Hi Russ.
I was using OEM ink, albeit 3 and 4 years years expired, eventually, I got the exact same pink prints.
I did enough nozzle cleaning cycles to get a couple of good prints, but tomorrow pink again.
Mine was an R 2000, and out to the curb it went.

I replaced it with a Canon P-100  and am very pleased.  It uses dye ink instead of Pigment, and makes such exciting prints that you wonder why we got talked into archival pigment ink.
Jeff, on our forum, in the UK, just bought (presumably) the same printer, a Canon P-100S. I looked through it on the UK Canon site, and it appears to be the same as mine.
Happy as can be with it, and it has mechanics built in to address the clogging problem.

Hopefully Jeff will see your post and help out with advice as to where to look for one at the best price.

Fred

Jeff
That's the happiest I've heard you sound ever - please change your sign-off from Grumpy to "wow-wow" or similar. 
Pleased to hear all is good with the Canon printer; Fred keeps on at me to change but my R2000 is very good and reliable with screen matching prints. I hope it will last a good while longer.
It was interesting to hear about the removable print head unit.
Terry

Russ said in his first post:
So it seems it was well clogged up.
Terry

Many thanks for the replies. What I don't understand is why it should glog up! I use as I said in the OP Qimage every month to run a an un-glog pattern,I don't use the printer every day but when I do use it I print A3 images. I am also useing refillable carts from Marrutt with there ink so not cheap stuff from Ebay. I have purchased a cleaning option from the PrintHead company (be here in about a week) as thought worth a few quid to see if it will do the trick before spending out on a new printer, again only had this R1900 printer for about 18 months.
Thanks again
Russ

My first printer was a Canon 1400 series - produced great prints with that WOW color that you mentioned.  But they faded very badly in less than a year and I really didn't want to worry about using coatings, waxes etc.  Got the Epson 2200 and it produced great prints with very nice colors which have not faded - even after ten years - - but only on matte and rag type papers.  For any glossy or luster surface, it was basically useless due to extreme gloss differential. That 2200, though lasted for seven years and produced thousand and thousands of prints.  When it finally died, I went to an Epson R3000 and was finally able to print well on both matter and gloss - the prints on Epson Exhibition Fiber are especially good.  BUT - it died (total head clog of two colors) after only 3 yeaars - and right in the middle of a major project. Epson's phone in and on-line tech support was especially useless - they directed me to take the printer in to a local service center and when I got to the place they sent me, no one knew what I was talking about, or even what en Epson printer was. I had no choice but to get yet another 3000.  Have had it now for 3 years - run the unclog patterns several times a week and keep my fingers crossed.  I have never used 3rd party inks.

Half full or half empty?
Dandruff? At least you have hair !!

fred