i 9950 ink starvation

[Saphire]

Hi
"I have a problem with my Canon i9950 printer. Before printing a photo, I do a nozzle check and it's fine. However, during printing, the output gets banding, striped, and the nozzles become clogged. When I check the nozzle again, I find that the Photo cyan and/ or Photo magenta has some clogged nozzles. To troubleshoot, I print some small rectangles with cyan and magenta on photo paper and perform nozzle checks, which yields better results each time. After I get good nozzle check and start print photo again, I get the same issue with clogged nozzles during printing. Even after running the cleaning cycle in maintenance, the nozzle check pattern worsens."
I using only orginal Canon inks 6. And i change new ones PM and PC always same problem.

 

[Saphire]

Here are the bandigs in first picture, second picture is printed recentagles(attempt1 and atempt2) just after photo1. and third picture is printed recentagles after 5 attempts. black strikes are because I unchecked paper abrasion.
same thing with nozzle check.

 

[Artur5]

Knowing Canon, I’d guessed beforehand that they discontinued the BCI6 inks years ago. It’s a surprise that they’re still manufacturing these cartridges. Are you sure that it isn’t old stock past the expiration date ?. That would explain your issues.

Supposing the carts are made recently then the problem must be in the printhead. Have you tried to perform a deep cleaning ?. If not, do it, BUT ONLY ONCE.
If a deep cleaning won’t help, I suspect that your printhead exhibits similar symptoms to the ones discussed in the Pro10 thread. Progressive clogging of the internal ink channels, so the printhead can’t cope with big demands of ink. For what you say it’s a recurrent issue, no matter if you replace the cartridge. Therefore, the only fix would be a new printhead ( same as the one used by the Pro9000 ), Sadly, this printhead was discontinued long ago. You’ll find only refurbished units at Ebay/Amazon, which I wouldn’t recommend at all, because it’s a gamble with very small chances of success.

Sorry, not good news, If it serves of consolation, your i9950 must be one of the last survivors of the species still working (sort of ..)

 

[Saphire]

. I have a stock of old Canon 6-ink cartridges, and I've also used 8-ink cartridges and some others (I'm not sure which ones exactly). I read a previous thread about a similar problem, but unlike that case, I don't have issues with colors printing out of rectangles. My print head is 2 years old and I've replaced it a few times in this printer. I have a spare brand new print head (for the Pro9000), but I won't install it until I'm sure the current head is faulty. I have experience with print head failures, where one or more colors are affected. I've tried deep cleaning the print head once, but it made the results worse. I even managed to print two good pictures after replacing the Photo Cyan ink. Should I replace all the new ink cartridges? Should I remove the print head and soak it in warm water?"

Also i didn't have any problem before and using all the time same stock of ink.

 

[The Hat]

I using only orginal Canon inks 6. And i change new ones PM and PC always same problem.

Your issues are very unusual while using OEM inks, so there are a few thing you can do before you panic and dump the printer for good.

Try soaking the print head in 5cm of warm water, and add bit of washing up liquid into it (Fairy) cover the ink inlets too, change the water after about 5 hours and then leave to soak overnight.

While your soaking your print head, flood the purge unit (Parking station) with window cleaner and then close the lid, when the machine goes quiet check that all of the liquid has been cleared and the pads are dry, now do the same again and let the printer sit.

Next day dry the print head thoroughly, then put it in a warm place to clear all the moisture out of it, then reinsert the print head into the carriageway and close the lid, now it will ask for the carts to be fitted, do so.

First thing is to run a nozzle check then a test print and see if all your problems are resolved, when using these carts change them once the low ink warning comes up, don’t wait until empty..

I have a i9950 since 2010 and it works great on 3rd party inks,(CLI-8) but like you once the print head dies the printer will be useless.. I hope your successful..

 

[Artur5]

Nice to hear that you have a brand new spare printhead. A wise move to get it when they were still available.
Anyway if those BCI6 carts are quite old, possibly this is part of the issue. Even if they're Canon OEM, after several years of storage, the ink and/or the sponges in some of them might be already in suboptimal condition. Dye inks are more vulnerable than pigment to fungi/bacteria and other contaminants. That may affect inkflow inside the cartridge and inside the printhead.
Apart from cleaning the printhead, I'd inspect the carts that give you trouble, to see if there's something unusual in the ink or the sponges.

 

[The Hat]

Anyway if those BCI6 carts are quite old, possibly this is part of the issue. Even if they're Canon OEM, after several years of storage,

It’s almost impossible to get any bacteria inside a new cart, they fill them using hot ink which neutralises anything that may cause issues, however they are subject to ink thickening when left for a long time in hot conditions, give them a good shaking before use can prevent a lot of issues. CLI-8’s might be a better buy..
Store in cool room helps..

 

[Saphire]

The Hat is open mine eyes. I think is the purge unit problem. Now things getting even worse.
One pad soak water immediately and another is like pool. I have problems only when printing the photos.
I had same defect years ago on another printer. So now i will do same thing on this
Post in thread 'micro banding' https://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/micro-banding.9038/post-74395
Also first printer is still alive, only it can't feed paper properly.