I think it's a Canon print head flaw

[Tin Ho]

I have had my ip4300 for at least 6 months. Everything worked fine until I got some empty PGI-5 cartridges and refilled them. The used empty PGI-5 cartridges may have been put aside for a long time before I got them. I found that these dried PGI-5 cartridges won't work when refilled. Nozzle check showed some missing segments whick means clogging. Cleaning cycles actually made the clogging worse. There would be more missing segments in the nozzle check. This was not good but I could blame myself for trying to reuse used empty PGI-5 cartridges. I probably should have refilled the empty PGI-5 with a purging done first. The problem is when I replaced such PGI-5 cart with a previously working one (it still worked 5 minutes ago before I plugged in the refilled one) it too showed a clogging from nozzle check. No cleaning cycles could clear the clog. Replaced the PGI-5 cart yet with another working one still no go. The large text print head became badly clogged. It looked like it was going to stop printing soon because the text became segmented and got lighter when I continue to print.

Frankly I was surprised that by using a refilled used empty PGI-5 would result in a clog like that. If you have an ip4300 and your PGI-5 has lasted a long time. Before you finally replace it if you go traveling for a few weeks you may return to discover that your ip4300 becomes clogged in the text
print head. At that point even if you buy a new PGI-5 it would not fix it. Although this is not exactly what happened to my ip4300 but based on what has happened to me this could happen to anyone's ip4300. Isn't this a flw in the design of Canon printer?

I reacted quickly and soaked the print head with Windex which was very effective to unclog it. I discovered that if I do a purging of the empty PGI-5 then it would rfill and work flawlessly. What a big difference it made. But I wonder if anyone has run into this problem as I did?

 

[mikling]

Your problem is not unique to the PGI-5. It is probably an issue that some users run into and wonder what hit them.
The issue is compatibility of different inks. This can be pigment/pigment or dye/pigment combinations.

I suspect that the inks that were initially in the printhead are incompatible with the inks that you used to refill. Each by themself would work fine but when mixed, gelling or separation could occur. It is always a good idea that if you don't know whether or not the previous ink was compatible with the new, then you should test by mixing and carefully observing the results. If you don't want to do that then it is best you stick with what you know works or purging the whole system of the old inks and starting fresh.

By purging the tanks you have removed most traces of the old ink and then the new ink is thus pure.... and it works.

A few years ago, I ran into this when trying to refill an HP45 cartridge with aftermarket inks and after a few days the whole filter screen and nozzles caked up. I later discovered the ink I got from Costco was not compatible with the OEM pigment ink. I learned the hard way.

I suspect it is not a flaw on the part of the printer but something to do with the ink combinations of some type.

 

[Tin Ho]

It has nothing to do with the compatibility of the 3rd party ink I used. I refilled my working PGI-5 with the same ink without any problems. The problem only occurred to empty used PGI-5 that has dried up after sitting in someone's bookshelf for a while. I have a couple of such and everyone of them had this problem. It was a painful lesson to realize that. But once purging is done they can be refilled and they will work just fine. I have not done purging to my own working PGI-5. It has been refilled with the same ink and it works just fine.

This makes me wonder if my working PGI-5 is low in ink and if I go away for vacation for a while. When I return and power up my ip4300 to print my dried PGI-5 may clog up my print head. The cart is not yet completely empty but low in ink. During the vacation the sponge in it may dry out and block up the sponge. I could replace it with a new one. But I am afraid if it has already clogged my print head a new one will not revived it. If I am a novice printer user I would probably think my printer is broken.

Isn't this a flaw in the product? My question is has anyone seen this?

 

[jimwejimwe]

Tin HO
I posted some time back about my mp 510 burning the heads and one of the fine fellows asked if I smelt the paper burning. I think your description is better segments missing. I'm not sure what caused the problem but to hear of someone else now having a similar problems deepens my fears that if we don't buy cartridges big daddy will have us buying printheads.
My frist question is did you check if the cartridge, did it allowed ink to flow through? Open the fill port and see if it drips.
Have you tried to back flush the print head or wash it out?
In my case the print heads remained consistent no amount of cleaning changed any thing, still segments missing. Even when the print head was moved to a different printer the test pattern remained the same. Because the head was defective I washed it with pure Ammonia pure methol hydrate flushed until no color came out at all 20 minutes under the tap with warm water. the head printed the same test pattern after all that, as when I started. Only mine was the cyan.

 

[Tin Ho]

Jimwe, my printer's problem is in the big text print head that uses PGI-5 ink. I have been able to unclog it I think because I discovered the clog very early almost at the time it occurred.

It's natural to suspect if it was the ink that wasn't compatible first. But I had used the same pigmented ink in my first PGI-5 which came with the printer. I almost used it every day without any problems. The problem started with some used empty PGI-5 I got. These PGI-5s can only differ from mine in that they were probably laid around for a long while before I got them. But they were not really completely dried. I could still wick some ink out of the exit hole using a piece of tissue paper. They were laid around for probably a long while for sure.

These PGI-5s quickly resulted in missing segments in the nozzle check when I refilled them with the same ink. Luckily the clog was easily cleared by a quick soaking and rinsing of the print head with water and Windex. I could continue to use my own PGI-5 which had been refilled a few times without problems and no missing segments would return. But whenever I switch to one of those dried PGI-5 the missing segments symptom would return within a few pages of text printed.

What was really troublesome was switching to my working PGI-5 would not clear the clog. I had to soak the print head to unclog. Then it would work just fine with my working PGI-5.

I eventually realized that if I purge the dried PGI-5 before refilling it would work fine too. The purging processes introduced by many forum members are very effective. All my free dried PGI-5s worked if they were purged before refilling.

So my question is what if my working PGI-5 is low ink ink level and I take a long vacation. The PGI-5 cart probably will become bone dry when I return from the vacation. Will it clog my print head when I contine to use it after returning from my vacation? If the answer is yes this should be considered as a design flaw of the printer. A lot of people do not use their printers on a daily basis. They can run into a clog if their PGI-5s are low ink ink level and continue to keep them in their printers for too long.