Canon Pixma IP4000 - suddenly stopped printing anything

[Stuts]

Tin Ho- The new print head did not print color at all from the first time it was installed. Also, the absorbant pads are in the bottom of the printer body and never touch the heads. There is a semi-rigid pad and silicone wipers that do the cleaning- I did not replace them. I am going to put the old head back in and see if it at least prints some color now- even if it is fuzzy. That should tell me if the printer is sending a signal to the head. If the old one deposits some color, then my new head is bad. Thanks. Stuts:|

 

[Stuts]

P.S. to my last post- A friend just gave me an HP 7960 printer. The cartridges were $76 for a pack of three. What a rip-off. Is this printer any good? Should I keep it and trash the iP4000?

 

[fish]

If it works, keep it. I think it takes 56/57 cartridges - you can get aftermarket cartridges and these are easily refilled and reset.

 

[Tin Ho]

Stuts, it is not very likely for a new print head to be DOA although it is possible. Whenever a printer detects a print head insertion, regardless if it is the first time for a new print head, the printer will run a deep clean cycle to prime the nozzles. It is necessary for the ink to be sucked into the nozzles before they can print. Have you looked at a possibility that the purge unit for the BKCMY is not working? If the purge unit is not working the BKCMY nozzles will not be primed. They will not print anything as there is no ink in the nozzles. There are two purge units in the ip4000, one for the pigmented black the another for the rest. You can manually prime the print head. But you have to figure out a way to force ink into the ink intakes. You can shoot ink with a syringe. Ink can be shot out of the needle of a syringe at high speed. Just aim the needle at the ink intake. Do not puncture the ink intake by the needle though.

Anyway, I suspect that the print head is actually fine. The problem may be in the purge unit.

 

[ocular]

You need to approach this logically and look carefully at all possibilities.

Consider

Ink Tanks
Printhead
Purge Unit - if suction is not created to pull ink into the printhead then it will not print. There is a pad in a rubber cup for the pigment black and another pad in a rubberholder for the rest. Drop some windex onto these pads and do a print head clean and then look at these pads again and the windex should have been drawn away. The pigment black suction tubing can get blocked especially if the printer is used infrequently.
Logic Assembly board - can malfunction if it is soiled, static electricity or printhead is shorted out.

 

[Stuts]

So, I am back to the forum. My iP4000 died and I had to send it to the recycling heavens. I have bought a new iP4300 which uses the cartridges with the micro chip in it. My first attempt to re-fill and re-use was met with "cartridge empty" windows. I had to buy a new one, which now prints fine. O.K. Canon, you haven't fooled me yet. Is there an easy way to re-set the chips, anyone? There must be a work around some how. All replies welcome. Thanks. Stuts.

 

[Tin Ho]

Well, you will like ip4300 better than your ip4000 for sure. Now that the ip4000 is in the land fill zone just move on with the new ip4300. No, you don't reset the chip. Just refill it the way it is done for BCI-6 carts then pop it in and print. As far as the warning message just ignore it until it begins to ask you to press the resume for 5 seconds. Just do it and the warning messages for that particular cartridge will not bother you again. Print quality and speed are amazing from this printer. Epson printers are never this fast and good quality in printing text. Even HP printers are tossed behind.

 

[Fano]

I now have the same problem with my Ip4000.
No ink is coming out of the head .
Everything seems normal,the printer detects the head and the ink levels but no ink seems to be coming out .

The printer was working well before this,I'd get the odd blockage in the Magenta head but the other colours were perfect.
There is no failed printhead warning lights flashing and it still attempts to print as usual but nothing is coming out on the page.
I tried cleaning the head and steaming it but it made no difference,I also checked the contacts on the back of the printhead but everything seems fine.

Its very odd but I suspect that the printhead cound be damaged or else the logic board.
Will a new printhead be a worthwhile investment I wonder ?
Many thanks
Fano

 

[The Hat]

To have the iP4000 working again would be great but there is a small risk that the logic board is damaged so you’ll have to weight up the odds and take a leap of faith if you want to get a new print head for it.

Now the bad news, that particular print head QY 600- 49 is no longer available but it can be gotten on EBay in the US so long as it’s not a Chinese refurbished one !!! If it were me I’d risk getting a new head for it…
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/qy6-0049

 

[fotofreek]

So, I am back to the forum. My iP4000 died and I had to send it to the recycling heavens. I have bought a new iP4300 which uses the cartridges with the micro chip in it. My first attempt to re-fill and re-use was met with "cartridge empty" windows. I had to buy a new one, which now prints fine. O.K. Canon, you haven't fooled me yet. Is there an easy way to re-set the chips, anyone? There must be a work around some how. All replies welcome. Thanks. Stuts.

Buy a resetter. Although you can continue to print when the cart shows empty you will not have the ink level monitor functioning. You risk damaging your printhead. I bought mine from Precision Colors in Canada - a very convenient vendor for US customers. Where you want to buy it depends on where you live. In the UK Octoinkjet would be the best bet.