ip5000 - black leaks out + into yellow cartridge

[QE2]

Hello,
I'm struggling with a bunch of issues and hope to resolve. Tested print heads, by cleaning/deep cleaning, nozzle check etc and had to remove print head for soaking and cleaning. I was getting no pigment black printing (B+W prints) and streaky other colors. Hopefully soaking etc. will help with pigment black etc.

I've been refilling via German method and have had assorted issues over time. Sometimes one color like magenta takes over and tints everything.
Now it's (non-pigment) black. Before I started the soaking mentioned above, I filled up all colors, and black (non pgmt) drained out within a day or 2. Thought I must have forgotten to fill black so repeated and a couple days later and all drained out.

All of the print colors were tinted grey-ish. Removed and looked at carts and now yellow cart seems to have absorbed black ink - yellow sponge is half-filled with blackened ink and reservoir ink (ink-fill area) looks black.

I saw some posts about German method that said to drill hole + insert the needle a little higher than at the base of the sponge (as I have always done). Perhaps this will stop the ink from leaking out of the black? (I'll need a new cart to drill higher)
The black (non pgmt) sponge seems totally saturated and might be best to start with a new cart anyway (?).

I think I need a new yellow cart because I can't see how I can get all that black ink out of there.

There seems to be a mess of excess ink inside parts of the printer (I guess that's par for the course). Tried to clean up with Q tips but I'm not sure I need to get all that out of there (or if all printers are just somewhat messy inside?)

Any advice/thoughts about the black leaking out and contaminating the yellow cart would be especially appreciated.
Also thoughts on German method VS top-fill method (with silicone plug) would be appreciated. (I think the Freedom Method will be problematic for me/my wife to try.)

Thanks in advance for any advice!
PS: Also, I do not get any message when inks are low on my ip5000, which causes tanks to empty out without us realizing. Suggestions for fixing this other than manually checking ink levels often?

 

[stratman]

I'm struggling with a bunch of issues and hope to resolve. Tested print heads, by cleaning/deep cleaning, nozzle check etc and had to remove print head for soaking and cleaning. I was getting no pigment black printing (B+W prints) and streaky other colors. Hopefully soaking etc. will help with pigment black etc.

There seems to be several issues to go over.

First off, stop with cleanings and do no printing except nozzle checks until your issues get under control, or else you could burn out your print head.

What you can do now is print a nozzle check and post it here.

The Pigment Black issue could be

1) Ink starvation - no ink leaving the cartridge and requires a flush of the cartridge or a new cartridge to fix.

2) The print head may have a Pigment Black ink clog in the print head - soaking the print head may resolve the issue.

3) The purge unit for the Pigment Black may be malfunctioning in one of several ways. Use a syringe/needle, soda straw, long eye dropper or some other implement FLOOD water on top of the purge pads. Water should POOL on top of the 2 pads. It takes more than a couple of drops to FLOOD the purge pads. The purge pads are located to the extreme right as you look into the inside of the printer. When the printer is idle or powered off, the print head rests above the purge pads. Open the lid and you will see the print head come to and stop in the middle, like when you change cartridges. Now use a flashlight to see the pads to the right. FLOOD the purge pads making sure you see a pool of water above them then close the lid and perform a simple cleaning. Open the lid and look to see if the water is now gone (the pads may even look a little less blackish). Report if you are unable to FLOOD the pads, if the POOLED water doesn't go away. Report your experience - if it worked as expected or not.

4) Print head malfunction - you can try cleaning the electrical contacts on the print head AND the printer with a soft pencil eraser or a lint free cloth and isopropyl alcohol. If you do any cleaning up inside the printer be careful not to smudge or dirty the plastic timing strip - see here for an idea of what and where the timing strip is.

5) Logic board malfunction

I've been refilling via German method and have had assorted issues over time. Sometimes one color like magenta takes over and tints everything.

