MP970 -fixable or give up?

[the FUN]

Hi All. I have quite a few CLI-8 OEM carts left so would like to fix if possible. The problem I'm experiencing is that my MP970 has stopped printing Magenta - though the nozzle check results (see attached) seems to print the "light" magenta with no problem. The printhead is not clogged as far as I can tell because I have deep cleaned multiple times and also manually flushed using Printhead Hospital solution (syringe method) and the heads flow nice and evenly. The problem is also not the Magenta Cartridge itself, b/c I put in a fresh new OEM cartridge with same results (not printing). I'm running out of ideas. Looking for the wisdom of this forum for help. Any thoughts? The printhead contacts seems to be fine (I've also attached pic)...

 

[The Hat]

I hate to have to say this... BUT
You have cover all the possible stops, and if your print head was not damaged before you started your aggressive cleaning program, it most certainly is now, standard nozzles check are ok but mutable deep clean ones are not, that action alone can kill off a good working head very quickly.

Had you come here first we might have been able to save the head, who knows, but aggressive cleaning inside and out of the printer will never work if the head was not blocked at all, the most likely cause of your original problem was probably the magenta cartridge itself.

After all your well-intended efforts, you now may have to find a source for a new head, which is going to be difficulty because I know the 0062 head has now been discontinued, sorry for your loss..

 

[the FUN]

The Hat, thank you for the quick response and the thoughts. My first check was the use a fresh OEM magenta cartridge which yielded same result. So the first cartridge was most likely not the problem. I should have been clearer in describing my efforts to diagnose / fix:

Magenta stopped printing. Checked the cartridge - there was still some ink left.

1) Canon Nozzle Check - no magenta
2) Canon Deep Clean - still no magenta
3) 2nd Canon Deep Clean - still no magenta after nozzle check
4) Changed to new Fresh OEM Cartridge - still no magenta in nozzle check
5) Used distilled Water to passively clean head - paper towel - using the steps below that I found via Google:

Steps for Manual Print Head Cleaning
Step 1 - Remove the ink tanks and printer head. Remove the ink tanks from the printer head (tank holder) and seal them in a zip lock or other sealable plastic bag. Set them aside, preferably propped upright.

Next remove the printer head (it snaps out). NOTE: You may want to wear latex gloves to help keep ink off your hands.

Step 2 - Soak the printer head. There are multiple suggestions on ways to clean the printer head and all have some variation on the following:

• Get a small, shallow pan and lay down a layer or two of paper towels in the bottom of the container to protect the printer head circuitry from contact damage.
• Heat up (via microwave) enough purified/bottled water to cover the paper towels. You can also use a 50/50 mixture of ammonia and distilled water (about a pint will do). Heat the mixture in the microwave for about a minute or so - it should NOT be boiling.
• Slowly pour the water or mixture over the paper towels so that you have approximately 1/2 inch of liquid in the bottom of the pan.
• Set the printer head into the container on top of the towels. You should see ink 'bleeding' out. Move the print head to several different spots (about a minute each spot) and shake gently. This will dissolve the ink clogs.
• If the printer head is badly clogged let it soak for 3 to 4 hours or overnight. You can move it slightly to a different spot every hour or so.

6) Canon Nozzle Check - no magenta
7) Syringe Cleaning Solution - flow was good
8) Installed ANOTHER fresh new OEM Cartridge (2nd new one used to diagnose)
8) Last Nozzle Check - what I attached (incidentally, all of the nozzle check results throughout process have been exactly the same)

And here we are...

There seem to be some print heads for sale from China / Hong Kong on ebay - I'm presuming no one has had success using those heads b/c I haven't seen any reviews good or bad.

What do people do with their CLI-8 Cartridges? I know the yellow would be useful for my Pro-100 if I chose to refill (but my preference is to stick with OEM).

 

[The Hat]

The problems you faced were swings and roundabouts, the which came first syndrome. !

When the magenta failed were you printing something at the time and how soon did you notice there was no magenta in the printouts.

The next problem, again you checked the magenta cartridge ! it may still have had ink inside but it wasn’t suppling ink to your print out, Why ?

You started checking in the right place (Magenta cartridge), but instead of further investigation of the cartridge you did a nozzle check, there’s no harm in that, again followed by a deep clean that was ok too.

But by doing your second deep clean you were already in hot water because you let the magenta cartridge escape, I am just surmising here (Devil's Advocate) because the print head may have already overheated and been damaged by that stage and not by your later actions.

The print head needs a constant supply of ink to keep it from overheating but by this point the magenta had already ceased to exist, and your actions of repeated deep cleaning may have compounded the problem even further.

Nozzle checks and head cleans are perfectly ok when your print head has ink issue, but 99% of all print head problems are in fact caused by a cartridges failure to deliver sufficient supply of ink when the head needs it most.

The cleaning method you Googled and used was not one that I’d recommend, (To harsh) the least said the better, so after all you hard work you were back at the very start again with no magenta visible.

As to what caused the original ink failure, that will have to remain a mystery, because it could have been any number of things, and not even something you did yourself, print heads can fail, that’s the nature of the beast unfortunately.

If you think the eBay print head is worth a gamble then go for it, they have on rare occasions known to work but mostly not.

It’s a bit of a bummer when this happens...

 

[the FUN]

Ah, ok. I understand now. The second deep clean may have "erased all evidence" by damaging the head and compounding my problem. Could have had a bad cartridge, then I may have overheated my printer head with second deep clean. I did wait 24 hrs before doing 2nd deep clean, if that makes a difference(?).

So for my future reference, now that I have a pro-100, if a color ever doesn't print I should:

1) look at cartridge (will have to research the forum as to what to look for)
2) if #1 doesn't yield any conclusive issues, run nozzle pattern check
3) run regular clean cycle
4) run nozzle pattern
4) if regular clean cycle is ineffective - only run 1 deep clean
5) run nozzle check - if still clogged, consult with forum (e.g. do not perform 2nd deep clean)

For my own knowledge, when you say the print head could have overheated due to the second deep clean - would this be a case of the print head being run dry from first deep clean, then second clean essentially burning up bare head? I'm thinking of the analogy of a oil in a car engine, with first deep clean akin to flushing oil and second deep cleaning akin to running engine with no oil. Or are you saying that if I run a 2nd deep clean after the 1st without a "cooling off" period (say 24 hrs), I would overheat the head?

 

[The Hat]

You may have suffered the original nozzle damage on your last print run when printing without any magenta present, that’s a pure guess, but deep head cleans are a crude way of flushing out small clogs in the nozzles.

Canon only recommend doing that once in 24 hours, so a deep clean in an already stressed head cause from lack of ink most likely will overhead in this situation.

Cartridges problem only relate to a refilled one and not to original new OEM filled cartridges, there is a price to pay whenever you break the rules by poorly refilling or maintaining the OEM cartridges, you must always be careful when refilling.

Canon print heads can fail at any time for no apparent reason, usually just after the Friggin warrantee run out...