Canon ip4200 question

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Hi
My second printhead has just starting acting up after just 6 months
I refill my carts
Is this what's causing the problem?

 

[Al]

Hi
My second printhead has just starting acting up after just 6 months
I refill my carts
Is this what's causing the problem?

What exactly does "acting up" mean to you? Maybe you did not need a
second print head in the first place.
Your problem may stem from improper filling techniques. There are
times when you can't just squirt ink in a cart and expect it to work
properly. The venting and sealing must be correct or the ink won't
flow or will over flow. After carts have been refilled a number of
times, they may need to be cleaned and flushed. Debris can build up in
the screen at the bottom, preventing adequate flow. So what's
happening and provide more background on the carts and times refilled,
etc?

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Instead of dye black I get a pale green.
This is the same result as the last time my print head had a failure.
I too thought it was my carts, as they had been filled dozens of
times, so I replaced them with original carts that had just run out
and been refilled, but with the same result?

 

[Al]

Instead of dye black I get a pale green.
This is the same result as the last time my print head had a failure.
I too thought it was my carts, as they had been filled dozens of
times, so I replaced them with original carts that had just run out
and been refilled, but with the same result?

Yes, it does sound more like a print head problem. Follow some of the
cleaning suggestions from this group. Personally, I like to clean the
print head from the bottom using a water pik (used for teeth) and then
flush with a syringe from the top side. You would need a syringe with
a hose adapter that matched the inlet for the ink. When clean, you
can see all the spray nozzles working for each color. If everything is
flowing and it still doesn't work when reinstalled with ink, the head
must be bad. Of course, don't overlook the obvious of cleaning all the
electrical contacts.
I know it's strictly anecdotal, but I had a Canon one time that
refused to print black from the black cart. I did all the cleaning and
flushing and I was certain there was black ink getting to the head. I
printed for months mixing the colors to come close to black.
Periodically, I would retest the black. Eventually, it started
printing black again and never had another problem. So now I'm
reluctant to throw out any parts.

 

[Al]

These thoughts likely don't apply but is good to know anyway.

Ink changes over time and one thing is viscosity, it becomes less viscous..

A couple yrs back I had some problems develop with Magenta, just couldn't
get it to work right. Ended up calling the Co I purchased the ink from
(MIS) and was informed of what you could expect from using ink with exp
use-by date. Purchased new ink and all was well again.

Mickey

I double seal my old ink in completely filled containers that have no
air. That helps some. I also tend to add a few drops of alcohol to old
ink. I have taken HP78 carts that were new and dried up in the package
and refilled them with only alcohol. I was able to revive them to
service.

 

[Martin ©¿©¬]

Thank you for your replies
I now believe it is not the dye black at fault as colours are printing
all washed out. It was a 40% grey colour that was printing as a
washed out grey/green.

So I changed back to my original carts and although slightly better,
the grey band is a grey/green colour with a faint reddish vertical
stripe across it.

Printing a DVD colour cover on photo-glossy paper is sickly & washed
out, although the blacks are sharp and vibrant

Think my prinhead has had it