multiple test prints from i960 - all different

[intern8]

I recently cleaned my print head with hot water. Now I receive test prints with some colors not showing and others with severe banding. Thing is, each time I do a test print I get different results. less colors missing and banding, more colors missing and banding. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[canonfodder]

Intern 8,

This may seem like a stupid question, but is the print head really dry? If it is still drying out, there could be a changing condition of leakage currents as time goes by.

Also, contact cleanliness can be rather important. I would not do anything very rough at all, but you could use a pad with a bit of alcohol to wipe over the print head contacts and see if that helps.

If you can scan a couple of your test prints, do that and send them along for others to see.

 

[tyamada]

If you can't clear up the print, you should bite the bullet and get a new print head. I just order one for a i950, price was about $35.00 plus shipping. Genuine Canon print head, put in in the printer with new ink cartridges and got a perfect print test.

Canon just reduced the price of their print heads quite a bit.

I wasted a couple of days and destroyed 4 print heads trying to clean them.

 

[intern8]

Thanks for the reply. The print head was dry. I wiped down the contacts with alcohol and still have the same problem. Below you will see 2 test prints which show how the inks print inconsistently. Notice on the test when magenta appears that the black registration bars have magenta blotches. I assume too much magenta is being dispensed. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Trigger 37]

Internet 8,...On both nozzle checks your are missing pattern "C" and "H". These are both Magenta nozzle prints. Pattern "E" is Photo magenta. You need to tell us what the pattern looked like before you started the water clean. Then tell us how you did the water cleaning and how you dryed the printhead before you put it back into the printer. Then tell us how many times you did a cleaning or a deep cleanng. I have a i960 that I'm working on now and I wonder whay Canon removed from the Maintenance function the option to clean the black or the color. Now when you do a cleaning you get no option at all,.... it just does a cleaning on all colors including blaclk. How you did the water cleaning is critical information.

I received an i960 printer from a customer that had totally given up because they could not get the colors or anything to clean. Here is a picture of what the first nozzle check looked like. I had only done one cleaning since the printer had been sitting for over 2 months.





You can see that there is spilled ink on the rollers and it gets all over the paper. The Magenta and the Photo Magenta are not printing at all and the yellow has some banding at the bottom. the "C", "E", and "H" patterns are missing and those are all Magenta or Photo magenta.

You mentioned water cleaning, but I don't know really just what you did. I have a standard water cleaning process that I use and I have had much success with it. I live in an area where I know the water does not have high mineral count, so I can use the tap water at full force to rinse the ink out of the printhead. I also use a sink sprayer which is attached to my faucet. It has a pretty good spray of fine streams of water which I focus on the bottom side of the printhead at the nozzles that I know are causing problems. For the pattern I showed you above, I did the cleaning and I was amazed at the amout of Magenta ink I continued to get out of the printhead after 5 minutes of spraying. I use the hottest water I can stand and I focus the spray on the bottom nozzle exits, then I turn the printhead over to see if colored water is coming out of the filter screens. This tells me if water is making it all the way through the printhead. After I clean the printhead until I can see not more colored ink coming out, I dry the head with my garage air compressor and I make sure that there is no water anywhere near any of the electrical components on the printhead.

When I put the printhead back in the printer, I do a standard cleaning cycle to "Prime" the cleaned head with new ink. I also make sure that each of the ink carts can supply ink by testing them over a paper towel. If they don't drip, I blow on the rear air intake hole until ink drops on a paper towel. Then I follow with the cleaning and then a new nozzle test. The image below is the same printhead after one complete water cleaning and drying and one PC cleaning to prime it with ink,.. then the nozzle check print.



Both of these uploads have been enhanced for color to make them more visible, but this images shows that this printhead is perfect. I also printed out a Service Test Print which also shows a perfect print. My only point in all of this is that I know that clogged printheads can be cleaned. In order to help you more, we need to know more about what you have done and how you did it.

As far as tymanda's sugggestion, if your are as impatient as this, go ahead and purchase a new printhead. As I read tymanda's note I can't believe he/she destroyed 4 other printheads by cleaning them. This is not an "Inkjet Master". I wonder what he/she would say to the 100's of people that watch this forum and have successfully cleaned their printhead and got their printers back to 100%. I have had printhead die, and I know they are really dead, and I've had to buy new printheads, but at least we have done our best to fix them before we give in and "Bit the bullet".