Little help with Nozzle check?

Blueiced

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After 2+ years of using my Pixma MP540 I noticed a strange problem with my nozzle checks lately.
I'm refilling my CLI-521 tanks with InkTec ink and I'm really happy with the results but my dye-black appears kinda strange.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4171/scan1202050002.jpg (zoom in for the pattern)

I've had a similar issue with the pigment black a long time ago and it turned out to be an ink-flow problem (10x to the forum) and now I'm using original Canon ink only for the pigment black.

How do you read this nozzle check, could it be again a flow issue on the dye black?

I decided it's time to wash my print head, read all about it here and washed it 2 days ago only with cold-to-warm water, left it for about 12hours to dry and put it back in. All is OK overall but the dye-black kinda got a little worse and the very light magenta seems kinda worse (not sure).
How many hours do you leave the print head to dry? Could this 12h dried ink inside?

Thanks!
 

PeterBJ

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To me PBBK, dark cyan,dark magenta and yellow look normal or with only little clogging. The medium and light cyan and magenta plus photoblack looks like some nozzles are clogged. I don't think It is a problem wit ink flow.

A rasterized appearance of the photoblack when seen through a magnifier is normal, it is also seen with printheads in perfect working order. But yours appears to have some clogged nozzles.

Also note small rectangles on both sides of the lettering. To me these rectangles suggest PGBK is in perfect working order, all dye colors have more or less problems with clogging or other fault.

If you clean the printhead , I don't think drying of ink inside the printhead is a problem, but I think 24 hours of drying time in a warm but not hot place may be better. Installation of a printhead that is not completely dry may ruin both the printhead and the printer as well.

Before cleaning the printhead, it may be a good idea to search the forum for printhead cleaning.
 

The Hat

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Blueiced

I would also recommend purging the two cartridges then refilling them while youre waiting on your print head to dry..:)
 

inkoholic

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It looks like the nozzles aren't completely clean. You could try and align the printhead first but I think that won't make much of a difference.

First rinse the printhead under the hot tap, with really hot water. Really flush thoroughly for a couple of minutes. Then let the printhead soak in Windex or any similar unclogging fluid. Yes you read correctly, a couple of days. Patience can make a difference here. I know it's all a bit messy and waiting is tedious, but in the end it may well pay off :p

Browse this topic for a lot of info: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3969&p=19
 

Blueiced

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Thanks for the ideas. I will give it a rinse again and post results!
 

Blueiced

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The new nozzle check.
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/2069/scan1202170001.jpg

I washed the printhead very carefully (also soaked it for 24h), also saw this interesting link http://www.pcug.org.au/boesen/print_head/cleaning.htm .

The check at first was better, but after 24h in the printer, it seems there haven't been much progress?
I plan to leave it "as is" and print mostly black text and some color graphics for my studies.
Might change the cartridges but I don't think they are the problem, if it clogs more will definitely wash it with Windex or something stronger than water. :D

I'm out of ideas.
 

gigigogu

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Blueiced
I have the same problem, with InkTec ink, but for PGBK in my IP4600 and IP4850, as you already had.
No matter of cleaning, purging the cartridges and printheads, and so on, the problem was not solved.
I found that after diluting the ink with some distilled water and isopropanol the nozzle check was almost ok, but the ink clogs the nozzles really fast (10 minutes).
I suppose this particular batch of ink was not ok, too dense or with too high surface tension.
So I think the only solution is to use ink from another manufacturer.
 

Blueiced

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InkTec pigment black was not good. I tried it early on 2 years ago and haven't used it since then.
My dye inks from InkTec were fine before, I'm not sure why my dye black got strange, maybe I didn't print enough or ink aging over time because I bought a large batch. My ink is about 6 months old and is in it's original bottles in a dark and cool storage (seems normal - nothing strange).

I will try changing the ink in the near future as u suggested and wash the printhead again. I still hope that it could be some ink-flow mystery because I only print at home and haven't changed anything recently.
 

Grandad35

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inkoholic said:
....snip.... You could try and align the printhead first ....snip....
As inkoholic wrote, this looks like a severe print head alignment issue on the photo black - probably far more than a head alignment can correct. If the nozzles get an ink residue buildup on the bottom surface (like would happen if you used pigment ink in the dye black cart), this can deflect the ink droplets quite a bit from their desired path. Because of the somewhat random pattern on your nozzle check, this may be the case here. Can you scan just a portion of the dye black nozzle check at about 1000 ppi? Include one of the vertical bars and the starting edge of the black nozzle check pattern to show the detail of the dot laydown pattern.
 

Blueiced

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http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/7742/scan1202190001.gif here is the scanned nozzle check

I did a print head alignment after it and the cyan and magenta seemed better but dye-black is the same. Will dilute the ink with a few drops of water in the cartridges.

Could it be air inside the printhead? I didn't think it was so easy to develop a clog...I mean I was using it for 2 years with no problems and suddenly...
 

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