New Printer of New Head? Any Printer knowledgeables out there?

rizla01

Hi All.

Another dilemna.

I have a Canon MP 760 Pixma all in one and this has served me well for the last 4-5 years.

I think that this was near top of it's league at the time and still holds it's own quite well.

I have recently had a problem whereby the black ink isnt printing.

All colours are pefect.

I have tried 3 times, to clean the head using all manner of methods and even the Mr Muscle window cleaner has failed to kickstart the ol' girl.

Will now try immersing in Meths for 24 Hrs and hope that'll work but it is looking gloomily like the head is past resurection.

I can obviously fit a new head or but a new printer.

Head cost = Approx £50.00.

Cheap multi Function = £43.00.

(Not bad reviews to all intents)

It would relly be a shame to ditch a perfectly (Almost) good machine that has so many functions, and is cheap to run, for the sake of buying a print head but then the paper mech may falter or some other fault may develop, tho I think it unlikely as it sails along without a murmer.


I am warned (By someone that wants to sell me a new head) that newer printers are a lot more expensive on ink and that compatibles are not available for some?

I also learn that they are not as well built these days.

On the other hand technology has surely moved on and that even a new cheap machine may well outperform a 5Yr old model.

Where do I go from here?

All advice (Except go buy a HP or Lexmark) will be appreciated.

Thanks.

Truepat

I go away for long periods and usually when I got back home my printer would not work. I was sick of buying new cartridges and then wasting half of them trying to clean the head and in the end buying a new printer.
Last time, following advice from one of my techies, (you are not going to appreciate this) I bought a Hewlett Packard printer which has the head built into the cartridge. At least now replacing the cartridges means I get a working print head again, plus it does not seem to clog up half as much as my old printer.

I get the feeling the chap trying to supply you with a head is talking out his rear end. I will ask my techies about that on Monday.

cajef

rizla01 wrote: »

I have a Canon MP 760 Pix ma all in one and this has served me well for the last 4-5 years.

I have recently had a problem whereby the black ink isnt printing.

I have tried 3 times, to clean the head using all manner of methods and even the Mr Muscle window cleaner has failed to kickstart the ol' girl.

Had exactly the same problem with my Canon i865 printer, as the new printers use chipped cartridges that are much more expensive I replaced the head two years ago and it has been fine since, although I now print a test page to prevent the ink drying up every couple of days.

rizla01

Just wondered if my printer is a better deal than those on the market.

Stated in 2005.

The 2.5in LCD screen, flash memory drive and PictBridge port are givens, but the capable media-handling facilities aren't. Using Canon's dual paper path system, plain paper and photo print media can be loaded at the same time.

Auto-duplexing allows double-sided printing, plus you can print directly onto compatible CDs and DVDs.
The MP760 has one of Canon's more sophisticated ink printing systems. Whereas most MFDs use the same type of black ink whether printing photos or text documents, the Pixma can choose from two depending on the job. It's touches like this that allow the MP760 to romp ahead on print output.

In our real-world tests, it printed text at 12ppm - good but not astounding. However, bump up the quality settings, and the MP760 maintains a decent speed. Sparkling results are available at 8ppm, and even at the highest settingit managed 2.1ppm. Colours were vibrant and well defined.

An optical resolution of 2,400 x 4,800dpi enables superb reproduction on scans, and the built-in film adapter is invaluable for slides and transparencies. Fading and grain correction help enhance results, and speeds are strong across the board.

Also, since it peresently prints in colour, what is the chance of a new head NOT curing the problem?

As far as I can see the head IS the printer.

But is it possible that there is a fault that a new head won't rectify.

I think I know the answer but no-one is going to refund an opened printhead, (If it DOESN'T work) are they?

Spank

Untill you get the black printing head fixed you should be able to print in black bychanging the settings to "use color only"

rrf494g

cleaning removable canon printheads

If it's not too late, here's my method of cleaning canon printheads when one "deepclean" attempt does not work. (from USA tech threads)

Remove ink tanks and save on kitchen towel.

Remove print head from printer.

Get a small tray of luke warm water about 3/4 inch deep (1 1/2 cms)- soft water is best - if you are in a hard water area use de-ionised water for the steam iron or battery filling. The soft/acid tapwater up here in the Yorkshire pennines is great.

Add 5 drops of thin bleach (sodium hypochlorite I think) from tesco or sainsburys. (ONLY)

Drop the printhead in the bath and let the colours flow out! Repeat a few times and then dry with kitchen towel. If ink is still leaching out into the towel - repeat with a clean bath.

Dry printhead and replace all ink components in printer. Run one "clean" operation.

This works really well for my canon iP3000 and I've done it 4 or 5 times over the same number of years.
regards

thor

I don't know about thin bleach but when I have read up on cleaning printheads the internet points to using either windolene(known as windex in america) or isopropyl solvent. I have used windolene and it does not work for my canon ip4300 printhead. I have not tried isopropyl as I don't know where to get hold of some(apparantly widely available at pharmacies in america but no idea about here in the uk)

Jakes-mate

Just had a google and the best bet seems to get it from a chemist shop, they also say nail varnish remover will work.

rrf494g

I really would be careful about using solvent based (not water water based) methods of attempring to clean print heads. The circuits are sealed in with resin to be water proof - but solvents - particularly nail polish remover (acetone) may well dissolve the resin.
regards

spakkker

@ thor - I've been given a 4300 which had probs from the start but as the carts were refilled my mate didn't take printer back, I've since read that it is a known problem ??? My ip5300 still running fine on original carts after 3 yrs refilling.
Tape head cleaner or cd cleaner fluid is often isopropyl alcohol but as the inks are water based I'd consider the earlier posts.

spud17

rrf494g wrote: »

I really would be careful about using solvent based (not water water based) methods of attempring to clean print heads. The circuits are sealed in with resin to be water proof - but solvents - particularly nail polish remover (acetone) may well dissolve the resin.
regards

Seen it happen.

Thinners, as used by a garage/bodywork shop, readily dissolves all the plasticky bits carrying the circuits, as above.

Resulting gloop went in the bin.