Canon Pixma Pro-100 Group 2 Ink Cartridge Issue

[theinfinityzero]

After I setup my printer and was prompted to run an alignment test I received the error 2500.  I then ran a cleaning cycle and then a nozzle check cycle and found out group 2 (bk, gy, lgy, c) wasn't printing at all.  After several cleaning and deep cleaning attempts I still encountered this issue.  I re-read the instructions to see if I missed out on anything.  Despite it's warning, I removed the printhead to see if I left any orange tape.  I noticed that the left side for Group 1 had ink residue while the right side was dry.  Even after running many cleaning and deep cleaning cycles it was dry.

I tried my luck again after 12+ hours and Group 2 is still not working.  Everything is installed properly - ink cartridges are seated properly and the indicator lights are on for all 8. 

The only thing that managed to change is the "ink level," or rather the printer is telling me Group 2 is close to empty while a visual inspection shows a near full cartridge of ink.

I am more than frustrated at this point.  I own several Canon products, but this is the first that has been defective.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

EDIT: 01.05.14 @ 0152

I went over everything once again and found nothing out of place.  Ran the cleaning cycles again and followed up with a nozzle check and the only thing new is I've ran "out" of LGY and the rest of Group 2 ink are down to their last drops (according to the chip on each cartridge).

Now I've "wasted" ink as I am sure there's no way to reset the information on the ink cartridges (the Group 2 tanks are full!). 

This has been one major headache.  Honestly, it's a POS.  I experienced zero issues with my Canon MG3100 printer after setup and was hoping for the same experience with a more expensive, sophisticated printer. 

[formeri9900]

Also way later, but was this problem ever explained?  I loved my i9900, but it finally gave out so I went with a sale on a new in the box Pixma Pro 100 and this is happening.  The retailer is sending out a new one, but I'm wondering how common this problem was and if Canon ever figured out what was causing it?

[nolte]

Hey this same issue happened to me.

My pattern check pages looked like the pics the OP is posting. The group 2 group was not printing at all.

This happened to me after owning the printer for several years.

I removed the print head and cleaned it per the instructions on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEkKGBUSwNg

...and I'm back running correctly,

I used distilled water I'm not sure how important that was. But it worked and its printing both groups correctly. 

[martinjconnolly]

I've got a Pro 100S with the same issue. One group of inks is not working at all. The printer is over 2 years old so Canon asked me to send it to their UK service centre. Er, yeah, pay for a 20kg parcel to be shipped to the other end of the country, I don't think so. Anyway I will try out the printhead cleaning as per the video and see how that goes.

[nolte]

Hey Martin... Im not affiliated with that video at all but I was faced with a ruined printer and thought 'why not?'

It took a few minutes and almost a whole gallon (I guess 4 liters for you!) of distilled water before it was hard to get any color to come out of it. I pulled the print head out of the water a number of times with a rather quick motion and noted that when I did this it pulled pigment out quite a bit. I think you'll see what I'm talking about when you do it.

When the water in the bin started to get a bit of color in it, I would pour it out and refresh with clear water.

When I could no longer see any more significant amount of pigment coming out of any of the ports I carefully wiped it off and set it aside to dry overnight.

The next day I put it back in and re-seated my ink cartridges and the first test pattern I ran came out perfectly. Pictures look back to normal as well.

This happened shortly after I printed quite a few large black and white pics with an aftermarket ink. I've wondered if that was the culprit as the section of the head affected was primarily the blacks. 

Nonetheless I think I will stick with the cheaper ink unless I find myself needing to clean the head pretty periodically. I found it pretty easy to do, actually.

-nolte

[martinjconnolly]

Well, I did the whole procedure, leaving the printhead overnight and then it took another day to dry out. Now the group of inks that wasn't working at all is fine, but from group 2, Light Grey is not printing! I've done a deep clean from the utility program and I'll leave it a day. If that ink is still not working then I'll redo the printhead cleaning. What a pain....

[martinjconnolly]

OK, I bought a new Light Grey cartridge and that problem is solved. I think the old one may have dried up too much to be rescued. I have another problem now, the yellow cartridge is reported as low ink level, but it's almost full when I look at it. I'll find another place to post a question but does anyone know how to fix this?

[nolte]

I'll respond since I was following the thread but I'm sorry I do not know how to fix a cartridge glitch like that. Glad to hear that the print head cleaning sorted that out. Inkjet printers are frustrating things to me overall.

[Angie2]

I had this problem as well very frustrating. My daughter had me do a factory reset on the printer and the problem went away! 

[martinjconnolly]

Maybe I should have tried that, I didn't know it was an option. In the end I replaced the cartridge. Ink was sloshing around in it, probably about £8 worth.