8300 head change and question

[dpirazzi]

Wanted to share a recent experience with my 8300, and ask a question.

I noticed something on a recent nozzle check that did not look right (see image).  I tried running an alignment but no change. I called Canon and after a few questions, the tech determined I needed a new head. He offered to send one out free (next day delivery no less) even though I was a 2 months out of warranty.

The head arrived the next day, after ~40 minutes (most of which was the alignment) I was back up and running. That kind of service really means a lot to me (and is in stark contrast to the complete lack of support I received for my 4900 that was two weeks out of warranty and lost LLK, but I digress).

With my 4900, I knew it was pretty much my job to keep the nozzles clear, printing nozzle checks and running cleanings as needed between prints. With the 8300, which has spare nozzles and maps out clogged nozzles, I'm not sure what my role is anymore wrt keeping the head healthy???

I can print nozzle checks, even print nozzle1 check which supposedly shows the un-mapped nozzle pattern. And I can run cleaning cycles and try to clear those, but does that actually help extend the life of the head? I'm fine with just letting the printer manage this and focusing on printing, but I feel like I'm being negligent (too many years with Epson).

So, for other x300 owners, what do you do wrt nozzles and cleanings?

thx, Dave

[bill t.]

When your hands start trembling and you feel the irresistible urge to run a nozzle check, and you find yourself compulsively reaching for the Windex and paper towels, just take a pen or pencil and draw crosshatched images on a piece of paper for a few minutes.  Maybe rub a little Windex into your hands.  Recovery will not be fast, but a year down the road you'll hardly remember the difficult times you are going through now.

I run nozzle checks only before running profiling targets.  When a printhead is getting ready to sign out it will let you know either in words on the display, and with early warnings in the form a increasingly frequent end-of-print cleaning cycles, or sometimes in the form of ink swipes along the edges of the print.  I leave the printer on all the time and let it take care of itself which it does quite well.

I saw the double pattern thing once, and the only reason I ran the check was a sudden color shift.  Short telephone call, free replacement overnight, now that's sweet.

[smjphoto]

Hey Bill, I thought the strikes near the paper edge were head strikes due to paper curling, etc. Am I understanding that you are saying they are or can be a telltale head issue? I've definitely had some of these...

Thanks for posting that bad nozzle check. I think it really helps to know what to look for when they talk about "double lines".
I haven't been doing any nozzle checks since leaving epson. I think I need to start doing a check every so often to look more closely for early warning signs of head failure (see other post about 2-3 year life).
Stuart

[bill t.]

Well, ink swipes along the edge of media can come from both media curl and sickly printheads, or some some other transient issues.  I have stopped using curly media, so when I see those swipes it could mean a printhead issue, anything from needing a minimal cleaning to a replacement.  A minor swipe can also come from a recent automatic head cleaning, and from the first foot or so of media printed after a media length calibration through the Media Configuration Tool, which runs the heads low enough over thick media to get some swipes just from rearranging the normal ink "overspray" residue on the bottom of the carriage.

[Czornyj]

Canon can detect and get rid of clogged nozzles automagically, so there's no need to check it. The only exception is the above mentioned (rare) case of "devils" - doubled lines on nozzle check. It usually results in a slight banding, and the fact that printer is unable to finish advanced head alignment.

[dpirazzi]

Thanks for the replies, I'll focus on printing and let the printer do its thing. And maybe join a 12 step program to help with the nozzle check thing.

[smjphoto]

After the advice I got from my dealer to run a nozzle check occasionally, I did run one. When I looked closely, it had double lines ( Vertical) in several places to varying degrees. It looks like the OP's image. Some I could only see with a loupe at first, but in at least one block it was easy to see them.  I called canon and spoke to "John". He said don't use a loupe and it wasn't a problem. If I didn't have an error message and my prints looked ok, there was nothing wrong.

This seem to contradict everything I've read on forums and been told by my dealer. Any advice or experience?

I am going to do an alignment and calibration and try again, of course.
thanks,
Stuart

[Czornyj]

Run advanced head alignment - if there are some "devils" on nozzle check pattern, the operation won't be finished and you'll get an error message 100%.

[smjphoto]

thanks Marcin,
I got "Cannot Adjust Printhead" after trying the advanced printhead alignment. I then ran a nozzle check , then a head cleaning, then another advanced alignment check, per the user's guide instructions with the same results.