IP4600 possable head problem...opinions please

[PeterBJ]

You leave service mode by turning the printer off using its On/Off button. Then close the service tool by clicking the red X in the upper right corner of its window. Next time you turn the printer on it will be back in user mode.

If the print head checks out 100% OK, I suspect the ink is at fault. Red is a mixture of magenta and yellow. If the magenta is too weak and/or the yellow too strong the mixed colour will be orange instead of red. Could your magenta refill ink be photo magenta in stead of regular magenta?

 

[stoppage]

There's absolutely no question of the ink being at fault here.....it's a quality ink from "Südhaus", I've been using it for years, also in my other printer Canon MG5150 and it prints a perfect red. By the way, I've installed the IP4600 on my other computer and it shows exactly the same problem.......red printing as orange

 

[PeterBJ]

If your MG5150 prints red OK with the same ink set, i suggest to compare the nozzle tests for the two printers. I guess the cyan and magenta stripes will be the same strength for the MG5150, this would then suggest an iP4600 print head problem to me.

 

[stoppage]

Cayen and magenta stripes in the MG5150 are both the same strength, the magenta is much stronger than in the IP4600. Currently looking at prices for a new printhead. On installing, do I need to do any sort of alignment test?

It’s not very clear from scanner but included is IP4600 test print in service mode.

 

[PeterBJ]

Congratulations with entering service mode and using the service tool to produce the test print. Well done . You could try improving the scan by tweaking the scanner settings, for instance reducing light and increasing contrast. You might find a settting that makes the test pattern more visible. You can also crop the scan and use a higher resolution, the whole test print is not needed, only this area, I think your extended nozzle check should look like this if 100% OK.:

An electronic failure in the print head will show a regular geometric pattern, clogging will show a random pattern. I had expected to see magenta test stripes like this:

It is very hard to see, but I see only a random pattern no geometric pattern in the missing nozzles. This means that most likely @The Hat is right and the print head is severely clogged and that cleaning the print head might help. As the print head seems to not be damaged electrically, chances are good that a new print head will bring the printer back to good working order,if cleaning is no success. If you clean the print head outside the printer, be sure it is completely dry before reinstalling it. Water left where it does not belong especially behind the circuit board on the backside of the print head can kill not only the print head but also the the logic board, making the printer a total loss. If you can find a new print head for a reasonable price is another question.

The D-value of 83.2 means that the ink absorbers are getting full, 100 means the absorbers are completely full and the printer will be locked. You will then need to change or wash the absorbers and reset the D-value using the service tool. See this druckerchannel article for changing absorbers on your printer.

The high D-value means that your printer most likely has printed a lot of pages. Could you print the EEPROM info page from service mode and upload it? The hex dump in smaller print at the bottom of the page is not needed.

 

[stoppage]

Congratulations with entering service mode and using the service tool to produce the test print. Well done . You could try improving the scan by tweaking the scanner settings, for instance reducing light and increasing contrast. You might find a settting that makes the test pattern more visible. You can also crop the scan and use a higher resolution, the whole test print is not needed, only this area, I think your extended nozzle check should look like this if 100% OK.:

View attachment 4271

An electronic failure in the print head will show a regular geometric pattern, clogging will show a random pattern. I had expected to see magenta test stripes like this:

View attachment 4272

It is very hard to see, but I see only a random pattern no geometric pattern in the missing nozzles. This means that most likely @The Hat is right and the print head is severely clogged and that cleaning the print head might help. As the print head seems to not be damaged electrically, chances are good that a new print head will bring the printer back to good working order,if cleaning is no success. If you clean the print head outside the printer, be sure it is completely dry before reinstalling it. Water left where it does not belong especially behind the circuit board on the backside of the print head can kill not only the print head but also the the logic board, making the printer a total loss. If you can find a new print head for a reasonable price is another question.

The D-value of 83.2 means that the ink absorbers are getting full, 100 means the absorbers are completely full and the printer will be locked. You will then need to change or wash the absorbers and reset the D-value using the service tool. See this druckerchannel article for changing absorbers on your printer.

The high D-value means that your printer most likely has printed a lot of pages. Could you print the EEPROM info page from service mode and upload it? The hex dump in smaller print at the bottom of the page is not needed.

Trying to improve scan is a real pain. EEPROM readings are in Attach, thanks for the info about the absorber. I' ve already given the printhead a thorough cleaning/overnight soak

 

[PeterBJ]

Trying to improve scan is a real pain.....

I guess you used the scanner in the MG5150. I also have an MG5150 bought from a thrift store, so I tried scanning some extended nozzle checks with this CIS scanner and an Epson V33 CCD scanner. The Canon CIS scanner is no good for this job, no amount of tweaking the scanner settings could produce a decent scan of the nozzle checks.
See this for the CIS scanner, click to enlarge: and for the CCD scanner, click to enlarge:

Both scans show the same extended nozzle checks for a MG5150 before and after cleaning the print head. Both scans were made with the lowest resolution 72 and 75 dpi and with no enhancements done in the scanner driver settings.

