Clogged Canon print head

rbaer

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My i9900 also stopped printing black this week. While searching for help, I came across this thread.

In regard to the instructions on how to disassemble and clean the i9900 print head...

This worked exactly as described above. However, I had already destroyed the integrated circuit, so I had little to lose.

After disassembly, I did observer that if you hold the ceramic print head up to a bright light, you can actually see through it and see where the clog is, if the head itself is clogged. This was a surprise!

I also discovered that a syringe that comes full of thermal paste with a cpu chip is the perfect size to fit both over the nozzles on the bottom of the plastic base piece and over the sponges on the top of the plastic base! Of course you have to clean it out first! This makes it easy to gently flush the plastic piece from both directions. I flushed it with alcohol. My black had been severely clogged. I found that after a couple gentle flushes in both directions that the clog dissolved. I also found that under gentle pressure on the syringe, alcohol should flow freely and squirt out of the other side. If it does not, flush a few more times and it will. As it turns out, three other colors were slightly clogged.

On re-assembly, I found that the circuit board will just stick on the four posts, just not as tight as it had been.

Finally, I found that Precision Roller sells replacement print heads for $109.50. Ordered today - if I have any trouble with them, I'll post a followup.

http://www.precisionroller.com/category.php?curr_page=2

But as Grandfather noted above, an ounce of prevention is far better than having to worry about the print head at all!

With less expensive refill options, I'll be sure to print more frequently.

Thanks for all the great info and suggestions!
 

digitalartist71

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nice ideas guys... but unfortuneatley my black portion in my iP3000 is still clogged after tear down...BUT, i need to get a syringe and try that method.

i took it all apart, soaked in windex etc and still clogged...it's gonna need some pressure. doens;t seem the head is clogged, but the the part that feeds the head. (screen to output hole).

i am betting the pigmented black cart caused this...i get them from http://www.summitimage.com/ less than $1 each!

: )
 

digitalartist71

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well...took back apart...used a medicine syringe to flush out the heads... got great flow...

but..

put back in....ran a ink test... got a slight amount of black printing....then again..little more...then again...then it strarted disappearing...until no black "fence post" test. uggh.

syrenged again without taking apart this time..... ran fence post test.... back to start again.

i am giving up for a bit.... rather disappointed in the new pixma heads.... was just gonna give away my S600...but looks like i will be keeping it for now...what a shame...like the borderless printing.

seems when the printer trys to feed the black ink to the nozzles it is backflowing...i am guessing the nozzles in the black ink just aren;t worth a damn. colors do fine...the pigment black it the problem...u can see the particles... i will try a genuine black cart. next time i go to the store and see how that $15 flushes down the drain.

ps.. also made sure to screw back together tight....so the gasket would seal...don't want all the colors to run togetehr and leak out.
 

rbaer

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If you can scrape together two more quarters per cartridge, I've had great luck so far with the products from TylerMartin.com. A six-pack of is just $9.99. So for a six-pack of all eight colors with shipping my bill was just $86.00. Come to think of it, that's the same price as ONE six-pack of Canon original cartridges. So buy one, get seven free - sounds like a deal to me!

Yes, these are very tiny holes and very subject to particles of any kind in the ink. Don't forget that this is dye-based ink and it isn't expecting any pigment particles. I read a couple articles where people were having trouble with mold spores in the ink from one particular vendor - it was clogging the head for one particular color. It's that sensitive!

Hope you get it going!
 

digitalartist71

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hmmm...maybe next time i tear it down...i'll use alcohol and see if that will do it. seems it gets cleared up for a moment, but once the printer feeds the ink from the cart...it's screwed again. maybe the cheap black carts really do suck?
 

digitalartist71

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tried alchol... didn't make any differnce...

used syringe and warm water to flush ink out without taking apart.... then used finger nail polish remover (cutex comparable brand). reflushed with warm water...put back in...got the most printing of black this method...could print about 10 pages of the ink test unitl the black strating geting clogged again.

took back out flushed with remover again, let sit in some for a few hours...decided to take apart and refluch with remover.... noticed this time that the black ink had leaked out of the side of the gasket between plastic and head nozzles. so no wonder no ink was getting to the nozzles. put back together , tightened a bit more hoping this time it work much better... got no black ink again.

i am about to give up on it and just get another head, and not use after market BLACK carts....since the pigments are building up in the nozzles or something...the colors are fine...nozzles are very clear...black is a problem. might just get a newer canon printer that can use aftermarket inks...i don't like throwing money waway on ink . i swore by canons before...but this ip3000 has really ticked me. may go back to epson..but since the nozzles are even smaller...may have even more third party ink problems than ever before?
 

digitalartist71

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ps... the remover was n ot caustic enough to do any damage to any of the parts...even the gasket did not melt. i could imagine a solvent such as laquer thinner would melt plastic and dry out rubber parts...so wouldn't recommend anything that strong.

i am almost wondering if it may be possible to use SOLVENT inks in these canon heads..since they seem to hold up to finger nail polish remover. then you could print on vinyls, plastics and uncoated materials.
 

rbaer

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Sounds like you're making progress. I agree - I'd stick with the colored ink and go for a better black. I'm still doing well with the TylerMartin.com inks. I have an i9900. If you need a new head, you might try PrecisionRoller.com - they were about half of Canon's price and it's a genuine Canon printhead. The i9900 is still highly rated for color accuracy. Canon just yesterday announced a new line of pro printers that use their new 100 year inks. We'll see how they look.
 

digitalartist71

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i would be guessing the new 100 year inks are pigment versus dye? and would require different types of media to work..and the color gamut less than dye, and basically not as vibrant?

when i chose a printer a few years ago...i tried a EPSON with DuraBrite water proof ink and Canon with the dye inks i use now... HUGE differnce in color vibrance... the durabrites definately looked very dull in comparsin, but yes, they do last longer which obviously is important.

i may just buy another head.
 

hpnetserver

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Pigment is basically a large number of faded dyes grouped together to form a much larger molecule called pigment. The faded dyes on the surface of the pigment forms a protective layer that blocks gas and UV from further damaging the dyes beneath the surface so that the pigment will become more fade resistant. The problem is the surface layer is already faded. That's the reason pigments do not have the vibrancy dyes have. Well, technically it may be more complean than that but basically it is why pigment is fade resisting and long lasting without vibrancy. So should we call it faded dyes rather than pigments? Pardon me if I am wrong. I just feel the new pro printers Canon just annouced is a big step going backwards. Get your i9900 and ip8500 while you still can.
 
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