HELP - No Magenta with my Canon S820

[White Widow]

Ok, I really need some help on this. Earlier this evening I was printing out some pics on my S820. Everything worked fine as it has since i got it about a month ago. At some point the print monitor software told me the Magenta cartridge (regular, no photo) was low, and since i had a replacement in my drawer, I popped it out and put the new one in. The software then suggested that I needed to run the nozzle alignment again, so I did. Everything worked fine, I made a few small adjustments, and went back to printing. But now, everything was ocming out green! I ran the nozzle check and no magenta was coming out - NONE. I ran the print head cleaner: no effcet. Ran the intense print head cleaning routing - NOTHING. I tried replacing the new magenta cartridge with the old one which had alittle ink left - NOTHING. No matter what I do, no magenta comes out. The cartridge is seated correctly and the printer software reports that it is installed and is 99% full. I tried uninstalling the printer and driver and reinstalling them, to no avail. I tied using a few difefrent ICC profiles, same thing. I really need to get this working again, so any advice would eb really appreciated. Since NOTHING is coming out, I'm sure it's something stupid casing this, but I am at wits end.

Thanks,
Aaron

 

[OZEE]

I have an S450 -- different printer, but similar problem. Don't know if you've checked this, though...

My magenta seems to stop working and everything comes out greenish. Put in a fresh tank and it worked for a while, then same thing. Then I started checking. The ink at the outlet of the tank had turned very dark - kinda bluish/dark purple... I made a page with lots of very big magenta and red text/graphics and printed this out. Eventually, the dark worked its way out and it was printing right again. Now, it seems like I have to do this every so often. Yes, it wastes a lot of ink, but it's better than throwing out a nearly new cartridge.

Just a thought...

 

[White Widow]

Thanks for the advice. I made up an 8.5x11 page of pure magenta and printed it out - 100% white. Nothing came out. I also inspected the ink pad on the carridge, and it looks really healthy - it'a only about 12 hours old!

Thanks again,
Aaron

 

[altonb1]

Try this. No guarantees, but SHOULD work.

A) Open printer so cartridges are available.
B) Turn off printer
C) Remove magenta Cartidge.
D) With a Q-Tip dipped lightly (not saturated) in Isopropryl Alcohol (ie. rubbing alcohol), gently clean the contacts of the printer and also the bottom of the cartridge where ink will come out. If you can see the print head on the printer, clean this as well. (Note: You will probably need about 6 q-tips total)
E) Repeat step D until things seem to be fairly clean. You will still continue to tint the q-tip, but when things seem to get faint, you should be okay.
F) replace cartidge and print a test page.

More than likely, you got dust, dirt, or dried ink in the print head and it is clogged. If you do not apply the alcohol sparingly, you can be in for a huge mess. I did this with a cartidge once and was sloppy with it. My next print had black ink leaking all over until it completely covered the printer sesnors and gave a print error. The alcohol should dry fairly quickly.

 

[White Widow]

Thanks - I'll give it a try when I get home... AFETR I leave work ealry and go snowboarding in what is possibly the last good snowfall of the season!!!!