Have I killed my i960 printer

[Trigger 37]

From Frustrated i960 Girl

Hi I hope you can help. I love this printer, but would gladlly replace it if newer generation stuff was as good! So I keep trying to fix it!!!

History:

Started to have print banding in magenta, tried to clean, deep clean, water, windex & alcohol the printheads, looked like brief improvement, then both yellow and magenta Nozzle test revealed no pigment coming from those 2. Tried more deep cleaning, then overnight soak in alcolol, and tried to follow instructions from others on this site, and opened the printhead (gently, did not stretch the orange plastic thingy) rinsed with more water and alcohol. Blotted everything dry with paper towel, and closed it up.

Here is where the real problem started. Put back in printer, and powered on. Got green followed by 5 orange repeating message. Tried to get it to head clean, or print anything. No Luck, just 5 orange blinks. Ordered brand new printhead from Canon. Arrived today. Hopes shattered. Changed it and got same message.

Tried to get into service mode on printer ie (resume/power release resume, but hold power resume 2x, then release). It still continues with pattern if the new printhead is in. If I take the printhead out and try to initiate the service prompts I get a solid green and the end of it, and get the right colors with each service command ie 0-green,1-orange, 2-green and so on-but nothing seems to happen, and certainly none of the printing comands will work since there is no printhead.

Have I completely fried the printer? Is there anything that can be done, and do you have any idea why the new printhead doesn't work?

Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated. I rely on this baby so much!


Thanks

I need to know if there is any hope if
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To: Frustrated960girl,...From Trigger

If you got a new printhead from Canon, and you still get the 5 orange flashes when you install that head, take it out and clean the contacts. Open the cover and when the PH comes to the center, pull the power cord from the printer and leave it out for 5 minutes. Put the power cord back in and close the cover to see if the orange flashes are still there. If they are still there you have to take out the printhead and clean the contacts. Each time you want to take the printhead out, remember to pull the power cord once the carriage is in the center. Now that you have the ink carts out and the printhead out you can proceed.

Since you never get anything but the 5 orange lights, the printer has not even tried to "Prime" the printhead as of yet. It still thinks it is a bad printhead because it is not getting the correct signals when it does the power on Diagnostics.

To clean the contacts, first just use some Isopropyl Alcohol and a soft cloth on the contact on the back of the printhead. Then do the same thing to the contact in the Carriage asm. Make sure you don't pull up on the cloth and only wipe down on the contacts in the Carriage ASM. Make sure you don't leave any part of the cloth or tissue on any of the contacts. Put it back in the printer and install the ink carts. Plug the power in and close the cover.

If it still continues to fail, check your purge unit to see if it is stuck in an extended position. When you open the cover and the head comes to the center, pull the power cord out. To the far right where the PH normally is parked are to pads. These pads are pushed up to the PH when it is parked to keep the nozzles from drying out being exposed to air. The purge unit is what controls this and locks the printhead in the far right. When the printhead move to the center, the purge unit cycles the windshield wiper blades (These are very small) forward and backward under the head when it is in the far right position to wipe excess ink off of the bottom of the printhead. The purge unit also contains a very small vacuum motor that sucks ink out of the bottom of the printhead through the nozzles. It does this in two cycles, one for black ink and one for colored ink. If any part of this mechanism is jammed or stuck in any position such that it will not cycle, this will also produce the 5 orange flashes. To clean the pads & purge unit you can use an eye dropper to squirt some windex or water onto each pad such that they are flooded. Check the wiper blades to see if they are stuck extended. If they get too much ink on them they can jammer under the far front and just stay there. There is a spring that is supposed to pull the wiper blades back to the home position but it may have come off or broken. If things look very gummed up with ink in that area you can spray some Windex on it to see if you can dissolve some of the ink. Don't worry about where it goes, it will just fall to the waste ink pads below. After all, this whole area is already full of black ink.

While you are in this area, use a flash light and examine the "Timing Strip". This is a long transparent film strip with 1000s of tiny black lines. The entire strip is 1/4" wide and goes through the back of the carriage asm. It is hooked at both sides of the printer. You want to see if there is any ink spots or dirt or dust on this strip that can mess up the timing of the printer. This can also cause the carriage error. The last thing to check is the carriage ASM itself. Try moving it back and forth when the power is unplugged when you've taken the printhead out. It should move smoothly and rather easily. It should not stick in any spot or be clogged with paper or anything else.

