Defective Pro 9500

[MP640]

I had the opportunity to pick up a defective Pro 9500 mark 1 at a low price.

The defect is that the print head doesn't move when the printer is powered on. The head can be moved left and right by hand without resistance. It just doesn't respond the the printer being powered up or down.
When I power up the printer, the blue and red lights flash alternately.

These are my first observations after plugging in the printer to the power. I will now continue getting the proper drivers.

Any tips will be highly appreciated! I hop I can get this thing to work again.

Edit: I installed the driver and upon collecting the printer status it gives a service error 6800.

 

[The Hat]

If the orange LED is flashing nine times then stops for a second or two and then repeats it all over again,
then your problem is a Logic board failure, (Error 6800).

It would probably be very worthwhile to get a replacement logic board for the printer
but as you dont know its history then that too might be a waste of money.

If the print head was put back into the printer wet for instance, and it blew the hell out of both the logic board and print head at the same time then a new print head would also be need, the cost is now way to high to justify going any further with it.

A new logic board and the old print head could cause the same reaction, sparks.
The only options open to you is to sell the cartridges and CD board and use the printer as a door stop sorry..

 

[PeterBJ]

From the service manual: Error 6800 means "EEPROM error" and the suggested repair is to replace the logic board (part number QM2-3471), so sadly I think nothing can be done to repair the printer . I don't know if clearing the EEPROM from service mode will clear the error, but I think it is unlikely, maybe the printer won't even enter service mode.

I checked the link to the service manual in the service manuals thread, but sadly the link for the Pro 9500 service manual no longer works. and a Google search found no other links.

You find a parts catalog here: http://piese-imprimanta.ro/pdfs/1349_PRO_9500.pdf

The service manual is a PDF file of nearly 11 MB. If your mail system allows attached files of this size, you can send me an Email. I will then attach the manual to my answer.

 

[MP640]

Thanks, Hat and PeterBJ.

Hat, you are correct. Orange and blue alternate for nine flashes, then stop a short moment and then the cycle repeats.

I will try if I can get it into service mode and play around with the servicetool a bit.

I will also contact the previous owner and ask what happened to the printer.

I only paid 25 euro for this printer, so there's some room for investment.

Peter, I sent you an email about the service manual.

 

[PeterBJ]

One important difference between the Pro 9500 mkI and mkII models is the way service mode operations are performed. The mark one demands button pushing to select and execute service mode operations, the mark two needs a service tool.

The service manual for the mark one model contains the same error as other service manuals for printers of this vintage, a very important step 5 is missing. See this post: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=49752#p49752

The instruction for service mode operations start at page 1-22 in the service manual.

 

[MP640]

After some more testing...

Peter send me the manual - thank you for that - and I tried to get the printer into servicemode.

Do I understand correctly that the Pro 9500 mark 1 cannot be operated from the service tool program? In the manual there's no reference to this program. Only button sequences are explained.

I was unable to get the printer into service mode, until I removed the cartridges and printhead. EEPROM reset didn't work. I also noticed that when the printhead is in the bay, the printer doesn't park it upon power off. When I remove the printhead and I turn off the printer, the bay is parked.

Also, when I retrieve the printer status from my PC with the pronthead in,I get the 6800 error. When I remove the printhead, the status shows that there's no printhead installed (which is correct).

Could it be that the printhead is the culprit, here? Without the printhead, I get error messages that I would expect. I'd hate to order a new logic board when the problem is something else.

 

[The Hat]

Dont be taken in by the way the error messages change, if you dont have the print head and cartridges all in then the printer cant function and when you do it then gives the correct error.

Buying a logic board without a new print head is a risky gamble, if the current print head is the culprit it will once more damage the new logic board.

If you then go and fit a new print head the logic board will then damage that and so on, just like a pendulum.

It would be a great printer to have if you can get it to work
but you could probably get one cheaper on EBay if you keep a good eye out..

 

[MP640]

Well, I'm not ready to give up yet

What I would need right now is a discarded printhead. One that technically works but that for whatever reason (clogged up, missing lines, ...) can no longer be used to produce good images.

I could use it to test whether:
- the error message would disappear, meaning the logic board is ok and my current printhead is causing the problems;
- the error message would still be there, meaning the logic board is defective (and now the printhead too, probably).

If anyone would be willing to part with one of their clogged-beyond-unclogging printheads and let me have it for testing purposes, I'll be much obliged. I'll reimburse for packaging, shipping, gas to drive to the postoffice,...

 

[PeterBJ]

MP640 wrote:

Do I understand correctly that the Pro 9500 mark 1 cannot be operated from the service tool program? In the manual there's no reference to this program. Only button sequences are explained.

This is correct. There are two different methods for performing service mode operations on Canon printers, depending on the age of the printer. The older method is the button pushing way. The newer is the use of a service tool. The service tool cannot be used with printers that need the buttons to select and execute service mode operations, and the button pushing method cannot be used with printers that need the service tool. The service tool was introduced with the introduction of the PGI-x20/CLIx21 cartridge series. AFAIK the mark II version of the Pro 9500 printer needs a service tool.

MP640 wrote:

...Could it be that the printhead is the culprit, here?...

It seems logical, but I cannot tell. I agree with The Hat's comments in post #7.

A Canon print head can fail for no apparent reason, most likely after a long time of use, but another common cause of failure is water left where it does not belong after cleaning the print head outside the printer. This water can cause a short that ruins the print head and in some cases also the logic board. If the logic board is damaged in this way there is a great risk that it will damage a new print head. If the print head failed for no apparent reason, and no water was involved in cleaning, chances are good that the logic board was not damaged.

In service manuals for newer Canon printers it is recommended that both print head and logic board is changed at the same time.

 

[MP640]

Thank you for your reply, Peter. I contacted the former owner and they never removed the printhead from the printer. All they did was change cartridges (genuine canon only). The printer just stopped working suddenly.

Since they haven't used the printer for some time after it broke down and the head was not parked I'm afraid it will be clogged anyway.

I really hope I can get an old clogged printhead anywhere to check whether the logic board is not damaged. The alternative is to buy both a logic board and a printhead but that would incur more costs.