OK. Now we know you use the Durchstich method to refill. Where do you make the refill hole in the cartridge? How big is the hole? Be precise in your explanation.

The pronounced Magenta is because another ink color is not being used. Your nozzle check will tell us what ink colors are problematic and hopefully will give us important clues as to why.

Now it's (non-pigment) black. Before I started the soaking mentioned above, I filled up all colors, and black (non pgmt) drained out within a day or 2. Thought I must have forgotten to fill black so repeated and a couple days later and all drained out.

Are there any other holes you've made in the cartridge, such as on top of the cartridge? For instance, if you made a hole in the top of the cartridge but did not seal it properly then air leaks in and ink leaks out. It is possible that either your cartridge or the print head is no able to make a sufficient seal, so ink leaks out during operation. The test and potential remedy is making sure the cartridge is not leaking from a hole, trying a different cartridge, or trying a new cartridge. Rinse the print head to remove external ink. Make sure the circuit board and electrical contacts are DRY before reinstalling

All of the print colors were tinted grey-ish. Removed and looked at carts and now yellow cart seems to have absorbed black ink - yellow sponge is half-filled with blackened ink and reservoir ink (ink-fill area) looks black.

Sounds like the Black cartridge leak contaminated the Yellow cartridge. You will need to remedy the Black cartridge as per above and then either flush the Yellow or use a different Yellow cartridge. The print head should also be cleaned as well.

I saw some posts about German method that said to drill hole + insert the needle a little higher than at the base of the sponge (as I have always done). Perhaps this will stop the ink from leaking out of the black? (I'll need a new cart to drill higher)

No. First tell us where you drill holes normally. A Durchstich hole more than 3 mm above the inner floor of the cartridge lends nothing and may cause problems depending on how high up.

The black (non pgmt) sponge seems totally saturated and might be best to start with a new cart anyway (?).

See above.

I think I need a new yellow cart because I can't see how I can get all that black ink out of there.

See above.

There seems to be a mess of excess ink inside parts of the printer (I guess that's par for the course). Tried to clean up with Q tips but I'm not sure I need to get all that out of there (or if all printers are just somewhat messy inside?)

See above.

PS: Also, I do not get any message when inks are low on my ip5000, which causes tanks to empty out without us realizing. Suggestions for fixing this other than manually checking ink levels often?

You never get any messages on ink levels EVER or just about the dye-based Black ink that leaked out?


There is a lot of info I've given you. Just take it one step at a time and you will be OK. Fix or replace the problematic cartridges, clean up leaked ink in the print head, make sure electrical contacts on the print head and the printer are clean and dry, check your purge pads, and print a nozzle check and post on the forum along with your report. Then we can discuss what may further need to be done. Hopefully you will have fixed everything by then!

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

EDIT: I didn't see the previous reply, and I think I might have misunderstood the problem. The original reply, which follows, refers to the problem as I understood it. I'll leave it in case it should become relevant somehow.


I think if you take out the cartridges and test the color of ink in each with a paper towel, you will find that some or all of them are contaminated with another color.

There are three possible causes. I would check them in this order:

1. You have a hole in the cartridge ink chamber that is leaking. (Maybe you refilled the cartridge from the top and didn't get the fill hole completely sealed?)

2. You have injected ink into the sponge and gotten excess ink in there. This will leak out almost immediately. After refilling you should always check to make sure a cartridge is not dripping, even a little.

3. You have an internal leak in the print head. Sorry.

 

[QE2]

Hello stratman,
Thanks very much for all of the information.
I will work on all of this. One quick question to get started relating to quote below:

FLOOD the purge pads making sure you see a pool of water above them then close the lid and perform a simple cleaning. Open the lid and look to see if the water is now gone (the pads may even look a little less blackish).

I'm not too technically savvy - can I perform a simple cleaning with the print head removed? It has been soaking and now I'm in the process of drying it out with compressed air and then letting it sit and air dry for a few hours.

