Printer won't print yellow

[Aleddra]

I looked it up, tried everything i found short of pulling the printer appart.

It was working fine, i was printing pictures. Then suddently the yellow ink dropped. I changed the ink, same thing.

I reinstalled the drivers. Pulled the power plug for 2 minutes. I used a cotton swab on the ink cartridge.

What is going on here.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I had to "deep clean" my printer several times as the hose was a bit clogged or something, it was weird and yellow was highly affected over the other colors (I don't use my printer often).

[_I_]

or put the printer in cartridge change mode and unplug it
remove all ink carts
put a paper towel under the print head, and use ipa and a rubber hose to flush the yellow head
let it dry for a few hours, replace carts and plug it in then test

printers deep clean can fix most, but uses alot of ink to do it, since it does all them at once, instead of just the stuck color
and the solvent in inks is not as strong as ipa (use 70% or a lower mix than 91%)

[Wampum Biskit]

Originally posted by WinterSorrow:

I had to "deep clean" my printer several times as the hose was a bit clogged or something, it was weird and yellow was highly affected over the other colors (I don't use my printer often). :badluck:

it's very advisable to do it manually as _I_ suggested , some brand printers use a fixed trash ink reservoir that has a chip on it , once it's full the printer shuts down and you cannot fix it because it's a fixed non-serviceable reservoir (btw Epson is known for this).. so not using the deep clean function is better in the long run vs doing several deep cleans in a row.

i have an Epson ET-4700 (eco tank) and it has that non-serviceable reservoir in it.

[PopinFRESH]

Which printer model is it? What type of printer is it?

[Aleddra]

Canon TS3420

[Aleddra]

Originally posted by _I_:

or put the printer in cartridge change mode and unplug it
remove all ink carts
put a paper towel under the print head, and use ipa and a rubber hose to flush the yellow head
let it dry for a few hours, replace carts and plug it in then test

printers deep clean can fix most, but uses alot of ink to do it, since it does all them at once, instead of just the stuck color
and the solvent in inks is not as strong as ipa (use 70% or a lower mix than 91%)

I have color or black cartridges. I'm willing to try this, but i'm not sure i understand.

Open the ink door.
Wait for the heads to move in positions
Unplug the printer.

Then what? A paper towel? I don't think i have anything rubber like.

[Rod]

It happens i got a new epson 3200xp all works great apart from the color no yellow tried cleans new carts i just kept it for black and white as thats all i print anyways

[_I_]

ok, those carts have the print heads

if you put in a new cart, and it does not print yellow, then it may be a calibration problem
print its calibration page and follow instructions

[Aleddra]

I don't know a lot about printers.

This ink cartridge is new. But i have another one, i ordered 2 so i could have a rotation.

Should i try another cartridge? Or is this something else completely? I got this exact same thing when the previous cartridge ran out. But it ran out legit, the ink meter was gone. It is not the case with this one.

https://imgur.com/a/AEraUbl

(2 pictures in the set).

[_I_]

take a damp paper towel, wipe the head of the print cart along it,
if it leaves streaks of all colors, the cart is fine

[Aleddra]

I looked around Amazon's reviews. This ink is just trash. I'll buy something genuine and i'm sure my money won't be wasted.

Thanks all.

[SlowClick]

It sounds like the print head is blocked - unless you can un-block it (other posters have descibed ways to do this) then it's time to bin the printer.
A new print head costs as much as a new printer - or it did when the same thing happened to me a few years ago.

[HHH33]

You can try a detergent kit, but it's toxic, and when I tried it on a printer, I wasn't successful. Maybe I gave up too easily.

[PopinFRESH]

Originally posted by Aleddra:

I looked around Amazon's reviews. This ink is just trash. I'll buy something genuine and i'm sure my money won't be wasted.

Thanks all.

This is why I was asking what make/model you have. AFAIK those ink cartridges are chipped for their ink level monitoring. Using aftermarket cartridges and/or refill kits won't reset the ink level so the printer will still think that the yellow is empty. Using a genuine Canon cartridge will likely work.

You could in-theory install a genuine Canon cartridge and run the calibration; then re-install the aftermarket cartridge and it might work, however, I'd not recommend this because by the time you'd use up that cartridge the printhead on the genuine cartridge will likely have become clogged with dried up ink from sitting out exposed to air unless you are able to re-vacuum seal it.

I'd just replace it with a genuine cartridge and verify it's working; and if so just use that moving forward.

[_I_]

does the printer software tell the ink levels?

if it was an aftermarket cart or refilled, the carts chip may not have been reset or changed so the printer might think its still partially used or empty