Anyone seen problems with Canon BCI-6 ink?

[grober]

Last week my Canon S9000 printer started having problems which leads me to suspect that I may have purchased either a bad lot of Canon black BCI-6 ink or perhaps some counterfeit product packaged to look like "genuine Canon ink". Before I take the printer into Canon service, which is at some distance from me, I thought I'd post a query on this site.

Any shadow or low key areas in the image whcih should be print a clean black now come out a very sickening greenish-black. There is no purpose in posting an image here because the image always looks fine; it's the print that is strange. I have put the printer through multiple self-cleaning cycles which have not yet lessened the problem. I have never had a printhead problem on this three-year old printer until now nor has this printer ever seen non-Canon ink.

I always use only genuine Canon ink and usually Canon paper although this problem happens on both Canon and non-Canon paper.

(I am a Leica user so please don't burn me for broaching this non-Leica issue.)

Anyone seen any instances of genuine-looking Canon ink that has turned out to be counterfeit? Thanks.

-g

[nyrich]

All of my Canon ink is bought through either Amazon or B&H. It would be a shocker if either source would be selling counterfeit. I can't say the same for some of the sellers on ebay. Lots of counterfeit stuff there.

All else (print head, driver) being equal, it could be a bad batch of genuine Canon ink or it could be counterfeit. Are you comfortable with your supplier?

Rich

[albertwang]

I have had problems with counterfeit ink.

I would suggest buying it from Inkjet Solutions for Archival Fine Art Printing ... there is no question about its strength there!

[nyrich]

Originally Posted by albertwang

I have had problems with counterfeit ink.

I would suggest buying it from Inkjet Solutions for Archival Fine Art Printing ... there is no question about its strength there!

Same price as B&H. I'll have to make a note of that.

Thanks.

[Bob Ross]

My S800 turns 5 years old today, which is well beyond what I expected.
You didn't mention if you did a print head alignment or a nozzle check print. When I deviated from Canon ink, had problems and the returned to the fold, I had a minor problem that was cured by a print head alignment after doing the cleanings that you did. Watch the magenta, because green in the blacks might mean the magenta is low.
Bob

[grober]

Thanks, Albert, for alerting me to the SLC firm. I'll order some Canon ink from them and also try the profiling tips found on their website.

-g

[grober]

Bob,

I did the print head alignment check but not the other you mentioned. I'll do a cleaning-cycle again and do both check as you recommend. I'll report back the results.

This S9000 has given good service to date. I hope I can restore it to full use as we prepare to digest our long-planned investment in an M8 body next month. Buying a new printer will just have to wait until next year.

-g