SkyHorse BCI-3bk refill problem [a bit long]

[anddam]

Hi,
I have been using my ip3000 for almost 2 years now, I print lot of text on plain A4 paper 80g/m^2 and that's why I choose 3000 over 4000, it had only BCI-3bk and I wanted the simplest refilling and 1 kind of black (I tought) is easier than 2.

I was using 3rd party cartridge and refilled them with black ink from I had spare from a dead Epson Stylus Color, so far it never disappointed me even if I eventually discovered the difference between Canon's thermal head and Epson's piezo.
I bought what was advertised as Canon BCI-3bk specific ink only to discover later that it was dye based rather than pigment, anyway I've got plenty of it and it was cheap so I'm using it.

Recently I found SkyHorse cartridges that have the great pro of a square base rather than just classic orange clip so I bought a few of them, I noticed that using SkyHorse carts with refilled dye ink lead me to (very) frequent head cleaning as the printers start to miss rows of text.
A quick clean solve the problem but I have never got such a problem before, could it be something related to the mix of dye ink into a cartridge that holded pigment?
Is there a SkyHorse BCI-3BK cart specific problem feeding the headset?

By the way since I installed SkyHorse BCI-3BK I experienced a yellow cartridge turned black too, I made a search on forum and found it could be a leaky cartridge, probably black. On forum I even found that SkyHorse "pipe" (part where cartridge touch the headset) is shorter than Canon's oem carts and actually confronted carts I have, SkyHorse's seem to be a little shorter in that way.
Anyway I had serious leaking problem, and by serious I mean ink leaking through the headset.

I tried to wash a SkyHorse cartridge before refilling using water and ammonia, but I couldn't made the upper sponge clean (there are two), it stayed black while I saw cleaned cartridges on this forum with white sponge.
I eventually moved the cylindric one out of its place and could set it back again so I cracked the plastic and took the sponge, now it is submerged with water+ammonia solution (9:1) but it seems its color is actually that dark tone
The sponge submerged for 1 day has released a lot or particles floating in the water, I can't say if they are sponge pieces or color or what.


Anyone got problems with SkyHorse BCI-3bk clogging nozzles?

 

[Smile]

Hi,
I have been using my ip3000 for almost 2 years now, I print lot of text on plain A4 paper 80g/m^2 and that's why I choose 3000 over 4000, it had only BCI-3bk and I wanted the simplest refilling and 1 kind of black (I tought) is easier than 2.

I was using 3rd party cartridge and refilled them with black ink from I had spare from a dead Epson Stylus Color, so far it never disappointed me even if I eventually discovered the difference between Canon's thermal head and Epson's piezo.
I bought what was advertised as Canon BCI-3bk specific ink only to discover later that it was dye based rather than pigment, anyway I've got plenty of it and it was cheap so I'm using it.

Recently I found SkyHorse cartridges that have the great pro of a square base rather than just classic orange clip so I bought a few of them, I noticed that using SkyHorse carts with refilled dye ink lead me to (very) frequent head cleaning as the printers start to miss rows of text.
A quick clean solve the problem but I have never got such a problem before, could it be something related to the mix of dye ink into a cartridge that holded pigment?
Is there a SkyHorse BCI-3BK cart specific problem feeding the headset?

By the way since I installed SkyHorse BCI-3BK I experienced a yellow cartridge turned black too, I made a search on forum and found it could be a leaky cartridge, probably black. On forum I even found that SkyHorse "pipe" (part where cartridge touch the headset) is shorter than Canon's oem carts and actually confronted carts I have, SkyHorse's seem to be a little shorter in that way.
Anyway I had serious leaking problem, and by serious I mean ink leaking through the headset.

I tried to wash a SkyHorse cartridge before refilling using water and ammonia, but I couldn't made the upper sponge clean (there are two), it stayed black while I saw cleaned cartridges on this forum with white sponge.
I eventually moved the cylindric one out of its place and could set it back again so I cracked the plastic and took the sponge, now it is submerged with water+ammonia solution (9:1) but it seems its color is actually that dark tone
The sponge submerged for 1 day has released a lot or particles floating in the water, I can't say if they are sponge pieces or color or what.


Anyone got problems with SkyHorse BCI-3bk clogging nozzles?

Photos would help More users could see what the problem is and help you.

Best way to NOT have problems is to use OEM cartridges an refill them, I use only InkTec ink for Canon printers because it is proven to be reliable and offers good colors. It never dries etc.

Clean your cartridge with distilled water and ammonia solution just a few drops. Do not heat the ammonia + distilled water solution it can corrode print head elements.

 

[anddam]

Photos would help More users could see what the problem is and help you.

Best way to NOT have problems is to use OEM cartridges an refill them, I use only InkTec ink for Canon printers because it is proven to be reliable and offers good colors. It never dries etc.

Clean your cartridge with distilled water and ammonia solution just a few drops. Do not heat the ammonia + distilled water solution it can corrode print head elements.

Hi,
unluckily I don't have a digital camera at the moment.

Actually I didn't think about using Canon's OEM cartridges, I exchanged mine with 3 sets of compatible so actually my printer never saw them

I read lot of good things about MIS inks too on Neil Slade's site, how does InkTec bulk ink compare to it?

