Canon MultiPASS F30 questions

[SuperareTech]

Hello. I found my dream printer (a Canon Multipass f30, I didn't even know these existed!) at Goodwill yesterday, and I have a few questions about it:
1) How do these printers know when a cartridge is empty? I looked everywhere for a sensor or chip, and I can't find a thing that could detect ink levels . Can someone please explain how this works?
2) The yellow cartridge is empty, so I tried some black photocopying. It prints absolutely nothing (not even a streak) I cleaned the printhead with windex, but still nothing. Is this normal?
3) I can't find a driver for windows 7. Can someone show me where I can get one?
4) The yellow cartridge looks really weird. (It's empty,it almost looks like black ) Why is this?

I want to be able to use this printer, so can someone please help?

 

[The Hat]

@SuperareTech, You got a real fossil this time.

1. If you look at the cartridge carefully you’ll see an angled piece of plastic in on the ink reservoir side of the cartridge at the bottom, that’s the sensor that alerts the printer to low ink and then the printer will count the ink drop precisely from there till empty.
   
   
2. Canon printers have to have ink in all of their cartridge to work effectively and correctly so as not to damage the print head, attempting to print while one or more of the cartridges are empty will render the print head near useless, (Damaged nozzles caused by over heating).
   
   
3. There are drivers available for XP 32 O/S only so you would have to use the printer in Virtual XP to print anything.
   
   
4. The reason why the yellow cartridges looks weird is because it’s not empty entirely in fact it has been contaminated with black ink, from another source !
   
   
5. To print black on this printer it has to use all of the cartridge to achieve this because there is no separate dedicated pigment black cartridge.
   
   Now the chances of this printer working again are not good but if you leave the print head soaking in 2 “ deep of warm water with a couple of drops of Dreft washing up liquid and a good splash of Windex for 24 hours it may come back to life. (Real patients and faith are needed)
   
   If you heat the water in a microwave first (Just warn not hot) and cover the ink inlets where the cartridges sits and then use that time to get a new set of cartridges for it (Compatibles) will do, and also try splashing some Windex on the parking station where the cartridges sit when the printer is powered off. (With print head removed)
   
   Dry off the print head with a paper towel and then leave it to dry thoroughly some where warm for an hour or two before putting it back into the printer, then run one or two cleaning cycles follow by a nozzle print check, if you don’t get a good print then it’s likely you’ll need a new print head, and the only place you can get one of them from is on EBay, good luck with your new project..

 

[SuperareTech]

Ok, thanks. I don't know why, but I love these old Canon printers. Possibly because a BJC-3000 was our first printer. I don't have any dreft, but I do have windex, rubbing alcohol, witch hazel, and Hydrogen peroxide. Would any of those work? Also, any idea on how black got into the yellow cartridge? I ordered some compatibles off of ebay, so I will try and use those. I can replace the printhead if I have to, because they are around $40 on ebay, which I am willing to pay.

 

[The Hat]

The only thing I would recommend is to use 50/50 Windex/water and a little alcohol, nothing else.
The black probably got there from a leaking cartridge while the printer was not in use, that why I suggest giving the purge unit (Parking station) a bit of a clean with Windex also..

 

[PeterBJ]

Here is a gentle unclogging method that saved a badly clogged print head for me. Instead of pharmacist's cleaning solution you could also use the original Windex or other window cleaner with ammonia.

The cross contaminating is most likely caused by a leakage of one or more cartridges and/or a gasket inside the print head. The purge unit and purge pads are most likely also clogged, see this post.

Here is a service manual for your printer. It might be helpful for repair of the printer. Page 2-10 in the service manual explains the function of the cartridge prism for ink level detection.

@SuperareTech I guess the BCI-3e PGBK-C-M-Y from your avatar are the cartridges for the MultiPass f30

 

[SuperareTech]

@PeterBJ Thanks for the service manual and the unclogging method. I will try it if the others don't work.
Also, you guessed it , the cartridges are from the printer!

 

[SuperareTech]

Well my compatibles came today, and they are really full. (so full that one splattered yellow all over my hand. I didn't have rubbing alcohol, so I just soaked the printhead in 50/50 windex and warm water. Lots of ink came out. So I let it soak in there for a few hours. When I took it out and put it in the printer, It did alignment. The colors still seem slightly clogged, but they worked nice. I did a nozzle check pattern, and it printed every color but black. I don't know if this was normal, or is the black printhead done for meaning I have to spend $40 to replace a whole printhead that only won't print one color?

 

[The Hat]

@SuperareTech, You can still use the rest of the colours to print your text black documents, just set you Media to matte paper and that will overcome the problem, at least until you can get a new print head..

 

[PeterBJ]

Well my compatibles came today, and they are really full. (so full that one splattered yellow all over my hand.

Neither Canon OEM nor compatible cartridges should leak when opened. Either the compatible cartridge is bad quality or it was not opened properly. To avoid spilling it is important that the vent seal is removed before removing the orange clip at the outlet. The relative pressure inside the cartridge depends on temperature and barometric pressure. When you remove the vent seal first a possible overpressure inside the cartridge is released. Also you should not squeeze the cartridge, this can also cause it to leak. This also applies to both OEM and compatible cartridges.

I don't know if this was normal, or is the black printhead done for meaning I have to spend $40 to replace a whole printhead that only won't print one color?

When a Canon print head fails there is a risk that it damages the logic board. A logic board damaged this way can damage a new print head, so replacing the print head is a gamble and I cannot tell the odds for success. Is it worth the risk if the printer cannot be used with an OS newer than Windows XP?

 

[SuperareTech]

@PeterBJ I don't think the printhead is actually dead, just severely clogged. It prints faint traces of black (I have seen this with clogged printers before. Also, I use Windows XP for some stuff, so I could still use it on there.