Fake Ink - has it ruined my printer?

Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:00
Last edited 25/08/2020 - 16:49

Hey Team,

I bought some non-genuine ink for my canon inkjet earlier this year (never again)

Its starting printing everything with white lines through it and the colours all over the place. I left it in there for a few months because I rarely print. I've run all the cleaning settings etc but it hasn't made a difference.

My concern is that I've ruined the printer, but I don't want to find that out after spending $120 on genuine cartridges. Anyone had a similar situation/ have any thoughts?

Thanks!!

P.S. The seller gave me a refund, but that was only $20 in a $250 printer

**ADDIT: tried 'dabbing' the head, didn't do much, so soaked in some cleaner and water. Still not perfect, but definitely better than it was. And I only broke one (apparently optional) piece of plastic and got my hands covered with ink (no gloves and isolating!). Thanks team! **

Computing Ink Cartridge

Comments

  • kahn on 24/08/2020 - 22:04
    +1

    Does "non-generic ink" mean genuine OEM ink?

    • Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:07

      Not entirely sure what you mean. It was non branded compatible ink from eBay

  • [Deactivated] on 24/08/2020 - 22:07

    I ran a few cartridges of non-genuine ink in my epson printer, the last set I had the black had a tinge of green.
    I ended up getting a genuine set of cartridges which didn’t fix it and ended up ruining the printer to the point it wouldn’t print out black even after getting a cleaning kit.

    • Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:08

      That's what I'm worried about 😐

      • [Deactivated] on 24/08/2020 - 22:25
        +2

        I ended up buying a laser printer.

        • Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:28

          Used to have one of those - it was great. I mainly use it for scanning so the cost benefit just wasn't there to get a colour laser printer with double sided ADF scanning

  • outlander on 24/08/2020 - 22:19

    Hi Pineapples
    We do a lot of printing, and use generic ink and have experienced the same problems. The issue is the print head getting clogged. It can be fixed by (very carefully!) taking it out of the printer, and running some tissue or cloth over it in one smooth motion. If that doesn't fix it, using a syringe filled with isopropyl to squirt through the print head usually does the trick, but I haven't needed to use that for a while.

    • Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:27

      Thanks, I'll give that a crack! Do you reckon the inks dodgy and chuck it out, or give it another crack after cleaning the head?

      • outlander on 24/08/2020 - 23:16
        +2

        Inks probably fine. It'll make for less vibrant pictures, but it shouldn't destroy the print head unless there's solid bits in there.
        More likely its the leaving it in there for months without printing that has done the damage. But its probably a tag team effort, with the cheap ink less able to resist drying out over long periods.

        For reference, I print exclusively on cheap ebay ink, and have a Canon MX926

        • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:55

          Probably used the ink about once a fortnight. Mostly just the odd page here and there. Not printing anything that needs to be super flash, so as long as the colours are reasonable and it's not streaky, I'm happy

  • roastchook on 24/08/2020 - 22:24

    Used to go a market where a guy sold this crap. There was always some unhappy customer hassling him about just this. Sometimes a queue! Stick with genuine.

    • Pineapples on 24/08/2020 - 22:29

      It was just so cheap, had to give it a crack and the seller had great feedback. $20 vs $120. That being said, I'm now in this situation! I'll give outlander's suggestion a crack

    • Almighty Dollar on 25/08/2020 - 19:53

      Or, try a step up - compatible inks from a place like Cartridge World. We've used the same one in our community for it must be 10 years with the same owner. I think their desire to protect their reputation keeps the quality high (enough).

  • Moneyinthebank on 24/08/2020 - 22:47
    +1

    I given up
    I lost two printers because of fake ink
    I just go to a local computer shop or newsagent and bring a usb and ask them to print for me

    • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:54

      This is tempting. And will probably work out cheaper. More of a convenience thing I guess having a printer at home.

  • Axelstrife on 24/08/2020 - 23:40
    +2

    Ive bought cheap ink from ink station multiple times now and have never had any issues myself so far.
    Similar situation it's rarely used sitting months between uses.

    • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:53

      Thanks. It's probably 2-3 weeks between uses. Never had problems leaving genuine ink sitting there for that long. Hopefully cleaning out the head helps get things going again

  • cwongtech on 25/08/2020 - 00:00
    +1

    Hey Pineapples.

    I've used non-genuine ink without issues now. ($2.50 from ebay, or used to be)

    The issue is inkjets tend to clog because.. ink dries at the printhead due to prolonged periods of not using the printer.
    Lasers don't have this problem.

    The way to resolve this is to use alcohol on tissues (liquid, can't be gel) and hold it under the printhead til it dissolves the clog.
    It's quite messy so prepare with disposable gloves

    Thanks, I'll give that a crack! Do you reckon the inks dodgy and chuck it out, or give it another crack after cleaning the head?

    I had an EPSON Workforce printer, and although it was an entry level small business printer, it never had an issue with non-genuine ink, even with prolonged periods of non-usage.
    They have a cartridge at the back for waste.
    Usually for new ink cartridges, if the ink didn't make it through the inklines properly, will need to print a few "test" pages or just heavy ink-consuming photos to ensure the ink starts to flow again.

    It's sort of like changing a loaded milk jug in a coffee machine.. sometimes there's air where the milk gets sucked up and you need to flush the system to get it going properly.

    • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:52

      Do you reckon those medical Alco swabs will work?

      • Master Bates on 25/08/2020 - 10:11

        I expect they will work better because they won’t leave lint on the print head.

      • cwongtech on 25/08/2020 - 15:23
        +1

        Do you reckon those medical Alco swabs will work?

        Yes, but if you have pure rubbing alcohol, will be more wet that's all.

  • AustriaBargain on 25/08/2020 - 01:40
    +1

    You need to leave inkjets plugged in and powered on or the printhead will clog, even with genuine ink. When plugged in it will from time to time spit out some ink into a little pad, to keep the printhead wet and flowing. The longer you leave it unplugged, the more ink it will spit out because it knows it hasn't been plugged in for months and the ink in the printhead is probably dry now. The best way to preserve your printhead and not waste ink is to leave your printer plugged in 24/7.

    Also buy superior generic ink. Of course there will be a lot of very cheap inks that will clog and fade instantly. But there's a lot of good generic ink too.

    An inkjet is a lot of responsibility and it is a bit like buying a puppy, a lot of people aren't ready for it. Canon should offer adopt a printer programs so you can try out an inkjet over a weekend and their engineers can look at the readouts and decide if they are going to sell you your own one to keep or not.

    • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:50

      Thanks! It is plugged in 24/7 but probably only print a couple pages every 2-3 weeks

      • AustriaBargain on 25/08/2020 - 09:18

        It should purge itself, though printing anything will help too. I refill my own canon cartridges, there's eight of them, it's a whole procedure but once you've learned how it's easy.

  • jackinyourbox on 25/08/2020 - 08:05
    +1

    Hi pineapples, this is bananas!

    I lost a few printers with similar issues. It’s due to infrequent printing.

    I solved it by purchasing a laser printer. They seem to handle infrequent prints better than link jets

    • Pineapples on 25/08/2020 - 08:51

      I see what you did there 😅

    • [Deactivated] on 25/08/2020 - 09:11
      +1

      Yeah my laser printer is way more efficient and reliable. No issues apart yet - fingers crossed

  • No Username on 25/08/2020 - 09:09
    +1

    Same issue but with Epson. But I've now moved on to using those ink refillable tanks.

  • iDroid on 25/08/2020 - 10:07
    +1

    Clean the print head in an ultrasonic cleaner.

  • highon2str on 26/08/2020 - 22:27
    +1

    Have always been using ebay ink but recently bought a new printer and wanted to ensure I was buying good quality aftermarket ink - found these guys, seems like they know what they're talking about and prices are just a bit more than ebay. Might be worth giving them a shot.

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