Pixma 3000

[Danny Kiwi]

Break down a lot is an understatement..lol lol ...In eighteen months i have needed two replacement print heads ,both done under warranty thank god..
Dint get me wrong I love these printers and the quality of their prints,however its a pitty that that quality is not matched on the design and engineering side.

 

[hpnetserver]

I believe the Cyan cartridge is to blame. Either the ink or the cartridge is bad. Well, since it always fail on you it seems the ink is bad. It's time to find a new supply for quality ink and cartridges. The printhead is not necessary dead so quickly. Once you install a good Cyan cartridge one or two cleaning cycles will restore it. You need to do it as soon as you can before the cyan channel is dried up and plugged up.

 

[Osage]

Seems to me that a lot of mud is being flung--but how many of these aspersions are testable?

1. The ip3000 looks almost identical to the ip4000 and ip5000---I assume their inernal guts are much the same---they may be even made at the same factory---I don't know---but can any shed any light on this?

2. I see no reason to assume that just because two of three or two of four inks of a maker works well, that the remaining inks may not have problems. But this is somewhat testable--if some ip4000 or ip5000 users share similar ink change brands with Fano, but experience no problems, that may indicate the problem is unique to the ip3000. Without that evidence we know nothing to confirm or deny.

3. As I examine the ink change habits of Fano--there seems to be some shuttling of cartridges between one brand of ink refill kit and another brand of refilled cartridges regarding the cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges. So at some point in time the two different ink brands cross contaminate in the printhead. Its is possible that some chemical in one ink causes something in another brand to partisipate out of solution--resulting in instant clog.--and a clog that is hard to remove by the solvents in either ink. Again this is a testable hypothesis---stick to one and only one ink.

4. These are only a few of the things the occur to me immediately, but I somewhat throw some remaining questions out to this forum for further ideas.---its one thing to say it may be this, that, or the other thing and quite another thing to have tests that determine if there is any merit to these hypothesies.

 

[Doug]

Osage,

While reading your comments relative the ip3000 it brought about a related question in my mind. In the near future my supply of non OEM cartridges is going to run out. I have new inks and cartridges from Hobbicolors ready to go. I realize that when I make the transition that I should introduce all the new ink at once but what about the old brand ink that is still in the printhead?

Should the printhead be cleaned before the introduction of the new ink?

 

[on30trainman]

Doug,
When I started using Hobbicolor inks all I did was remove the Canon OEM cartridges and after installing the new Hobbicolor cartridges I ran one head cleaning cycle, a nozzle check and printed a few photos to make sure all the Canon ink was out of the printhead, then another nozzle check. Then I figured I was using the Hobbicolor ink and could evaluate the prints. Did this with both my Pixma printers. I don't think that removing and cleaning the printhead is necessary or should be done. Why take a chance damaging the printhead if it is working OK now.

Steve W.

 

[Fano]

I drilled a hole in the top of the freshly opened Cyan cartridge and let some air in to push more ink into the sponge.
I also reseated the Printhead.
This seems to have resolved the problem for the time being as it is working fine again.
In the past I have used these compatible ink cartridges ;Smartjet,Projet,Phoenix,Sumvision,7 Day Shop.
Of these I found Smartjet to have the best sponge mechanism and least failures.

3. As I examine the ink change habits of Fano--there seems to be some shuttling of cartridges between one brand of ink refill kit and another brand of refilled cartridges regarding the cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges. So at some point in time the two different ink brands cross contaminate in the printhead. Its is possible that some chemical in one ink causes something in another brand to partisipate out of solution--resulting in instant clog.--and a clog that is hard to remove by the solvents in either ink. Again this is a testable hypothesis---stick to one and only one ink.
Thats a good point and I will try to ensure that I have the same brand of ink in all 3 cartridges at the same time.

I'm in Ireland so it may be hard for me to get the big three Ink brands.
I'll have a look around.
I also might buy the spongeless cartridges and see how they perform.

 

[Osage]

In my case, I did nothing---I just switched inks--and experienced no problems.
On my ip4000 the transition was Canon OEM cartridges---to bulkinkjetcarts--to hobbicolors. In my MP730 the switch was from bulkinkjetcarts to hobbicolors. Again with no adverse effects. So that basically tells you there is no chemical incompatability with Canon OEM ink and hobbicolors--at least in my case.

I was just posing a hypothesis that in Fano's case, there MAY be some chemical incompatability with his given ink choices. But it would be a testable hypothesis.
(1) It may not ever happen if only one brand ink is used. (2) It would happen in any canon printhead when they are mixed--not just the ip3000. (3) It may happen in only one color--which Fano cited as Cyan. (4) Even if its not a chemical incompatability between two ink brands---one of the inks Fano is using may be really clog pone in cyan.

But since no one has ever posted a thread noting clogging after making the switch between canon OEM and hobbicolors, I would say just do it with no worries. There will be a brief time where both inks are present but soon the hobbicolors inks will dilute the old Canon OEM ink away.

And keep your depleted canon OEM cartridges---drill out for an screw and O-ring seal, and refill with hobbicolors ink.---which gives you a spare set of cartridges
ready to pop in.

 

[Fano]

I just thought of something.
I presume that the printhead should be removed from the printer as little as possible,i.e the lever holding it in place should be opened as little as possible.
Perhaps this creates wear and tear which causes a misalignment of the printhead.
In 4 printheads I've encountered feed failures on the cyan nozzle,it works perfectly for a nozzle check then doesnt print at all.
Whenever I have to remove the cartridges to refill them I get no feed on the cyan head either.
Could this be due to the printhead being misaligned (cartridges are good ) as I get a printhead misalignment error now ?
If the nozzle check is good ,and there is ink on the contact head ,and the cartridge is good,then the problem must be a blockage.
But the Nozzle check works after a cleaning cycle but then the Cyan stops working on the next print.
If the nozzle was blocked would it be intermittant or constant ?

 

[digitalartist71]

i am wondering if the cyan cartridge might be the problem, since u r refilling? obviously if u keep getting new heads, and cyan stops working soon after....i don't think the head is getting clogged that quickly....sounds to me the cartridges...maybe they aren't sealing correctly or something?

as far as alignment, i think that is basically settings in the printer that control droplet firing time...if to early....the drop is placed incorrectrly, and so on if too late. all must be timed correctly to place the droplets perfectly. i don't think the head assembly has anything to do with the alignment.

 

[Tin Ho]

Actually it's more likely the cyan ink has a viscosity too high for ink to flow fast enough. For nozzle check it's fine because it needs little ink. But when you print large photos the ink flow is too restricted and can't catch up with the speed the printhead consumes ink. Your cyan ink probably has an incorrect or incompatible viscosity.