If all of this fails, call Canon where you purchased the printhead. They may send you another printhead or they may tell you that your logic card is bad, since that is the only thing we have not tried to correct. It can go bad just like anything else and if it is bad your next option is to buy a new printer since those cards cost much more than a new printer.

Let us know the results.

 

[fustratedi960girl]

Dear Trigger 37,

Thank you so much for your help. I did everything you said (exactly), here it goes:

If you got a new printhead from Canon, and you still get the 5 orange flashes when you install that head, take it out and clean the contacts. Open the cover and when the PH comes to the center, pull the power cord from the printer and leave it out for 5 minutes. Put the power cord back in and close the cover to see if the orange flashes are still there.

DID THAT, STILL THERE!

If they are still there you have to take out the printhead and clean the contacts. Each time you want to take the printhead out, remember to pull the power cord once the carriage is in the center. Now that you have the ink carts out and the printhead out you can proceed.

DID THAT

Since you never get anything but the 5 orange lights, the printer has not even tried to "Prime" the printhead as of yet. It still thinks it is a bad printhead because it is not getting the correct signals when it does the power on Diagnostics.

ACTUALLY, I THINK THE PRINTER DOES TRY TO PRIME BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT OF "ginding/gearing" SOUND FROM IT AS THE PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY MOVES INTO PLACE. DURING THIS TIME, THE PRINTER FLASHES GREEN UNTIL IT STOPS, THEN 2 GREENS AND ALAS, THE DREADED 5 ORANGE CYCLE BEGINS...

To clean the contacts, first just use some Isopropyl Alcohol and a soft cloth on the contact on the back of the printhead. Then do the same thing to the contact in the Carriage asm. Make sure you don't pull up on the cloth and only wipe down on the contacts in the Carriage ASM. Make sure you don't leave any part of the cloth or tissue on any of the contacts. Put it back in the printer and install the ink carts. Plug the power in and close the cover.

DID THAT, STILL 5 ORANGE, 1 GREEN...

If it still continues to fail, check your purge unit to see if it is stuck in an extended position.

NOT SURE HOW TO CHECK FOR THIS, SEE THE WHITISH SQUARE SPONGE THINGY ON THE RIGHT WITH WHAT LOOK LIKE 3 RUBBER WIPERS (1 LONG, 2 SHORTER) IN FRONT OF IT AND A WHITE PLASTIC THING THAT IS HELD DOWN BY HINGES ACCROSS FROM THE WIPERS. THIS CAN BE LIFTED UP AND FLIPS DOWN WITH THE HINGE IT IS ON. ALL OF THIS AREA HAD A LOT OF BLACK GUNK WHICH I CLEANED THOROUGHLY.

When you open the cover and the head comes to the center, pull the power cord out. To the far right where the PH normally is parked are to pads. These pads are pushed up to the PH when it is parked to keep the nozzles from drying out being exposed to air. The purge unit is what controls this and locks the printhead in the far right. When the printhead move to the center, the purge unit cycles the windshield wiper blades (These are very small) forward and backward under the head when it is in the far right position to wipe excess ink off of the bottom of the printhead. The purge unit also contains a very small vacuum motor that sucks ink out of the bottom of the printhead through the nozzles. It does this in two cycles, one for black ink and one for colored ink. If any part of this mechanism is jammed or stuck in any position such that it will not cycle, this will also produce the 5 orange flashes.

To clean the pads

ARE THERE MORE THAN ONE? I ONLY SAW A 1"X 1" SQUARE AS DESCRIBED ABOVE.

& purge unit you can use an eye dropper to squirt some windex or water onto each pad such that they are flooded. Check the wiper blades to see if they are stuck extended.

ALL 3 ARE STICKING UP DOES THAT MEAN THEY'RE STUCK? THEY ARE HOWEVER CLEAN, TRANSLUCENT RUBBER NOW.

If they get too much ink on them they can jammer under the far front and just stay there. There is a spring that is supposed to pull the wiper blades back to the home position but it may have come off or broken. If things look very gummed up with ink in that area you can spray some Windex on it to see if you can dissolve some of the ink. Don't worry about where it goes, it will just fall to the waste ink pads below. After all, this whole area is already full of black ink.

