Canon i860 Problem

[~ narnia ~]

I've had a Canon i860 for a few years which has just developed a
problem. When printing in black and white, I get black smudges of ink
on the front side of each sheet. I always use OEM cartridges. I
cleaned, deep cleaned, ran a nozzle check and nothing has helped.

Does anyone have a fix for this?

Many thanks!

 

[Michael Grey]

Have you tried to clean the rollers in the maintenance tab of the driver?

 

[Dan G]

Sounds like you need to remove the head assembly and clean off the heads.

 

[measekite]

It might be a good idea to upgrade to a Canon IP4300. Last week Frys
had them on sale after rebate at $59.95.

It has many features yours does not have like duplex printing, dual
paper feed and is much faster while providing better photos that are
more resistant to fading. It is night and day better than what you are
currently using and you can get it for the price of a set of carts.

 

[~ narnia ~]

Thanks, I'm going to give that a try.

Sounds like you need to remove the head assembly and clean off the heads.

 

[Dan G]

The other time I've seen this was with a leaking ink tank. If you refill
your tanks, don't use them for more than 5-6 refills or they can do this.

 

[Burt]

The other time I've seen this was with a leaking ink tank. If you refill
your tanks, don't use them for more than 5-6 refills or they can do this.

(snip)

Sorry to disagree somewhat with you, Dan. Refilled Canon carts leak if the
fill hole isn't sealed properly, regardless of how many times they have been
refilled. There are many techniques for sealing the fill hole. The most
positive I've found is a small stainless steel panhead sheet metal screw
with a tight fitting O-ring. I've never had a leaking cart after dozens of
refills. After several refills, if the ink doesn't drip readily out of the
ink outlet port when the fill hole is open, I purge the cart and start the
cycle over again. I am still using a set of OEM Canon BCI-6 carts that I
received with my first i960 over three years ago. Of course, I have several
backup sets of refilled carts as well which I use to change out when the
carts in the printer are about 3/4 empty.

Refilling too many times results in poor ink feeding which causes banding,
color shifts, and can also starve the printhead nozzles and damage them. At
the first hint that a cart isn't feeding properly it should be replaced.
The poorly feeding cart can then be rejuvinated by purging. It will then
almost always work like new again. The info on sealing techniques and on
purging these carts to "renew" them is on the Nifty-Stuff Forum. Canon OEM
carts are the best to refill by far, and they are also the best for purging
to renew excellent function.

The smearing, depending on the pattern of the smears, can be the bottom of
the printhead needing cleaning, feed rollers needing cleaning, a leaky cart,
a poor seal where the cart meets the printhead, using too thick paper stock,
or having a fairly pronounced curvature of the paper. Borderless printing
sometimes can result in either banding or a smear at the trailing edge of
the print due to lack of support as the paper is leaving the printhead area
and dropping down to the output tray. The foam "donuts" in the printhead
that form the seal at the ink outlet can ultimately get tired and not seal
well. This will usually cause some cross contamination of adjacent carts,
and can also cause smearing if there is a substantial ink leak.

The foam pad, where the printhead parks and the cleaning cycles occur, can
be loaded up with ink and transfer ink to the bottom of the printhead as
well. This pad can be cleaned by dripping windex on it and GENTLY blotting
it with a lintless paper towel. Do this several times. You can also GENTLY
clean the wiper blades next to this pad. Their function is to clean the
bottom of the printhead.


http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/

 

[Taliesyn]

The other time I've seen this was with a leaking ink tank. If you refill
your tanks, don't use them for more than 5-6 refills or they can do this.

I've been refilling most of mine for more 3 to 5 years. No problem
whatsoever.

-Taliesyn

 

[Dan G]

Depends on the specific tank. Some will start leaking, I assure you. I had a
bunch of them do it, black in particular. Others don't seem to have this
problem.

 

[Mickey]

(snip)

Sorry to disagree somewhat with you, Dan. Refilled Canon carts leak if the
fill hole isn't sealed properly, regardless of how many times they have been
refilled. There are many techniques for sealing the fill hole. The most
positive I've found is a small stainless steel panhead sheet metal screw
with a tight fitting O-ring. I've never had a leaking cart after dozens of
refills. After several refills, if the ink doesn't drip readily out of the
ink outlet port when the fill hole is open, I purge the cart and start the
cycle over again. I am still using a set of OEM Canon BCI-6 carts that I
received with my first i960 over three years ago. Of course, I have several
backup sets of refilled carts as well which I use to change out when the
carts in the printer are about 3/4 empty.....

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/

Here is another second to Burt's comments. Still using original carts
without any problems on my I-860.

Mickey

 

[Meghan Noecker]

Depends on the specific tank. Some will start leaking, I assure you. I had a
bunch of them do it, black in particular. Others don't seem to have this
problem.

I've been refilling ink for about 4 years now. I have 4 printers
myself, and I do my parent's printer also.

I've never had one leak. They do eventually fail. Usually the sponge
dries up as a result of sitting almost empty too long. So, I do
occasionally have to throw one out. But most last over a year with
lots of refills.

I close the refill hole with tiny machine screws.

 

[~ narnia ~]

I've had a Canon i860 for a few years which has just developed a
problem. When printing in black and white, I get black smudges of ink
on the front side of each sheet. I always use OEM cartridges. I
cleaned, deep cleaned, ran a nozzle check and nothing has helped.

Does anyone have a fix for this?

Many thanks!

I finally had time to take the printhead out to clean it, and I found
the source of the problem.

I have my printer on the floor and one of my cats loves to nap next to
it. A few cat hairs were stuck to the printhead, causing the ink to
smudge as it printed!