One color clogging

All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.

Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
and they worked fine in the past.

Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
than two years old with some very light printing in fact
(couple times a week on average). Thanks.

DK

"DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
newstxGi.13$bv2.3@newsfe06.lga...
>
> All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
> It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
> by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.
>
> Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
> and they worked fine in the past.
>
> Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
> than two years old with some very light printing in fact
> (couple times a week on average). Thanks.
>
> DK
>

1st, replace the tank with a new one. 90% of these problems are related to
the tank not flowing.

"DanG" <nospam@q.com> wrote in message
news:ccqdnUz1QeiDMHfbnZ2dnUVZ_jSdnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>
> "DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
> newstxGi.13$bv2.3@newsfe06.lga...
>>
>> All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
>> It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
>> by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.
>>
>> Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
>> and they worked fine in the past.
>>
>> Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
>> than two years old with some very light printing in fact
>> (couple times a week on average). Thanks.
>>
>> DK
>>
>
> 1st, replace the tank with a new one. 90% of these problems are related to
> the tank not flowing.
following up on DanG's post, if the Cyan cart has been refilled several
times there is the possibility that you have some ink dried in the sponge,
outlet, or area where ink from the reservoir feeds into the sponge area.
Two tests for proper flow are remove the cart from the printer and 1)blow
gently into the air vent. You shouldn't have to blow very hard to make the
cart drip out of the ink outlet, and 2) remove the fill hole seal and the
cart should drip steadily out of the ink outlet. Of course, you should have
a container or a wad of toweling paper or newspaper to catch the drips.

If you have carts that don't flow properly after several refills you can
purge them and they will then work as new again. Check out the thread on
the Nifty-stuff forum for purging or cleaning carts.

DanG wrote:
> "DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
> newstxGi.13$bv2.3@newsfe06.lga...
> >
> > All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
> > It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
> > by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.
> >
> > Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
> > and they worked fine in the past.
> >
> > Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
> > than two years old with some very light printing in fact
> > (couple times a week on average). Thanks.
> >
> > DK
> >
>
> 1st, replace the tank with a new one. 90% of these problems are related to
> the tank not flowing.

You beat me to the punch there. I have an older model Canon, but the
tanks are similar except for chips. If you refill enough times, the
tanks become contaminated, especially at the bottom where there is a
grill area in the plastic separating the sponge side from the tank
side. I take these tanks off and really clean them well by back
flushing. Particles of dried ink or something flow into the sink. My
final flush is with alcohol. Then I blow them out with air and store
them for the next time a tank is needed. Until you figure this out,
the cleaning cycle can be deceiving as it sucks enough ink through to
work for a brief period.

"Al Bundy" <MSfortune@mcpmail.com> wrote in message
news:1189797437.485341.60460@r29g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...
> You beat me to the punch there. I have an older model Canon, but the
> tanks are similar except for chips. If you refill enough times, the
> tanks become contaminated, especially at the bottom where there is a
> grill area in the plastic separating the sponge side from the tank
> side. I take these tanks off and really clean them well by back
> flushing. Particles of dried ink or something flow into the sink. My
> final flush is with alcohol. Then I blow them out with air and store
> them for the next time a tank is needed. Until you figure this out,
> the cleaning cycle can be deceiving as it sucks enough ink through to
> work for a brief period.
>

I've had tanks that had flow issues after as little as 2 refills, and even
one or 2 that never did flow right. I just threw out a brand new MMC
photo-black cause it refused to flow. But my experience with several Canons
is that the heads are either good or bad, never intermittent. Only tank flow
issues are intermittent, and they're pretty common.

"DanG" <nospam@q.com> wrote:
>
>"DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
>newstxGi.13$bv2.3@newsfe06.lga...
>>
>> All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
>> It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
>> by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.
>>
>> Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
>> and they worked fine in the past.
>>
>> Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
>> than two years old with some very light printing in fact
>> (couple times a week on average). Thanks.
>>
>> DK
>>
>
>1st, replace the tank with a new one. 90% of these problems are related to
>the tank not flowing.

Done today. Will see tomorrow and in upcoming days.
I wasn't particularly suspecting the cart because it is
1) the very first fill of the Hobbicolors empty carts and all
the other colors are using the same carts tight now.
2) It's been in use and seemingly fine for over a month.

Of course it's still possible that it does not flow well now,
when it is only 2/3 full...

So, no other things are likely?

