imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 clogged head

[dkoretz]

The MBK part of my head is clogged. My bad: I make sure to print from time to time to prevent this, but it didn't occur to me to print in matte paper from time to time to protect against clogs.

Two regular cleanings didn't work. I just did a deep cleaning, and it STARTED to work--about 25% of the test pattern for MBK now prints. the rest remains blank.

Is there any harm in doing multiple deep cleanings? I vaguely recall reading a warning years ago, but I can't find it.

The alternative is a new head, which along with the ink wasted in a head replacement costs nearly as much as the printer.

Thanks

[jrsforums]

As I mentioned earlier, Qimage Ultimate prints out a full (or 1/2) page of what it calls a ‘purge sheet’.  I have mine set up to print a 1/2 page of all colors, plus photo black, and a 1/2 page of just matte black.  This is scheduled automatically every 4 days at 2:00AM.

YT video: https://youtu.be/ZHqneKbQtmI?si=4HgLprokM_Q02lU0

example of purge sheet:

[dkoretz]

@microprint: I think the problem is that printing doesn't necessarily use both inks. I was fine printing every few weeks, EXCEPT for MBK. I think the problem is that in practice, I hadn't used MBK for months, even though I had printed more frequently, so MBK eventually clogged.

I hope the system cleaning works for you. In addition to getting a clean nozzle check, I have done some matte printing since I did the system cleaning, and it's been flawless.

[dkoretz]

@jrsforums: it seems to me that one can accomplish the same thing by printing a nozzle check from time to time. I don't print with Qimage. Doesn't Qimage require that the computer be left on to do this? I don't leave my computer equipment running when I'm not using it to lessen my carbon footprint. Leaving an 87W macbook running 24/7 uses as much electricity in a month as my EV uses to drive about 230 miles.

My takeaway from this is that when I am not printing for real, I'll print a nozzle check once a week or so,

[jrsforums]

Your assumption is correct.  Environmentally, I praise you.  Cost wise, your multiple cleanings probably cost more in ink than the electricity use.  While my computers do other things during the day (and night) justifying keeping them on, my experience in the computer industry…and as a user…have shown me that electronics does better when consistently on, than subject to on/off.

[microprint314]

A system cleaning also worked for me yesterday after having the same types of symptoms.  Afterward I was out of ink and needed to spend $650 but besides that, woo hoo!

[gwoj]

How do you do a system cleaning. I have an IPF700 and I can't find any info on a deep clean.  Thank you

[dkoretz]

Deep cleaning and system cleaning are different. System cleaning is more extreme and uses more ink. I don't k now your printer, but if your printer has these, it should be in the manual, which you can find online.

Again, your printer may be different from mine, but on my Pro 1000, you can access both of these both through the on-printer menu and from the maintenance tab of the printer properties dialog. the latter is better because you can specify which inks to clear.

[mtbr67]

This post might be outdated by now. But I have the same problem with my Pro-1000. Only the MBK head is clogged. I did several cleans and finally fixed it using System clean by reading this post. It seemed as if that fixed it and I got a good nozzle check. But, printing a week to two weeks apart has resulted in the same problem again. This seems to be too stringent to print every week. All other ink nozzles are clear except MBK. I did a clean and it fixed it for 1 print and by the second print, it had issues again. Frustrated since I don't want to do another System Clean with unknown results. Called Canon. They recommended all the same things... Clean, then Deep Clean and then System Clean. I am hesitant to do another System Clean since it uses up about 20~25% of the ink. I took a screen shot before and after System Clean to get at this estimate. What sucks is that all the other working nozzles are also flushed not just MBK. Effectively, that is ~$200 of ink flushed.

My printer is only 18mo old but out of warranty. Options were: Get a new head ($700) and with a new Head, the lines will have to be primed with ink which is half of an ink set: $350 (current prices) or buy a new Pro-1100 under their upgrade program for out of warranty printers, $1125 after a 20% discount. No good option since I spent $1250 just 18mo ago.
I then decided to see which media types use MBK and if I can limp along with non MBK usage. I called Canon and they were not entirely helpful. Mentioned Glossy, Semi-Gloss and Luster do not use MBK. But after more searches, I learnt that selecting any of the media options under 'Fine Art Papers' will use some amount or all of MBK for blacks. Even if you do not select Matte for ink type. I also learnt that Baryta media type does not use MBK. I printed several reference prints and then images and it came out good. Saving grace, I prefer Baryta for many of my images.

Bottom line: For now, I will be printing and using Baryta media type with my Baryta papers for printing needs and I do have some satin papers which should also be fine. If an image does require Matte media I will outsource it to one of the print services. Apart from this issue, I love the prints from this printer. It is fantastic. If any of you have anything else I should consider, let me know. Hope some of the information on media type and which types use MBK nozzles despite the selection of Glossy ink type is helpful.

[dkoretz]

I had additional failures as well. 

When you do a system cleaning from your computer, it will ask you which group of three inks you want to do. That will at least avoid the waste of the other 9 inks.

There is no good option. Continuing with frequent printing wastes ink because the printer does a self-cleaning when turned on. When you factor in everything, replacing the head is nearly as expensive as replacing the printer. And either of them--particularly replacing the printer--is a PITA as well as a big expense.

I think what's happening is that the head has redundancy--more nozzles than needed for each color. I think the system cleaning isn't cleaning out all of the matte black nozzles. On the last check I printed, there was one tiny spot that didn't print.

Like you, I mostly print on baryta or luster papers, and those print fine.

My plan for now is to print one B&W print on matte paper each week to keep it working. That doesn't waste other inks, other than the self-cleaning cycle. I'm hoping that using that much matte black ink will eventually clear out more of the relevant nozzles.