While you are in this area, use a flash light and examine the "Timing Strip". This is a long transparent film strip with 1000s of tiny black lines. The entire strip is 1/4" wide and goes through the back of the carriage asm. It is hooked at both sides of the printer. You want to see if there is any ink spots or dirt or dust on this strip that can mess up the timing of the printer.

LOOKS CLEAN

This can also cause the carriage error. The last thing to check is the carriage ASM itself. Try moving it back and forth when the power is unplugged when you've taken the printhead out. It should move smoothly and rather easily. It should not stick in any spot or be clogged with paper or anything else.

GOES BACK REASONABLY EASILY, GOES SMOOTHLY

If all of this fails, call Canon where you purchased the printhead. They may send you another printhead or they may tell you that your logic card is bad, since that is the only thing we have not tried to correct. It can go bad just like anything else and if it is bad your next option is to buy a new printer since those cards cost much more than a new printer.

Let us know the results.

TRIED TO POWER ON AGAIN, GOES THROUGH ITS PRIMING GEARING SOUND AND FEEDS A SHEET OF PAPER THROUGH STILL HAS 5 ORANGE 1 GREEN SIGNAL. TRIED TO DO SERVICE COMMANDS CAN ONLY PROMPT IF PRINT CARTRIDGE IS OUT AND LID IS CLOSED, OR IF LID IS OPEN (INTERESTINGLY, IF THE LID IS OPEN WITH THE PRINTCARTRIDGE IN IT, THE GREEN LIGHT IS ON THAT WOULD NORMALLY INDICATE PRINTER IS READY AND WAITING. THIS GOES TO PROBLEM SIGNAL WHEN THE LID IS CLOSED.

I GUESS THIS ONE IS DEAD ....UNLESS THIS LITTLE BIT OF INFO HELPS IDENTIFY SOMETHING WE MISSED.

I WOULD STILL LOVE TO SALVAGE IT. IF NOT, ANYONE HAVE ADVICE ON AN APPROPRIATE REPLACEMENT? I WOULD HAVE LIKED A i8500 OR AN IP6700, BUT THEY'RE BOTH DISCONTINUED AS WELL.



THANKS AGAIN!

Frustratedi960girl

 

[Trigger 37]

Frustratedi960girl,.... I think we've tried just about every thing there is. It is either go for a new printhead, which may not fix your problem, or go for a new printer. I firmly believe this is why Canon, and all the other printer manufactureres don't provide good diagnostic help,... they would rather have you buy a new printer. The cost of the new printhead and the addition of a 1 year warranty plus the cost of 5-6 new ink carts tends to push people into new printers.

At least we tried all the things you could do. The iP4200 is still on sale at Canon. There are several i960 for sale on eBay but no telling what the final bid will end up to be. Depending on what your printing needs are you may be happy with the iP4200. Your i960 was a 6 color printer and did not do fast test because it did not have the large black ink cart. The iP4200 can do that. It does not have the Photo Magenta and the Photo Cyan as yours did but I really don't think you will be able to tell the difference in print quality because the print resolution of the iP4200 is 9600 x 2400 dpi where the i960 was only 4800 x 1200. That is half the resolution. Of course all of the new Canon printers have the chipped ink carts and if you have read some of the posts I have made you will know how to get around that issue and the consequences.

Let us know what you decide. Call Canon first and check the price of a new printhead.

 

[fustratedi960girl]

Thanks Trigger 37,

That was a new printhead. I got the same error messages with both the old and new printhead. New printhead was ~ $70.00 with delivery and tax.


My print needs are extremely high quality photo. I print most of my own stuff. rarely anything larger than 8x10, but do lots of Christmas photo cards, photos of kids, vacations etc.,... Have Canon 20d and a series of good lenses. I also print documents out as needed, but its not an "office use" I was very satisfied with the speed and quality of the i960. I already have a top quality epson scanner.

I have seen some ip6700's on ebay, would this be a better printer than the i 960?

At the start of all this, I alsmost replaced it with the MP 970, which sounded like a good printer, but reviews indicate that despite, the 6 colors, fine droplets, and high nozzle count, its photo quality was not that good. Again, would ip6700 be better?

Thanks again!

