Prints have a reddish tint (Canon 9000) - Generic Ink Recommendations?

[ivanalbright]

A couple months ago I noticed that my photo prints have a very noticeable reddish tint on my Canon Pro 9000. I am using generic ink that I get from either Meritline or Amazon and the cartridge labeling tends to look like the photos below (I'm not sure what "brand" they are, but I've heard G&G mentioned for one of them?)

Since I noticed the problem, I've replaced all the cartridges at least once and printed quite a bit since that time. It seems that either the red, photo magenta, or magenta cartridge is just overpowering and that I got a bad batch of them. I've tried replacing with cartridges from different sellers, but that hasn't helped yet. Also, at one point I noticed that the Yellow cartridge nozzle had absorbed some reddish colored ink (yellow is next to magenta in this printer). I replaced the yellow and all reddish colors a while ago--the problem persists. I am sure its the ink in this printer because my other inkjet print (epson 610 with a CISS) is printing out the same files normally. I'm also positive its not just a monitor calibration issue or anything like that--files that printed fine a few months ago now print out reddish, on only the canon printer. Lastly, I was able to get somewhat more normal colors by manually adjusting the canon printer settings to a -20 magenta color adjustment.

My questions are:
Any recommendations on narrowing down which of the reddish colors is causing this?
If I do replace a "bad" reddish cartridge with a "good" one, would the prints immediately come out normal, or would it take a lot of prints for the "bad" ink to clear out of the system?
Any recommendations on a good cheap GENERIC Canon CLI-8 ink cartridge source? (ie a brand that will always be reliably the same color and where to buy it?)

 

[jtoolman]

my reccomendation and I am quite sure that of many oders here is for you to stop using remanufactured carts and refill OEM carts with good ink like IS or OCP. You will not expereince the problems you are seeing.

Your inks are so far off, you would probably need to use custom profiles for your inks and that would not really guarantee you neutral results.

 

[turbguy]

Agree with the above. Aftermarket carts are really suspect for proper color. Either stay with the OEM carts, or refill with consistent inks.

Wayne

 

[The Hat]

A couple months ago I noticed that my photo prints have a very noticeable reddish tint on my Canon Pro 9000.
I am using generic ink that I get from either Meritline or Amazon

My questions are:
Any recommendations on narrowing down which of the reddish colors is causing this?
If I do replace a "bad" reddish cartridge with a "good" one, would the prints immediately come out normal, or would it take a lot of prints for the "bad" ink to clear out of the system?
Any recommendations on a good cheap GENERIC Canon CLI-8 ink cartridge source? (ie a brand that will always be reliably the same color and where to buy it?)

The problems your having can be a number of different thing all happening at the same time.

You could have one of your cartridges leaking (faulty) or the wrong label on it (Incorrect shade, colour),
another one is when you mix different brands of ink from different sources that can also give you the same poor results.

When using your colour cartridges you MUST have all eight cartridges from the same source (Same brand of inks)
to get a balanced output on photos otherwise the results can and will vary wildly.

If you purchase cheap generic inks your output will vary from good to terrible, the trick is to know which ones are the good ones (Not very easy)
or do as jtoolman and turbguy suggest and only refill with very good quality inks,
that way your output will be pleasantly consistent and much more controllable.

Third party refilled cartridges are great for someone who just want the odd photo and lots of plain colour document printing
but for serious photo printing these cartridges should be avoided altogether.

To get the best photos out of your printer you should only use the best cartridges with good photo paper and quality inks
and this can be achieved by refilling your OEM cartridges with I.S. or OCP inks.

When you replace your existing cartridges just run a normal cleaning cycle and print a test print of four solid bands of colour

and use only plain paper BUT set the printer to best quality output on ( Photo paper plus glossy II )
and each cartridge will then print and clear out all the BAD inks from your previous ink batch..

 

[Grandad35]

Any recommendations on narrowing down which of the reddish colors is causing this?

A lack of cyan will also cause a red color cast.

 

[ivanalbright]

my reccomendation and I am quite sure that of many oders here is for you to stop using remanufactured carts and refill OEM carts with good ink like IS or OCP. You will not expereince the problems you are seeing.

Your inks are so far off, you would probably need to use custom profiles for your inks and that would not really guarantee you neutral results.

Could you provide some places to buy these good quality inks (trustworthy / low price websites)?
To do refills, would I need to buy a set of genuine Canon cartridges / if so, would it work to buy an empty used set from someone off eBay?
Also does anyone have a link handy to a GOOD tutorial / faq on refilling CLI-8 cartridges? (I found a really good one in a thread right here on this forum in the past, but can't seem to find it now)

When using your colour cartridges you MUST have all eight cartridges from the same source (Same brand of inks)
to get a balanced output on photos otherwise the results can and will vary wildly.

Thats a very good thought that I certainly should have realized before. While I learn about refilling my own cartridges with good ink, I will stick with the "G&G" brand cartridges at meritline. I believe they were the ones I most commonly used in the past, and I've used this printer for about 2 years without noticing colors being off this bad. Not long ago I started ordering off amazon because it was even cheaper.

Thanks for all the help so far everyone!

 

[Grandexp]

A couple months ago I noticed that my photo prints have a very noticeable reddish tint on my Canon Pro 9000.

All have been said but one, an important one.

If the printer worked fine and the prints were not reddish before you may have a problem with your magenta ink cartridge.
This is a dangerous situation to your print head. Your magenta channel is not working. With magenta output reduced or missing
you will definitely see reddish tint on your print.

Do a nozzle check and check the magenta stripe carefully to make sure it is with correct color and density. If the magenta cartridge is
not flowing ink smoothly to the print head it can cause the print head to clog. By the time you see a reddish tint the print head may
have already had a clog. It is not yet destroyed but likely has a clog already.

 

[jondave]

If you experienced the color change while using the same inks, then you have a mechanical issue.

If you experienced the color change after switching brands, then don't be surprised. You have to realize that not all inks are the same, even if they look identical. Canon genuine OEM inks are uniquely formulated and no 3rd party ink is identical. Put aside whatever worries you might have about clogged heads or faulty cartridges - everytime you switch from one brand to another your color output is GUARANTEED to change. Any mechanical issues will only amplify the degree of color change you're experiencing.

If you want the best and consistent colors, then stick with canon genuine ink. If not, accept the fact that your color output will never be the same, learn how to refill cartridges and only use the known quality brands promoted in this forum.

 

[fotofreek]

A couple months ago I noticed that my photo prints have a very noticeable reddish tint on my Canon Pro 9000.

All have been said but one, an important one.

If the printer worked fine and the prints were not reddish before you may have a problem with your magenta ink cartridge.
This is a dangerous situation to your print head. Your magenta channel is not working. With magenta output reduced or missing
you will definitely see reddish tint on your print.

I think you have this backward - inadequate flow of magenta will not produce a reddish hue. As Grandad35 posted a few posts back on this thread, "A lack of cyan will also cause a red color cast."

 

[websnail]

Put aside whatever worries you might have about clogged heads or faulty cartridges - everytime you switch from one brand to another your color output is GUARANTEED to change.

*ahem*... Might I interject that you should not immediately discount any mechanical problems as potential colour change causes as it goes without saying that switching to a new ink also brings with it issues such as bad-combinations causing clogs, refilling not being done properly, etc...

You should still ensure that the issues are not down to such issues even if the ink has been changed without assuming that it's just the ink being different..