Also, RE:

First tell us where you drill holes normally. A Durchstich hole more than 3 mm above the inner floor of the cartridge lends nothing and may cause problems depending on how high up.

the hole is approx 1mm (maybe a tiny bit bigger) and looks less than 1 mm above the solid plastic 'floor' of the cart. It is not perfectly centered. I had a bit of blue tape over it and the tape is wet with black ink on the inside and outside of the little piece of tape.
BTW - there do not seem to be any additional holes in the cart.

I appreciate all of your advice!

 

[stratman]

can I perform a simple cleaning with the print head removed? It has been soaking and now I'm in the process of drying it out with compressed air and then letting it sit and air dry for a few hours.

I don't know if your printer would allow you to do anything without a print head installed. Complete the tests after you have re-installed the print head and cartridges and post results and an image of your nozzle check.

the hole is approx 1mm (maybe a tiny bit bigger) and looks less than 1 mm above the solid plastic 'floor' of the cart. It is not perfectly centered. I had a bit of blue tape over it and the tape is wet with black ink on the inside and outside of the little piece of tape.

Seems like that would be OK placement of the Durchstich hole. I tap the cartridge in between the ">PP<" engraved in the cartridge plastic, which is between 2 and 3 mm above the floor of the cartridge. (the bottom edge of my refill hole is ~ 2 mm above the floor of the cartridge)

BTW - there do not seem to be any additional holes in the cart.

OK. One less issue to deal with.

Unfortunately, the causes for a leaking cartridge still remain to be determined. Potential causes of cartridge leaking are an external applied force (eg squeezing a cartridge), excess ink refilled, heat, wide changes in barometric pressure, a hole in the cartridge not sealed properly (the Durchstich hole should not require sealing), or improper fit of the ink exit port of the cartridge (cylindrical protrusion on the bottom of the cartridge where the ink leaves the cartridge) to the ink inlet of the print head (a reason why you should never tap the ink exit port on a surface lest you deform it). If the cartridge only leaks when in the print head, it could be the print head is somehow deformed or malfunctioning but the cartridge is OK.

A new cartridge or a known properly working cartridge replacement should solve the issue of leaking, though we're not ready to give up on any cartridge yet.

 

[QE2]

double-checking: when I put the little rubber gaskets back into the print head (it's been soaked/unclogged) - the ones that the bottom of the carts (where the ink comes out) rest on, I think I should put them smooth side up (facing the cart) rather than the side up that has the little raised ring on it? Unfortunately I didn't make a note of this when I took apart for soaking... can U advise?

 

[joseph1949]

To: QE2

Per reply #6

I believe based on memory (could be false) that the raised ring goes up. I will be filling a cart in a few minutes and I will then pull the carts and print head and then take a good look. I will post a reply after I do this.

Please do not run a nozzle test or do anything else to the printer until you know for sure which way the gaskets go. Even then I would talk to the people on this site before performing a nozzle test or any other operation with the printer.

For the record I use a Canon PIXMA MX870 printer that uses CLI-221/PGI-220BK carts.

Thank you.

 

[joseph1949]

Based on direct observation the smooth side goes up. So much for memory!!!!!!

 

[QE2]

thanks! that's what I thought... but I don't trust my memory either ;]

 

[QE2]

Hello,

If the cartridge only leaks when in the print head, it could be the print head is somehow deformed or malfunctioning but the cartridge is OK.
A new cartridge or a known properly working cartridge replacement should solve the issue of leaking, though we're not ready to give up on any cartridge yet.

I did get a new black non-pgmt cart (for fear the cart itself was the culprit in the leaking) , but in the meantime I refilled the cart that was leaking and let it sit on a paper towel outside the printer overnight. There was no leakage through the bottom or the refill hole I drilled (no tape on it). So I think that means the cart is OK and there's an internal problem? Safe to assume?

I'm going to put the head back in and try to test the purge pads as you suggested, and then try a few test prints. Crossing my fingers...
Thanks again for the continued advice!