The way I cleaned the MG5100 print head was by attaching small pieces of car/auto mobile sprinkler hose to the ink inlets and wedge the print head into a plastic tray so the bottom of the print head did not touch the bottom of the tray. The tray was filled with enough of window cleaner with ammonia to touch the bottom of the print head, but not more. The vinyl sprinkler tubes were also filled with the window cleaner. See this,click to enlarge:


Another method that has also worked well for me is found here. Both "pharmacists cleaning solution" and a window cleaner with ammonia "Ajax" from Colgate-Palmolive works well for print head cleaning.

When cleaning a print head outside the printer, it is very important that it is not reinstalled before it is completely dry. Water where it does not belong can cause a leakage current that can destroy not only the print head but also the logic board. see this and this.

The printer uses the QY6-0072 print head that is still available from regular dealers, so you can trust that it is new and unused, not a used and maybe defective one that has been cleaned and repackaged. Beware of print head offers from the Far East.

The part number for the absorbers is QY5-0234. Google found a British seller. The absorbers can also be washed by hand (and rubber gloves) and dried and reused.

...EEPROM readings are in Attach...

I wanted this to see how many pages the printer had done. I expected 10 to 20 thousand pages printed, not only around two thousand pages with a D-Value of 83. I noticed "CH=013" which means the print head has been installed 13 times or removed and reinstalled 12 times. Notice that the cleaning after the print head is reinstalled causes the D-Value to sky-rocket.

I don't know if it would be a good idea to buy a new print head for the printer, as you will soon need to change or wash the absorbers. But with the low page count, the printer is most likely not very worn mechanically, so maybe it deserves a new print head if the cleaning fails? If the cleaning of the print head causes an electronic failure, it is very risky to install a new print head. You risk ruining the new print head.

 

[The Hat]

@Peter, I do like the way you have attached the tubing to the ink inlets for cleaning purposes.

But when using this method it is better to fit a empty syringe to the tubing and pull a vacuum while the bottom of the head is still immerse in the cleaning solution, that way your not forcing liquid into the head but pulling it up through and out.

Just my 2 cent..

 

[stoppage]

I wanted this to see how many pages the printer had done. I expected 10 to 20 thousand pages printed, not only around two thousand pages with a D-Value of 83. I noticed "CH=013" which means the print head has been installed 13 times or removed and reinstalled 12 times. Notice that the cleaning after the print head is reinstalled causes the D-Value to sky-rocket.

The printhead has not been installed/reinstalled 13 times in this printer. This is not the original printhead, I bougt it used from an ebay-dealer, at that stage the printhead had another problem not related to the current dilemma. Are EEPROM readings related only to statistics taken from the current printhead or are they an accurate reflection of total pages used (is this TPAGE?) and the installation/replacement of printhead in this printer? I’m thinking maybe I can safely reset the D_Value? Thanks for your patience

 

[PeterBJ]

I'm more than 90% sure that the "CH=013" means that a print head has been inserted in the printer 13 times. It might be the same print head or different print heads. Normally you can trust EEPROM readings, but early versions of the service tool (<2000) can reset the EEPROM for some printers, like yours. Newer versions can clear the D-value, but not start date and number of printed pages and if the ink level monitoring has been disabled. This restriction is to prevent warranty fraud, I think.

TPAGE is the total page count for the printer. Some say that you can reset the D-value without changing/washing the absorbers just once without risk, others say you risk a nasty ink spill when the absorbers overflow. I wouldn't do it. I have cleaned absorbers on Canon iP4000 and 5200. It is a messy job, but possible using lots of warm water and rubber gloves. If new absorbers are available, I prefer changing the absorbers instead.

You find a simplified service manual for the iP4600 here and for the MG5150 here, but before download of these manuals see this instruction. You don't need to join the site to download the manuals, non-members are allowed two downloads daily.

These service manuals are useful with info about entering service mode and performing service mode operations and more, but they don't have info about how to interpret the test print and the EEPROM info print. For this you will need a regular service manual or a technical reference manual. You find a download here containing service manuals for the MP640/648 and MP830 printers. The manual for the MP640/648 contains an appendix with instructions for interpreting the test print and the EEPROM info print. The appendix also has a table showing how much ink is dumped in the absorbers for different types of print head cleaning. The printer is same generation as the iP4600, so most of the info also applies to your printer.

Here is an example of an EEPROM print for an older printer, and here is my interpretation of it. With the MP640/648 manual you can do the same for your printers. A tip: Print the EEPROM interpretation from the manual and use a highlighter on both the instruction and the EEPROM print from your printer to keep track of the items.