 

[Trigger 37]

fustratedi960girl, I'm sorry to hear that it was already a new printer.. I guess I screwed up and did not read that somewhere in your initial note. I tend to read to fast anyway. I can't believe you paid $70 for that head. Did you buy it from Canon or on eBay or somewhere else. My last 5 printhead from Canon were about $35 each plus 6 for shipping. This information changes the entire strategy. I'm going to send you several pages out of my i960 Repair manual such that you can take the covers off of this printer and then you can observe the insides as it goes through each cycle. You can also check the cables coming from the logic card to the Carriage ASM. I doubt that both heads are bad, and then this points to the logic card or the carriage asm. The ribbon cables that drive the printhead come directly from the logic card.

Once you get my instructions you will be able to take the printer apart and observe many things. The instructions will also tell you how to test it when the covers are off. Check the 3 flat ribbon cables to the logic board. After you have done all the suggestions I have sent you, turn the power off on the printer and check the ribbon cables. pull them out and reseat them. Do this with your thumb and fore finger very close the the connector base such that you don't bend the cable. They tend to SNAP in place once you get the correct amount of pressure. Don't force them until you get the feel for the correct pressure.

Once key thing you want to watch is the Cycle of the purge unit to make sure it is smooth and all parts are moving as they should. Let us know how it goes. Good luck

 

[mikling]

Trigger 37,

for some reason the heads for the i950, i960 are around if not more $70 and are more expensive than the heads for the newer ip6600, ip6700D which have more nozzles and finer, and presumably more difficult to manufacture. I noted this discrepancy when checking for a replacement head for my i950. At that price I deferred the purchase.

Makes me wonder if Canon is doing a supply demand pricing game where many users want to keep their i950.i960 for refillability and Canon has kept the prices up because many would be willing to pay that price????

 

[Trigger 37]

mikling,... You could be right. I've purchased about 5 heads in the last 4 months and they have all been $35,...but they were for i550, i560,i850, MP730, etc. I have not had any problem getting the lowest prices for any part from Canon.

After the very short amount of time I have been working on HP printers it has become obvious to me that HP does not design their printers for repair. This is evident from the fact they have no Service Manuals, and they will not sell any parts. If you design a printer to be a "Throw Away" when it fails, you don't need to invest the Engineering time to design it for Serviceability, nor do you need to worry about stocking parts, or the order system, or a Service Department. It is a very "Cheap" way of running a business. The Marketing department will also tell you it is good for new business,... After all, each printer that is thrown away will force someone to buy a new printer and use even more ink. HP has been gradually decreasing the amount of ink they put into each ink cart for new printers, and charging more for each new ink cart.

Epson does have Service Manuals, and they are very detailed,... however, just try and find someone who sells parts at a resonable cost. The designs of the Epson printers are similar to Canon but because CAnon takes more care in making each part replaceable, and fixable, the design evolves into a much better product. They have been doing this for years and are very good at re-using designs that they know will work for a long time. This pays off for them and the quality of their products and their customers in the long run.

On this and other forums you can go back for years and find people that are still using old canon printers with great success. I've had some old Canon printers and each one has sold for top dollar on eBay. I have some old HP printers and very few people want them because they know that they can't get parts for them. I'm supprised that they still work. Of course I've had to take them apart and clean them up to make them work. HP uses a "Service Staton" to dump there ink and not ink pads. If you think about this type of design, it was never meant to be serviced because it is too "Labor Intensive" to clean. This is nothing more than a 1" deep 3"x4" plastic box that holds the excess ink. Believe me, the ones that I have had to clean look like a greas trap in a New York resturant. Changing ink pads on a Canon takes about 5 minutes. Get the covers off and take out 2 screws and lift the carriage out and you are right down to the pads. Just lift them up and toss them away. They only cost about $5.00 a set. This is one of my "Proofs" that HP never intended to Service any printer they designed. They are the throw Away kings.

Since I'm venting I'll add one more observation. HP has gone through a lot of Senior Managment turn over and I think the core company has lost track of any traditional corporate culture that was the OLD HP. If you look at what is happening in the retail stores, HP is dumping printers everywhere trying to buy customers with low price printers and very expensive ink and a lot of marketing hype. If you go into Staples, Best Buy, OfficeDepot, etc. they are almost dominated by HP products, as they are making it much more attractive for those stores to sell "Their" products. They must be doing some discounting. The problem is this strategy can not last if you don't have the best product. Sooner or later the customer base is going to get wise and figure out what they are paying for HP, and just what kind of service they are getting.

Well,... that's all the news from LWW, where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.