My Canon i850 is all jacked up

[beatle]

I'm guessing this has something to do with my generic cartridges (bought from Megatoners) but it has gradually gotten worse. The printer head alignment page looks awful. Some of the rows don't even display. Here's a scan of it (warning, 777k). Pictures appear orangey and often with lines going through them. I've performed the deep cleaning on the nozzles 3 times with no change in output. If anything, things are getting worse.

I replaced the magenta and cyan cartridges as they were low. I replaced the yellow one (despite not being empty) just on a suspicion that they need to work together. Any suggestions? New print heads are $98 (outrageous).

 

[Peter]

Run the NOZZLE TEST. That'll give you a precise picture of what's missing.

 

[beatle]

I ran that, but didn't scan it. I couldn't tell what was wrong, as I wasn't sure where there were supposed to be lines and where there weren't.

 

[Peter]

You should see a pattern of staggered horizontal lines, done twice for normal and small dot sizes, for each ink color.

 

[beatle]

I did see staggered lines, but some colors were absent completely. It'd be much more useful if they showed you a reference pattern on your screen.

 

[Peter]

With color(s) completely absent, you don't so much have clogged jets but rather a dried out supply path. Did you take an ink tank out for a prolonged period? Are the inks sealing themselves properly against the print head?

 

[beatle]

Nothing has been out for more than a few seconds. I don't have the printer in front of me, but the cartridges snapped into place just like the old ones. The cartridges are the BCI-3e/BCI-3 ones seen at Megatoners. They are a good fit and do not move around in the sockets, but were not 100% identical in width. As all of the colors have been replaced, it would seem odd that only some are malfunctioning.

 

[Peter]

Ah, third party ink. Unfortunately there's quite some junk on that shelf. There is good 3rd party ink, but just as much questionable stuff.

 

[beatle]

I thought Megatoners was decent stuff, as I'd heard their name mentioned on the forum in good light. If it's crap, who makes good stuff (other than Canon 😉)?

 

[Macro2]

http://tylermartin.com/Canon%20Selection.htm

You can try these, especially the Necton brand. Personally, I refill.

You could either have a dry printhead or possibly an air-lock.

Peter will tell you how to place the printhead on a wet paper towel in the sink.