i865 Print Head Dead or Dirty?

[Raymond]

Hi everyone,
I was starting to experience problems with the quality of the print on my i865 so i did the usual deep clean, change ink, etc and nothing seemed to fix the problem, so I went searching and found this very informative forum. I read a number of posts in relation to cleaning the head, etc so I thought that I didn't really have much to loose seeing as my colour print quality was poor (Photo's had a green tinge). My resulting prints are below.



(This was printed on the clean side of a used sheet, to the images that aren't supposed to be there like at the bottom, are on the other side)




After Cleaning (Soaking for 24 hours in water until no more bleeding of colour (Mainly Blue), I pulled the creamic head off and there was no colour inside, so I gently blew it out with compressed air, put it all back together and put it back in the printer once completely dry and the following test prints resulted.





Any assistance and advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

 

[The Hat]

Raymond
Your first problems looked like an ink flow problem but I could be wrong.
What ink and cartridges are you using as they are more likely to have being your original problem.
Now that you have taken your print head apart its not going to work to well from now on.
I would recommend you get a new print head and clean out your cartridges or dump them for new ones and start again..

 

[Raymond]

Hi The Hat,
sounds like it's time to replace the printer... (Head is almost as expensive than a new printer)

Genuine Canon Cartridges, but using after market ink.

Thanks for your input...

 

[joseph.jiang2010]

Hello Raymond,

According to my experience, if you still have the same problem after trying other ink cartridges. It seems that you should get a new printer instead of changing a Head for your old printer. I will suggest you check out Staples. They have the pritner Brother 6490 which is good. I use it for a while with the cheapest compatible ink. No problem at all.

 

[The Hat]

Raymond
Yes its old but theres life in the old dog yet if you want.
The new generation of printers are not a patch on the old pre chipped printers.
I know the price of a print head, I just got one a couple of months ago and believe me its being money well spent just to have my i865 working like new again.
I wouldnt be too quick to dump that old printer just yet.
Have you never asked yourself why new printers are so cheap? :|

 

[qwertydude]

When we say the print head is removable we don't mean you can remove the nozzles. Just the entire head assembly. Time for a new printer, no need for a new print head because yo risk possibly risking burning out the new print head because you can't tell the damage you did to the printer by installing a broken print head.

 

[Wondering_Mike]

so i did the usual deep clean, change ink, etc and nothing seemed to fix the problem, so I went searching

Hi Raymond,

looks like an inkflow problems to me. What I was wondering have you tried a cleaning cartridge (a cartridge with cleaning solution)?

Of have you tried new cartridges? They are expensive I know but a lot cheaper than a new printhead. I've read around (on other fora, sorry guys) but in 1 or 2 cases it will have been the cause/solution to the problem


Good luck, Raymond!

 

[The Hat]

qwertydude because you can't tell the damage you did to the printer by installing a broken print head.

If the printer was damaged by reinstalling the old print head then the printer would not print anything at all and it clearly does..

 

[Raymond]

The Hat:
Raymond
Yes its old but theres life in the old dog yet if you want.
The new generation of printers are not a patch on the old pre chipped printers.

When my first i865 died (The bottom half of the Cyan test print line was lighter than the one above and now that I have foudn this forum and pulled the head off, I understand what could have been the problem) I bought an ip4500. This died in exactly the same way in just under 2 years. So I kept an eye out on eBay for an i865 or ip4500 and picked up an i865 for $20. This is the one with the dead head in it now, 1800 pages and 6 months later. So I do understand where you're coming from...

qwertydude
When we say the print head is removable we don't mean you can remove the nozzles.

There are details instructions on this forum which I followed, (http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=241) it's easy to say now, but I should have tried the test print after I let it soak for 24 hours in water and before I took it apart, but then again, when I blew it out gently, a chunk of solid ink came out of the plastic side of the assembly fro the photo black...

Wondering_Mike
looks like an inkflow problems to me. What I was wondering have you tried a cleaning cartridge (a cartridge with cleaning solution)?

No, I soaked it for 24 hours in water until no more bleeding occurred when I placed the head on a lint free paper towel.

Wondering_Mike
Of have you tried new cartridges?

Yes, I used up all of the yellow in the "deep cleaning" processes too...

The Hat
If the printer was damaged by reinstalling the old print head then the printer would not print anything at all and it clearly does..

I learnt that the hard way with my first i865 I now have 4 of them in the house in various conditions. The one we are discussing now I have NOT put any other head in there for fear of this happening... And I won't put this head into another machine and then return it to here either.