Installed my MP990 refurb recently and I'm just about to run out of ink and will get to do a refill. But, I have a problem with the printhead already. Canon is sending me a new printhead to replace mine. Thank gosh I had an extra black cartridge to put in the machine so the tech could determine if it was a cart or printhead problem. He determined it was the printhead and is sending me a new one. I was experiencing black bands (not really heavy ones, but noticeable none the less) a little under an inch wide running across my black and white prints. Color seemed to be OK. But, the black and whites were getting the banding. By replacing the small black cart with another one we learned it wasn't the cart because the problem continued. I hope I can clean this printhead and make it function properly again.
The tech said that the small black cart was for photos and the larger black cart was for text. And, it was the photos that were messing up. Everything else was OK.
He also said that this machine cleaned itself at a number of intervals; when you turn it on, when you insert a new cart, and even after a few hours of just being on. Boy, they know how to get you for ink that's for sure. Thank gosh I'm a refiller. And, I'm sure the waste tank will fill way sooner than one would want. I've owned many HP's and NONE cleaned like this.
Also, someone said that if you print on the "plain paper" selection and put matte photo paper in the machine it will print from the large black cartridge (for text) rather than the small one for photos. That should lengthen the time between refills I would think, no? It could effect the quality of the output, but not sure here.
My question is: is there a way to trick the machine to not do so many cleanings?
I would love to hear anyone's ideas on this subject.
