interesting comments supposedly from an Authorized Canon Service Tech

[jimbo123]

thought i'd pass on some interesting comments supposedly from an Authorized Canon Service Tech

hmmm........

J

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The newer Canon units now being made are designed not to be repaired. The service mode for resetting in the new units is only accessible by computer software, not available to non Canon service centers. Many of the new units do not have replacement blotters available and getting print heads for the new units from Canon is like pulling healthy teeth. Just not available or they are making us, (authorized techs) jump thru hoops to get parts period. Canon wants you to throw away your unit and go buy another. That must be our green society. They even want the service centers to pay the shipping fee to return your old printer to a recycling center, I think not! In some states you will pay up front a fee when you buy a printer, that recycling fee, in case you don't want to recycle your old unit and just throw it in the trash. They have also shorten the time they will support your units through their service life. after that time parts will be discontinued period. The amount of time? 5 years. But its just not Canon, its also Samsung, lexmark, and HP. The 5 year limit was not Canon's idea it was the US Commerce dept. I think the idea was to make you buy new product sooner, but what they have also done is effectively started to put small business service centers out of business.

So some small advice, do not use generic ink unless you want to kill your printer quicker. The print head runs withing a specific temp range, generic inks take them out of that range eventually causing them to fail sooner. Do not, ever shut off the unit, it will use twice the amount of ink by doing an automatic deep purge when you turn it back on. They use very little electricity so don't worry about that. Some of the older units like the i9900 are repairable if you take or send to a good service center even though the purge units and print heads are no longer available. We have been almost 100% in repairing or rebuilding purge units. I believe we have found a cure for the bad main boards on the i9900 and can repair them.

Happy Printing !

Authorized Canon Service tech!

 

[turbguy]

I'm holding on to my i960's and i9900's and the MP730! Let's hear it for unchipped carts and EASY, RELIABLE topfills!

At least Canon keeps the drivers up-to-date...

Wayne

 

[websnail]

Not exactly a huge surprise given the way the printer designs are changing..

Perhaps relevant but I queried the cost of buying the replacement waste pads (just the pads) for Canon iP4500* printers and was given a quote of over 30 ($45) exclusive of shipping, etc... I was told that purchasing in bulk wouldn't reduce the price much beyond 2 or 3% either so it's not just a one time order thing but a set policy..

Printers at this level are basically consumables as well... which is ironic given the length of time you can run them for, if you can find the tools, etc...



*just a model picked at random...

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I don't know whether it is correct, but it sounds like an apocryphal story, since putting that in writing might be a fire-able offense.

 

[websnail]

I don't know whether it is correct, but it sounds like an apocryphal story, since putting that in writing might be a fire-able offense.

I think you may be right but given the changes in design we've been seeing on a lot of the printers in the last few years it doesn't require a degress in engineering to see that the printers are being designed in a way that won't last nearly as long as previous designs.

Some of that comes down to the use of recycled materials, reduced budgets, etc... but I suspect there's a tactical element where they wish to encourage new printer purchases to allow them to continue this development battle against third party consumables. It's no secret that consumables are how the OEMs recoup their costs and make their money so apocryphal or not, it has more than a ring of truth to it...

 

[Emulator]

I am surprised that legislation has not been introduced to ensure that manufacturers do not prevent the use of open market ink consumables.

 

[The Hat]

I am surprised that legislation has not been introduced to ensure that manufacturers do not prevent the use of open market ink consumables.

They dont prevent anyone from using compatible aftermarket inks and cartridges;
they just try to make it as expensive as possible if you do try to use them.

Theres no crime in them protecting their vast profit margins, look at it another way if they dont make big bucks
then they will stop making the printers and where will that leave everybody.

The aftermarket guys will just have to get more productive in their R&D depts.
to circumvent the new changes as they happen or risk going out of business altogether.

More often enough its guys on forums just like this one that come up with the new ideas
and counter measures first to beat the OEMs at their own costly game..

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I suppose ultimately they can just dump almost all the ink if they see a refilled cartridge, and we've already seen hints of that. Somebody could duplicate the chips, but they're probably copyrighted. So that leaves nothing but legislative and legal battles that might last into the next century.

Either that or they could get a reasonable business model. For a start, quit wasting R&D on trying to beat refillers. I don't begrudge them a reasonable profit margin, but the cost of printing with OEM ink is through the roof. Worse yet, they lie about ink costs.