Printhead in Canon IPF605 problem and firmware 1.01

[copier tech]

I have tried many times to clean these print heads, never any success.

The only way is to replace it & only use genuine Canon ink.

The new heads come with a fw disk.

[LPk]

Thank you for sharing your experience with these printers. If the service manual is pointing to something else other than the print head I won't risk buying a new print head (more than half the price of a new printer) and the whole value proposition of canon at this entry level WF (and probably other consumer brands too) just isn't worth the trouble and isn't worth the convenience of having wide format in house either.

[copier tech]

I agree too expensive, fitting a new head will also consume a lot of ink & most likely the maintenance cartridge!

[LPk]

I found 1.06 firmware on a russian forum. Will try cleaning the head one more time (going to leave the nozzle side soaked overnight).
Then if not successful resort to 1.06 downgrade and disabling sensor.

[copier tech]

I found 1.06 firmware on a russian forum. Will try cleaning the head one more time (going to leave the nozzle side soaked overnight).
Then if not successful resort to 1.06 downgrade and disabling sensor.

Worth a try, if you have a can of compressed air etc flush it out with that after a soak.

[LPk]

Took me a while to figure out the sensor "hole". In my printer finding the sensor with John's picture was clearer than Alex's technical drawing from the manual.
Working like a charm now, hard to tell any difference in the prints really, the nozzle substitution must be working its magic.

Tip for fellow cash-strapped ipf605 owners: If you're missing a full column in nozzle 1 test print don't waste your time and ink trying to clean the head, it's the electronics (still unclear if inside the head or the printer) that are malfunctioning and no amount of cleaning will fix that.

Thank you Alex, John, Copier Tech, this forum and the russian forums (hope they reverse engineer the whole printer one day )