Canon Pro10s nozzle checks, odd behavior ?

[Artur5]

Time ago I noticed that my Pro10s, when performing a nozzle check, sometimes prints the sheet quite fast, say 12-13 seconds since the machines pulls the paper until it emerges. Instead, there’re other times that it takes much longer to print ( 50-55 seconds). That’s because the printhead carrier travels very slowly from side to side and it rests several seconds between every pass, To make an analogy, the speed difference between a ‘fast’ and a ‘slow’ nozzle check is like when you print on photo paper in high quality mode vs. plain paper in standard quality.
I noticed also that if any color stripe shows by mischance a bit of banding with a normal ‘fast’ check, it comes out perfect if the test is of the ‘slow’ type. That means probably that every line is printed with two or more redundant passes and thus the minor banding is hidden.

None of my other Canon printers ever did that. Neither the general purpose Pixmas nor the Pixma Pro9000 or the Maxify.
I wonder if some of you folks has seen something similar with a Pro10/10s and/or if it can enlighten us in this matter.

It’s not really a big deal, but I’m curious to know if this is a ‘feature’ of the Pro10s only. As a possible clue, the ‘slow’ nozzle checks happen often (but not always ) after the printer has performed a cleaning cycle.

 

[The Hat]

It’s not really a big deal, but I’m curious to know if this is a ‘feature’ of the Pro10s only.

What way do you start a nozzle check, turn on, run a head clean then the nozzle print, or just do the nozzle print on start up, and which paper are you using copier or photo paper ?

P.S. my Maxify always does a head clean AFTER it prints a single page, but not if there is more than one page to print..

 

[stratman]

P.S. my Maxify always does a head clean AFTER it prints a single page, but not if there is more than one page to print..

I can verify this as of today. Single one-sided sheet print out after powering on caused a maintenance cycle. Subsequent singe one-sided sheet print outs AND an 9 page double sided print out without another maintenance cycle. All prints were on Plain Paper and had mixed graphics and text. Many minutes in between print jobs, too.

 

[Artur5]

Interesting what you say about the Maxify, I never noticed it. Next time I'll be paying attention to Maxie's antics.

Going back to the Pro10s, right now I printed three nozzle checks in a row. The machine has been idle since last Friday.
Previous to printing the first test sheet, a regular cleaning cycle was performed, as expected. Once the cleaning was done and the paper was feed, the nozzle check took 12 seconds to complete.
The second check was of the ‘slow’ type: 53 seconds and the third, a fast one again: 12 seconds. Of course, no additional cleaning cycles between nozzle checks,

Slow or fast checks seem to be performed randomly by the Pro10s but I’m sure it has to be a pattern for this behavior. Should I ask Canon ?

 

[The Hat]

Should I ask Canon ?

That will give them a laugh...
These Tech guys are more of “Is it turned on.. Or did you plug it in” ? ?
If you get a good answer then you’re on a roll, so then ask for the next 6 numbers…
I wouldn't trust them for directions if I was lost.. IMHO..

 

[stratman]

That will give them a laugh...

They are probably rolling on the floor doubled over in laughter today at Sprint after I spent four hours talking to six different people about cell phone drop outs. In comparison, Canon is an oasis of customer service.

For those wondering, I used my VOIP cordless phone for the call. Zero issues. and awesome sound quality like a POTS landline. Reminds me of my Maxify - it just works.

 

[Artur5]

Here we go again. This time it’s about the Maxify MB5150. I noticed it from the beginning of owning the machine. When the cable is disconnected from the wall outlet, if you plug it and then push the power button almost immediately, the printer won’t start. I calculated that you have to wait around two seconds between plugging the cable and pushing the power button in order to effectively start up the printer.

When I contact Canon’s service center ( ahemm.. ) I’ll add this paramount question to the other concerning Pro10s slow/fast nozzle checks.

 

[stratman]

the nozzle check took 12 seconds to complete.
The second check was of the ‘slow’ type: 53 seconds and the third, a fast one again: 12 seconds

What was slow about the second nozzle check?

• Pause before the paper was fed?
• A pause after the paper was fed but before the print head moved?
• A pause of the print head during printing?
• A pause after printing but before the paper was ejected?

 

[Artur5]

Total time of 53 seconds is counted after the paper is feed until it emerges at the bottom of the tray. The sequence is :

A) - Several passes of the printhead without advancing the paper.

B) - Long pause where printhead and paper remain still.

C) - Paper advances a fraction of inch.

Repeat A, B, C, etc.. until the printed sheet emerges ( after last line is printed no more pauses, paper is ejected at once).

In normal nozzle checks, there’s only one pass for each printed line and practically no pause between each pass.
As I said, is like when you print photo paper in high quality vs. plain paper in draft mode. In fact it’s almost exactly four times slower: 12 sec vs 53.

BTW My Maxify MB5150 performs nozzle checks in 8 seconds after the paper is feed. Always seven passes of the printhead, One for the black grid and one for each of the six color rows. I expect your MB5120 does likewise ?

 

[stratman]

Maybe your printer initiated a maintenance cycle when you clicked on performing a nozzle check.

That the paper advanced only a fraction of an inch repetitively, laying down ink a fraction of an inch at the same time, may indicate all is not well with your printer.

This is a definite call to Canon Tech Support if the printer is still under warranty. Even if out of warranty I would still call. You might get lucky and the Tech will talk with you.

You could uninstall the printer and it's software, reboot, and then reinstall the printer. Doubt that will help but it is a standard advice. If all else fails, if a new update for the firmware is available to you then update.

Any other issues with the operation of your computer? Make sure all cables are snug in their plugs/sockets. Check your computer for Operating System file corruption and also infections.