 

[tigerwan]

Yes, I have had problems with Skyhorse BCI-3 cartridges in the past, the same problems as you describe. I found that sometimes a film develops on the felt where the ink exit is, on the cartridge. If you gently scape the felt, to remove this film (dried ink) then install in the printer, do a head clean to get the ink flowing, and then test print, things tend to be ok from there. As for the yellow contamination, the ink exit being smaller than the OEM cartridge is indeed the problem, there were some seals to put inside the carriage to better seal the Skyhorse to the carriage head, but I can no longer find them. I think the reason is, there aren't alot of printer around that still use the BCI-3 cartridges, so they are becoming obsolete, and the manufacturers have stopped making the seals.

The only thing I can suggest is make your own seal out of a silicone wafer, with the dimensions you need, kind of cut it so it looks like a washer, and insert it into the carriage head, then insert the cartridge.

Hope this helps

 

[ltsang]

Hi and][ng,

I hope you don't have to buy a new print head soon. If one kind of ink works for you for the past
2 years, and that 'dead' Epson ink is cheap, why bother changing to another kind. From what I heard,
the new ink is causing clogs in your print head. The first few head cleaning might clear the clog, but who can
tell this might be the last time. I stop using pigment ink for refill. They can cause clogs easier than dye ink.

 

[anddam]

I'm reviving this somehow old thread,
atm the ip3000 has stopped to print from part of the black nozzles.

I've changed the cartridges, cleaned the printhead (I even removed it and soaked in water&ammonia, then I read the topics about not removing cartridge), now I've disassembled it and I'm purging the clean unit though the clean unit seems to work as I could literally see ink level go down when the cleaning runs.

I went through a lot of cleaning cycles (before dismantling it) and I always got the very same test pattern, what I fear here is an electrical problem.

Did anyone with QY6-0064 printhead got electrical problem?

Would replace printhead solve them or are there known and common problems on logic board?

I've contacted a Canon center near here and a new printhead is 39 so really intriguing in order to have a like new ip3000, but I'd not like to buy new printhead and then have a non working unit anyway.

 

[Tin Ho]

I think there may be many ways a print head gets clogged. For one that occurs to a text printing head I have been fortunate to revive successfully a few times. I can't say this will apply to your ip3000 print head. You can try it before giving it up.

From my observation I concluded that when a BCI-3ebk cartridge becomes clogged by dried up pigments in the sponge which prevents sufficient venting of air from the top vent of the cartridge it has the effect of reducing the ink flow to the print head. when this happens the print head gets clogged. By the way this is really the main cause of why a print head gets clogged in the first place. That is insufficient ink flow. This can be a clogged sponge in a BCI-3ebk. a poor quality ink cartridge such as Chinese made compatible cartridges, or just poor ink that is incorrectly formulated. WHen the ink flow is too low the print head gets clogged. It takes some time. But the print head will clog.

When it happens to a text printing print head I have been fortunate to be able to revive it, based on information from this froum a while back. Well, I don't remember exactly in fact where but I did not invent it. What I learned and it worked for me is quite effective to me. First you will need to purge the BCI-3ebk cartridge to get rid of all the dried pigment in the sponge. A clogged sponge is the root cause of all the problems so it needs to be removed first. Once thoroughly purged just refill it again but refill it with dye black ink instead of black pigment ink.

Now just plug in the purged and refilled (with dye black ink) BCI-3ebk back into the printer. Do one or two light cleaning. This gives the printer a chance to prime as much as possible the print head. But because the print head is clogged the print head will not be fully primed still. The nozzles are still clogged but ink is present and is ready to entering the nozzles by capillarity.

What I will do next is to print something like a 3"x6" block of black. The print out will show initially a very streaky block of black. But magically toward the bottom of the block the black will turn solid. If you see such a transition or improvement from the top toward the bottom you know that the print head is getting unclogged. You can print the block again. The 2nd time you print it the entire block is likely all perfect and solid with no streaks. That says the clog is cleared up completely. I think by printing the block of black the dye black ink blasted through the print head and flushed out the clog from within the nozzles. You do need to purge the clogged BCI-3ebk before doing this. If the cartridge is still clogged by dried pigments in the sponge you will burn out the nozzles instead of clearing them up.

I will refill the bci-3ebk with right black pigment ink again. The print head will not clog again as long as the sponge is not clogged by dried pigments. It really worked for me a few times. I believe this works only if a clog is in the early stage of the clog. It may sound too good to be true. But what will you lose by trying it? Go give it a blast. Good luck.

 

[anddam]

Too bad I was already using dye ink for BCI-3eBK

I cleaned the printhead, I cleaned the purge system, ink is flowing almost uniformly from the cartridge to a paper towel (printhead removed).

I reassembled the ip3000, went through clean cycle and after all this the test pattern is exactly what it was before disassembling the printer.
I'd say it's an electrical problem.

Anyway this printhead printed a lot of paper (text), service manual speaks about 6000 sheets, I printed about 8000 front and back so maybe it's just that its time has come.