Is my i850 ready for the thrash?

[heder]

Hi!

I recently started getting some odd looking nozzle check prints on my 2 year old Canon i850. If you look at the magenta printouts there seems to be whole missing sections of nozzles that doesn't print at all. I have tried many deep cleaning procedures, and have tried cleaning the print head with water. Nothing seems to help though...

Here are some close-ups from the nozzle check prints. Any ideas?

Regards!
/Thomas

 

[Nifty]

Yep, definitely looks like some partial clogging going on. You're still a bit away from the garbage heap. Have you tried some of the more invasive approaches listed here:
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=63

There are many MANY tricks that people have tried to get their nozzles to start up again. Start searching and playing and you may find something that works.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[heder]

Yep, I have tried some more tricks now... I tried soaking the entire lower portion of the print head with Window Cleaner, letting it drip trough, and clean the head completely. No change though. I'm running out of ink in my tanks as well now, so I can't do any further testing.

What I find odd with the "Comb" pattern that I posted is that the entire upper half of the magenta print head seems to be missing. When a head is clogged I would rather expect to see some random streaks missing here and there. This makes me wonder if some other hardware failure is the cause, such as some control signal is missing to the upper half of the head.

I'm not sure how the printer prints the test blocks, but i guess that it prints a comb pattern in one direction, and then fills it in going the other direction. This would mean that my printer is missing the upper half going in just one direction, which seems pretty odd... Just my theories though...

Has onyone on the forum seen a pattern like the one above (under the "E" sign) before when it was actually a clogging issue?

/Thomas

 

[CanonPhreak]

Needs a new print head. the printer itself is fine. That is the same type of failure I see when it is time for a new head.

I'm not sure how the printer prints the test blocks, but i guess that it prints a comb pattern in one direction, and then fills it in going the other direction. This would mean that my printer is missing the upper half going in just one direction, which seems pretty odd... Just my theories though...

Has onyone on the forum seen a pattern like the one above (under the "E" sign) before when it was actually a clogging issue?

/Thomas

 

[heder]

Yeah... I think so too...

I called Canon to check for pricing, and here in Sweden a new print head for the i850 costs exactly as much as a brand new Canon IP4200, which seems like a better option, then...

/Thomas

 

[hpnetserver]

If you have not soaked the printhead by pouring water from the upper intake portion you have only done half way to unclog a clog. Do it for another hour or two to loosen the dried ink in the intake is probably what you need.

 

[Grandad35]

heder,

If you decide that your print head has a fatal clog, you may want to try this technique as a last resort. It requires mechanical skill and carries a risk of damaging the print head, so don't try it on a working print head.
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=241

Also read post #10 in that thread where someone else was successful at unclogging a print head with this method.

 

[heder]

Well, I have poured water through the upper intakes several times, and I have even poured ammonia based window cleaner through the head, but with no luck. What is weird is that all the nozzles seem to print on one direction, but not in the other (see the test print rectangle) in my first post.

If I'm correct the printer prints every other "bar" in the rectangle on one direction, and then fills it in going the other, and the comb pattern indicates that the problem is not actually in the nozzles but somewhere else. This implies that when the test pattern is printed ALL nozzles are used in both directions when printing the pattern, which may or may not be true. It does however seem strange that *exactly* the upper half of the head does not print.

One thought is that inside the print head there are different "feeds" with ink to the upper and lower half of the nozzles, and that one of these are clogged.

My guess is that some control signal has died in the head...

/Thomas

 

[rbridd]

I have exactly this problem on both Magenta and Cyan nozzles.

I too have tried multiple deep cleaning cycles, water flowing, and also, (Nothing to lose at this point), soaking in electrical cleaning fluid. (By the smell, containing Trichloroethylene).

I can add some further datum points.

1) Not all the prints on the nozzle test are affected.
The test grids are printed in this order
BLACK - OK
CYAN - Crenelated like in the picture
MAGENTA - Crenelated
YELLOW - OK
CYAN - OK
MAGENTA - OK

For those of higher badwidth, there is a bigger piccie here.

2) The problem started the day I put a non-Canon ink cart in. The non-Canon ink cart was a yellow which is still working flawlessly!
It was the nozzles which were still Canon ink which failed.

3) After one deep cleaning cycle, I removed the printhead to have a look, and then didn't replace it for an hour or so. When I did put it back in, the printer worked again, printing 2 perfect A4 prints before reverting to the "stripey" printing.

4) At one point, while printing the nozzle test, the magenta nozzles started printing cyan. (Really!), so I was getting
BLACK - OK
CYAN - Crenelated
CYAN - Crenelated
YELLOW - OK
CYAN - OK
CYAN - OK
I checked that I hadn't put 2 cyan tanks in. (I hadn't).
After removal and replacement of the printhead, it went back to the correct colours.

If anyone can shed any light on this I'd be grateful.
The printer is exactly 2 years old, and has given fantastic service.
I know that (relatively), they are inexpensive, but I'd rather repair than replace.
It seems that a 2 year lifespan and spares which cost as as much as a new printer are facts of life though.

Thanks in advance.
Ray

 

[rbridd]

Shortly after the above post, After attempting to clean the head following instructions found on this board and others, the print head gave up completely, printing only smears.