Buckle your seatbelt. this is going to be a long post.
A clear, concise and accurate history is lacking.
Is the following summary reasonably accurate?
- A print head using third party inks stops printing PGBK. Several Deep Clean cycles performed. A nozzle check shows a funnel-like loss of PGBK in the center of the Lattice work printed area. Print head was then soaked and nozzle check shows PGBK completely missing.
- Print head issue unexpectedly resolves after "months". Unsure when PGBK may have returned to function as you were not printing with that cartridge.
- Some time after "normal" printing, funnel-shaped missing ink during Plain Paper text printing but with normal nozzle check.
- Cleaning cycle(s) performed without resolution.
- New PGBK cartridge used without resolution of the funnel-like missing PGBK ink on Plain Paper, though PGBK is still printing otherwise.
- Print head soaked. PGBK now no longer printing at all.
The timeline above seems to follow a pattern from no issues, to funnel-shaped loss of PGBK ink issue, to complete loss of PGBK ink issue. That the complete loss of PGBK ink on two occasions follows your soaking routine would seem to point that your soaking routine is related.
However, if the issue arose from an electrical short due to inserting a still moist print head into the printer then I would not expect a return to use of the PGBK as happened before.
If this issue were due to overuse of cleaning cycles, easily done with more than 2 Deep Clean cycles in a 24 hour period per a Canon Tech I spoke with long ago as I wrote in an earlier post - than I would think any self-repairing would have taken place in much less time than "
months" (the time you said it took to go from not working to return of working).
However, we do not know when the PGBK returned to function because you had switched to settings other than Plain Paper to make black text for months. If the issue were one of overheating due to multiple Deep Clean cycles (plus whatever else adding to the issue) AND the print head just needed a rest THEN maybe the same thing is occurring now. Again, I would expect a faster resolution of the issue after a day or two of rest.
It is possible that if some component was damaged in your manipulations of the print head (or the carrier) and over time "straightened" itself out to make proper contact, but I would think this quite rare without a concerted effort on your part to "realign" whatever was disrupted.
As to a complete clog occurring during your soaking session -- well, we need more information on your exact procedure - all the steps as best you can recall -in order to say more.
Possible cause does not mean
probable cause of your issue. The timing of your soaking, though, cannot be overlooked.
If you are using the same ink that you were refilling with when you first had a problem a
year ago then this might increase the potential for new or more clogging.
A sudden complete loss ink loss despite sufficient ink and a new cartridge usually points to an electrical malfunction in the print head, logic assay board or both. In the realm of other possibilities are a connection issue between cartridge and print head (take out cartridge and reseat in print head) OR a print head contact issue (take out print head and clean electrical contacts on both the print head and print head carrier with a soft pencil eraser or a lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol).
I wrote you could try a PGBK Deep Clean cycle, not several, if you thought this might be a massive clog, because you have little to lose at this point. A single deep clean in 24 hours is generally OK. Just follow the guidelines I wrote, which include resting the print head afterwards. However, as your print head may be "sensitive" to changes, I might only try flushing/soaking/drying, cleaning electrical contacts, and nozzle checks for now. I might use one or two Regular Clean cycles only to see if some ink printed or if there is some ink printing and clean to see if that could be improved. I would also let the printer sit over night to see if time, gravity and dissolving properties of the fluid ink can melt away any clogging.
(when the funnel-shaped loss of ink occurred - stratman said he found it surprising that the could be loss of ink followed by a normal-looking nozzle check).
Go back and read my post on this. Not so surprising if the ink loss was due to ink starvation from either an "empty" cartridge or, despite sufficient quantity in the cartridge, ink that poorly transits through the cartridge's sponge for one reason or another.
Now that I have reviewed this thread, you once had an abnormal PGBK nozzle check that exhibited the same funnel-shaped ink loss as we've seen in an image of a document you printed. Repetitive intermittent patterns of funnel-shaped ink loss would be an odd event if caused by an electrical failure IMO. Electrical failures are either OFF or ON. The loss would be consistent line to line, at least in one direction of the print head pass if not both directions across the page. Instead we see an intermittent funnel-shaped loss consistent with temporary insufficient ink flow to that nozzle(s) that recovers. This could be due to poor ink flow through the sponge plus or minus a budding clog.
I don't know. It successfully ran out of ink, so I guess it was okayish.
This is confusing. Please be more specifid/detailed in your reply if possible.
- Did the printer have any issues?
- What does "It successfully ran out of ink" mean?
- What does "it was okayish" mean?
The real question is: I have just acquired another second-hand iP4200, and its head is currently soaking away. Perhaps I may be able to restore it to life. @PeterBJ's stamp test seems to suggest it's not the logic board that's at fault. Should I try inserting the 'new' head into my original printer?
Did you try printing with the "new" 4200? If so, what happened?
I advise you detail your soaking routing, including how you will prepare the print head to be dry before inserting in a printer.
Unless there is a reason NOT to use the printer the "new" print head came from, then I advise you first try it in its original printer, not your current problematic printer. Then report back results on the thread and include a scanned and
cropped nozzle print. Do not print anything other than nozzle prints until it is normal or advised otherwise. Do not do any cleanings until advised otherwise.
As to warnings about cross electrical malfunctions between a print head and a printer's logic assay board... these appear to be quite rare events per reporting on the forum. Possible but not probable from the forum's collective experiences. Still, we state the caveat to more fully educate members of potential additional issues.
For now, do not swap print heads until further advice.
