Should I get a backup printhead?

[paulcroft]

I have a Pro 9000 MkII. I have it because I need to print A3 colour on occasions and I am delighted about this because it's a great printer for all my needs and refilling's a breeze. I have now had occasion to clean the printhead a couple of times (easily done) and I have a good supply of OEM cartridges. I am wondering about the wisdom of buying a replacement printhead now, while they are still available, to avoid having to dump the printer at some future time simply because the printhead becomes defective. Is this printhead used by other printers? Is it reliable? A replacement here in the UK will cost about 100. I'd be interested to hear others thoughts on this.

Thanks for reading.

 

[The Hat]

The 9000 print head is also used in some other printers and is widely available so there is no need to panic;
doing a nozzle check once a week will keep your printer in good condition.

You could however keep an eye out for a second hand 9000, that might be a cheaper option
than forking out for just a print head, plus you would then have a back printer if ever required.

There should be no need to remove and clean the print head at all, the printer is well capable of doing that job itself,
if for whatever reason you do remove the print head you should remember
to do another head alignment especially if youre doing a lot of photo prints.

When you have a problem that looks like a clogged nozzle, the culprit is usually the cartridge itself giving poor ink flow
and changing that cartridge will cure the problem with just a normal head clean.

If ever your having issues with poor output, then you should only print nozzle checks untill you can resolve the problem..

 

[paulcroft]

The two times I cleaned the printhead came about because running the 'clean head' programme had failed. Thanks for the reminder to realign the head afterwards, I did that the first time but not the second. As for the advice re availability of printheads and second-hand printers it's good advice and noted. I've just bid on ebay for a used printer which has several spare new cartridges as well, we'll see if my offer is good enough.

 

[The Hat]

The two times I cleaned the printhead came about because running the 'clean head' programme had failed. Thanks for the reminder to realign the head afterwards, I did that the first time but not the second. As for the advice re availability of printheads and second-hand printers it's good advice and noted. I've just bid on ebay for a used printer which has several spare new cartridges as well, we'll see if my offer is good enough.

Thats the way to go..