaky? This happens across the whole page - every other line is faint and streaky. And this happens only with the large black cartridge (BCI-3eBK), even though the cartridge itself is new & genuine Canon. I have looked at and cleaned everything I can reach without pulling the printer apart..... HELP!!!!

 

[Smile]

Have you tried removing the printhead and clean the golden contacs with eraser or plain paper ?

1. Cleaning with paper will show you results right away because the paper will become from clean white to dirty black
2. You can try with a small piece of paper that you can cut from standart A4 sheet, to clean in one direction only the actual contacts that are in the printer.
3. reinstall printhead and do a clean cycle to try resolve the problem then verify by doing the nozzle check test.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Ok - I've printed a purge page. All except for the very last bit has printed fine, but I'm wondering whether the printer used the small black cartridge to print this, not the larger BCI-3eBK one which is the problematic one. Is there any way to know? So I now have a piece of very floppy black paper. I then tried printing a page of text, and it is still streaky. The other thing which is wierd which I forgot to mention is that the streakiness seems to occur on every other line, not over the whole page.... ???

If you are telling the printer that you are using plain paper, then it will use the larger black cartridge. If you tell it any kind of photo paper, it will use the smaller black cartridge.

If your text is having a problem on every other line, this would indicate the problem occurs only when the print head is moving in one direction. One potential source of problem that is often overlooked is the timing strip inside the printer that goes across the whole length of the printer and that the print head looks at to figure out when to fire the nozzles. If it gets dirty, it can cause problems but I don't know why it would only occur when the print head is moving in one direction. This timing strip is very delicate so if you attempt to clean it, be very careful.

Another thing you should do is a nozzle check. Do all the segment print?

 

[Rooster]

Well, I've tried everything that you've suggested above, including using a cleaning cartridge, and numerous cleaning and deep cleaning cycles, with still no improvement. Is it possible to just remove the BCI-3eBK cartridge and get the printer to print black using the smaller black cartridge? Not a fantastic solution, I know, but at least it would allow me to print things in black....