Canon I960 woes, magenta not printing...

[kef7]

I hadn't used my printer in about 3 weeks and when I tried to print out some photos they had a greenish tinge to them.

Went into printer maintenance and did the head cleaning and deep head cleaning several times but on test sheets magenta still doesn't print. The magenta cartridge/tank is nearly brand new and still pretty full.

Any suggestions? I looked around the canon website for troubleshooting tips but didn't notice anything beyond the deep head cleaning. (which they only recommend doing 3 times in a 24 hr period, why is that?)

 

[Mem]

Originally posted by: kef7
I hadn't used my printer in about 3 weeks and when I tried to print out some photos they had a greenish tinge to them.

Went into printer maintenance and did the head cleaning and deep head cleaning several times but on test sheets magenta still doesn't print. The magenta cartridge/tank is nearly brand new and still pretty full.

Any suggestions? I looked around the canon website for troubleshooting tips but didn't notice anything beyond the deep head cleaning. (which they only recommend doing 3 times in a 24 hr period, why is that?)

Guide here,middle of page

 

[Zepper]

I would have pointed you to the nifty-stuff pages too. Hard to tell exactly what's going on when a Canon stops printing one color or another. Could be just a clogged head, or a bad head or the cable that connects the head to the circuitry could have some corrosion, or the magenta channel of the circuitry itself. Hard to disassemble to really check for some of the problems. I think Canon still sells the print head for that, but if you buy one and it doesn't solve your problem, you are stuck with it - no returns. Luckily they don't cost a fortune. Hard to justify doing anything on a printer that's 3 or 4 generations old when the iP4600 sells for under $100. It's getting more and more, you just buy a new printer when the old one gives problems as you're only paying about $25. over the retail price for the included ink tanks... I don't think Canon uses the "starter tank" con like HP and some others to get you buying new tanks ASAP - you get full-volume tanks with their printers.

.bh.

 

[kef7]

Thanks for all the advice.

Unfortunately the magenta is still not printing. (after repeatedly blowing out printhead sponge with compressed air followed up by deep head cleanings) Replacing the magenta cart didn't help either.

I didn't try the "remove print head and run under hot water" because I really don't think it is a clog since I'm getting absolutely no magenta at all on test sheets/nozzle checks.

Despite potentially throwing good money after bad I think I might buy a new print head since I have so many new cartridges lying around.

 

[Zepper]

Sometimes you can find Canon print heads on fleabay, but I've found that they are sometimes at a higher price there than you can get direct from Canon.

.bh.

 

[kef7]

I called Canon and the price for a replacement print head was $70. No thanks; was willing to go up to $40-45 but no higher.

On a whim I checked craigslist and found an I960 for $30. Just picked it up and it is working fine. All 6 tanks are at least half full so I'm pretty happy.

Mem and ZepperThanks again for the info and suggestions!!