Canon i455 (i450) new printhead trouble

[triffid]

Hi,
I'm having major problems with the new printhead for my Canon i455
(basically an i450 with improved firmware). Put simply, it won't print
out anything.

Basically, the old head worked fine for the better part of 2 years. I
had to clean it with alcohol a few months back, and this seemed to
solve the problem with the black ink (colour- i.e. CMY- was always
fine).

After a while, the black stopped working again; this time round, I
noticed I'd left a piece of sticky tape covering the air duct at the
top of the black tank (d'oh). Quite likely this had restricted ink
flow... even after re-cleaning, there was no black from the old head at
all. I assumed the lack of ink had damaged the black nozzles. Colour
output was fine, but I need black.

So.... I buy a new printhead, and even the overpriced official Canon
ink tanks to go in it, but..... NOTHING!!! The computer thinks the
printhead's there, the paper moves as normal, but nothing (and I mean
*nothing* whatsoever) appears on it.

Replace the old head/tanks and I get colour output, but no black (as
before). Put the new one in again, and *nothing* appears.

It struck me as weird that the old printhead didn't give *any* black
output after cleaning, but I put that down to damage. Even if the
printer mechanism/electronics themselves were damaged, why on earth am
I still able to print colour from the old printhead, when the new one
gives no output whatsoever?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

-- Triffid

 

[Tony]

Hi,
I'm having major problems with the new printhead for my Canon i455
(basically an i450 with improved firmware). Put simply, it won't print
out anything.

Basically, the old head worked fine for the better part of 2 years. I
had to clean it with alcohol a few months back, and this seemed to
solve the problem with the black ink (colour- i.e. CMY- was always
fine).

After a while, the black stopped working again; this time round, I
noticed I'd left a piece of sticky tape covering the air duct at the
top of the black tank (d'oh). Quite likely this had restricted ink
flow... even after re-cleaning, there was no black from the old head at
all. I assumed the lack of ink had damaged the black nozzles. Colour
output was fine, but I need black.

So.... I buy a new printhead, and even the overpriced official Canon
ink tanks to go in it, but..... NOTHING!!! The computer thinks the
printhead's there, the paper moves as normal, but nothing (and I mean
*nothing* whatsoever) appears on it.

Replace the old head/tanks and I get colour output, but no black (as
before). Put the new one in again, and *nothing* appears.

It struck me as weird that the old printhead didn't give *any* black
output after cleaning, but I put that down to damage. Even if the
printer mechanism/electronics themselves were damaged, why on earth am
I still able to print colour from the old printhead, when the new one
gives no output whatsoever?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

-- Triffid

You may have been unlucky. The first printhead failed for whatever reason.
Maybe the second one is faulty and needs to be replaced under warranty. Some
canon printheads come with a clip to protect them and a plastic tape under the
clip, some just have the clip. I assume you checked for tape <g>.
Tony

 

[triffid]

Thanks; actually, now that you mention it, there wasn't any tape under
the new printhead (although there was a clip); I'm pretty sure it was
there on the original printhead before I removed it.

I've inspected the thing for damage, and I can't see any significant
difference between them, so I'm pretty sure I haven't overlooked it
this time

-- Triffid