DK

"DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
news:ZcGGi.58$f84.52@newsfe05.lga...
>
> Done today. Will see tomorrow and in upcoming days.
> I wasn't particularly suspecting the cart because it is
> 1) the very first fill of the Hobbicolors empty carts and all
> the other colors are using the same carts tight now.
> 2) It's been in use and seemingly fine for over a month.
>
> Of course it's still possible that it does not flow well now,
> when it is only 2/3 full...
>
> So, no other things are likely?
>
> DK
>

There's always the chance that the passages in the head carriage are
partially blocked, which is solved with a cleaning tank filled with solvent.
But my experience has been that most of the time it's the tank. But it's not
the nozzles/head. Not if it passes a nozzle check. Heads simply do not go
out intermittently. When they're dead they're dead.

From your description I'm guessing there is a problem with the ink.

Occasionally, some ink will be bad from a batch, and only affect a
specific color. Sometimes it is a matter of aging, either that the ink
is older than the others or it just chemically ages faster.

You may be able to salvage the ink by mixing it well, or by adding a
small amount of the appropriate solvent.

Without knowing the exact ink formulation you might be better off
corresponding with the manufacturer about it.

Art


DK wrote:

> All of a sudden my ip4000 started to clog selectively - Cyan only.
> It would require deep cleaning to clear up and then it's OK but
> by the next day it would be clogged clogged again.
>
> Not really sure what's it all about. I am using Hobbicolors inks
> and they worked fine in the past.
>
> Any ideas? Should I consider a new head? The printer is less
> than two years old with some very light printing in fact
> (couple times a week on average). Thanks.
>
> DK
>

"DanG" <nospam@q.com> wrote:
>
>"DK" <dk@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
>news:ZcGGi.58$f84.52@newsfe05.lga...
>>
>> Done today. Will see tomorrow and in upcoming days.
>> I wasn't particularly suspecting the cart because it is
>> 1) the very first fill of the Hobbicolors empty carts and all
>> the other colors are using the same carts tight now.
>> 2) It's been in use and seemingly fine for over a month.
>>
>> Of course it's still possible that it does not flow well now,
>> when it is only 2/3 full...
>>
>> So, no other things are likely?
>>
>> DK
>>
>
>There's always the chance that the passages in the head carriage are
>partially blocked, which is solved with a cleaning tank filled with solvent.

Which solvent would be best to use?

>But my experience has been that most of the time it's the tank. But it's not
>the nozzles/head. Not if it passes a nozzle check. Heads simply do not go
>out intermittently. When they're dead they're dead.

Well, I don't think it is a cartridge because another one that I installed
yesterday did exactly the same today. I am going to install yet another
cartridge with a newer batch of inks that I have and if that won't help,
will be doing cleaning with the solvent(s).

DK

On Sep 15, 11:05 am, d...@no.email.thankstospam.net (DK) wrote:
> "DanG" <nos...@q.com> wrote:
>
> >"DK" <d...@no.email.thankstospam.net> wrote in message
> >news:ZcGGi.58$f84.52@newsfe05.lga...
>
> >> Done today. Will see tomorrow and in upcoming days.
> >> I wasn't particularly suspecting the cart because it is
> >> 1) the very first fill of the Hobbicolors empty carts and all
> >> the other colors are using the same carts tight now.
> >> 2) It's been in use and seemingly fine for over a month.
>
> >> Of course it's still possible that it does not flow well now,
> >> when it is only 2/3 full...
>
> >> So, no other things are likely?
>
> >> DK
>
> >There's always the chance that the passages in the head carriage are
> >partially blocked, which is solved with a cleaning tank filled with solvent.
>
> Which solvent would be best to use?
>
> >But my experience has been that most of the time it's the tank. But it's not
> >the nozzles/head. Not if it passes a nozzle check. Heads simply do not go
> >out intermittently. When they're dead they're dead.
>
> Well, I don't think it is a cartridge because another one that I installed
> yesterday did exactly the same today. I am going to install yet another
> cartridge with a newer batch of inks that I have and if that won't help,
> will be doing cleaning with the solvent(s).
>
> DK

I have had a similar problem with magenta but on a different printer -
a Pixma ip5000.. After deep cleaning, the magenta colour returns only
to disappear shortly thereafter. I am not familiar with the terms
people are using in the responses to the original question posed. How
does one remove the tank and clean it - assuming the tank is not the
ink cartridge? What is meant by the "cart"? which is also mentioned
above? How does one get a "cleaning tank" and what solvents should
one use in these tanks and carts? Any help appreciated.

Doug