ip5000 printhead - electrical problem?

[fotofreek]

Yesterday my trusty ip5000 was printing a 4x6 photo. About half way through the print the remainder of the picture was suddenly and totally without the Magenta ink. First half was beautiful. A nozzle check showed all lines perfect except no magenta for either magenta line. Since the lost magenta printing was sudden and completely gone it didn't appear to be an ink feed problem or clog.

I removed the printhead, used a pencil eraser to lightly clean the contacts on the back of the printhead and reinstalled it. Got a perfect nozzle check and printed one beautiful photo. The next photo I printed was, again, without magenta. A nozzle check confirmed that magenta was missing. Removed the printhead, used the eraser on the printhead contact plus the spring contacts that make electrical contact with the printhead. Got a perfect nozzle check and then another print with no magenta.

So - the problem appears to be solved with removal of the printhead and cleaning of all contacts, but immediately reverts to the lack of magenta. I changed the magenta cart and still had the problem. I don't know if there is a fix for this problem. It does appear to be related to the contacts between the printhead and the contacing springs. Any suggestions?

 

[jtoolman]

New printhead?

 

[fotofreek]

I am concerned that the electrical problem might be in the printer and it might blow the new printhead! I do have a spare new factory sealed ip5000, a lightly used ip5000 that had a bad printhead, and two spare new factory sealed printehads. Might be best to try the present printhead in the other used printer. That way, I don't have to go through cleaning and storing an otherwise new factory sealed printhead of it turns out to be the printer.

 

[mikling]

Let's examine this carefully, what happens when the printhead is removed and cleaned? Is it the cleaning action.
Then why does it print perfectly and then fail again later on.

Most likely what happens is that the during the cleaning of the contacts, time passes and during this passage of time, a circuit is allowed to cool. When a nozzlec check is done, the circuit is not used much but when printing a photo, the duty cycle of the circuit is high and the heat builds.

It is not necessarily the heat but the circuit that would have normally tolerated a heat rise is no longer doing so. This can happen either on the logic board or the printhead.

I'd place the suspect printhead into a known good printer and see what happens. As you know placing a good printhead onto a bad logic board sometimes has fatal results on the printhead so thus my reasoning.

 

[fotofreek]

Thanks, Mikling, for the probable reason for the failure. Yesterday, after posting to this thread, I did put the printhead in a known good printer that had no printhead. Same issue with the magenta chanel gone. As I mentioned, I have two new ip5000 factory sealed printheads in reserve and now two printers without printheads. I have the option to keep one of the ip5000's functioning at this time.

It is a coincidence that I just purchased a new 9000 mk II on craigs list and was preparing to install it. I had planned to keep the ip5000 in service as well, but now that the printhead is gone I see no reason to "use up" a new printhead on the ip5000 when I can do all the printing on the 9000. I don't expect to print lots of large format photos, so I will need to do other prints on the 9000 to keep the printhead clean. If I have an ip5000 functioning as well, I will have to use both of them to keep them both healthy. The only reason to have both in use would be to use the 9000 less and hope that will keep it functioning for more years. I also have a sealed, new ip5000 on the shelf, so lots of years of backup with the ip5000's.

 

[rodbam]

My IP5000 stopped printing any colour so after some encouragement from The Hat & Stratman I took the printer apart to fix it...................It ended up in the bin

 

[stratman]

My IP5000 stopped printing any colour so after some encouragement from The Hat & Stratman I took the printer apart to fix it...................It ended up in the bin

Our advice was worth every penny you paid.

 

[The Hat]

My IP5000 stopped printing any colour so after some encouragement from The Hat & Stratman I took the printer apart to fix it...................It ended up in the bin

A poor Tradesman always blames his tools...

 

[rodbam]

A poor Tradesman always blames his tools

I wouldn't blame you two Anyhow after the printer separated into more than 4 bits I was lost.