How to tell if you have a damaged print head CANON ...then what?

[Amy]

I have a Canon MX860 that will not print the black (PGBX) after repeated print head cleanings (and deep cleaning). IT will also not show columns C&D on the printer alignment sheet. Basically, nothing shows up where the gridlines shoud print on the print test sheet next to the PGBX. The cartridge is inserted properly and has ink in it. Does this mean I have a damaged print head? Should I just buy a new printer? Thanks

 

[qwertydude]

The only way to tell for sure is if you know the ink flows properly to the printhead. The easiest way is to try a new oem cartridge. If it still doesn't work with a new oem then most likely it's shot. Also it may have some contact issues. Remove the print head and make sure the contacts are clean, rubbing them with a pink eraser usually does a good job of cleaning contacts. Reinsert and try again. If all that fails you need a new print head or usually it's almost better to just buy a new printer.

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the response. I just replaced the ink this Summer and didn't use the printer much before I started having problems. I tried the cleaning you suggested but it didn't work. Rather than try more new ink, I think I need a new printer, which is a shame because I didn't use this all that much. For now, I am just using a red font to print in so I can at least review what my docs look like printed. Unfortunately, I probably shouldn't submit a red resume anywhere. Thanks.

 

[qwertydude]

With that further description of events I bet you just have a clogged up print head. If you know the printer worked before there's also another thing you can try, a manual cleaning. Sounds like you let the ink dry up in the printer from disuse. Remove the print head and turn it upside down and place a few drops of windex on the black ink print head. The black print head is the smaller skinnier one next to the color ones. Drip just enough to cover the silver portion, it should dissolve some black within a few minutes and sometimes even get sucked into the print head. Then you can get a thick pile of paper towels moistened generously with windex blot the print head on the paper towel. After that let the print head soak on the paper towels moistened with windex and drip windex carefully on the metal inlet screens. You should see the windex get sucked into the prinhead, it will eventually get sucked into the paper towels. I would then let it rest on the windex soaked paper towels for a few hours or even overnight. Do this and I bet you'll recover that dried up printhead and if it doesn't work well you haven't lost anything but a little time and windex.

Also with the old cartridge the ink probably dried up in that cartridge too. You can recover it some by dripping windex in the cartridge outlet. It should rehydrate the ink and bust up any clogs and it'll act sort of like a cleaning cartridge when you reinstall it. If all this works you're probably better off buying a new cartridge after recovering the print head unless you want to get into the more serious side of refilling and learn to purge cartridges.

 

[Amy]

Thanks again. Unfortunately, at this point, I now need to go buy new ink for almost every cartridge. I can buy a new Brother InkJet for $70. That is what I paid for ink the last time I purchased new ink in the summer and then barely printed anything except test pages after cleaning print heads.

 

[qwertydude]

Since it seems you don't print all that much might I suggest an HP printer. The nice thing about these is the ones with the tri-color cartridges and black cartridges are very inexpensive to purchase and are the easiest to refill. Plus if you don't happen to use them and the cartridges get clogged you simply buy a new cartridge and it comes with fresh print heads.

 

[Amy]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will see what HP's are inexpensive but good. It's a shame the Canon ink is so expensive - it just seems futile to continue to try to work on the print heads when I can get a new printer for the price of ink replacements. Thanks

 

[qwertydude]

Yeah Canon inks are pricey and even worse is with every new generation of printer you you get worse quality.