iP3000 Print Problem

[ghwellsjr]

You have already done many tests of leaving the printer off overnight after the printer was working and found it not working the next day. Why don't you try leaving it on this time?

 

[leo8088]

I am really curious. What is the logic behind this leaving the printer power on all the time? Why will it prevent ink from leaking out of the nozzles other than wasting energy?

 

[laserguy]

Quote"You have already done many tests of leaving the printer off overnight after the printer was working and found it not working the next day. Why don't you try leaving it on this time?"

If I put it all back together and it works fine and I leave it on all night and it still works fine, that won't prove anything because the problem might have been solved by pulling the printhead and cleaning it again. Only by turning if off over night can it be verified that the problem still exists the next day. Then if I run it through a cleaning cycle and get it printing fine and leave it on all night and the problem doesn't reappear will it mean that turning it off might be related to the problem.

 

[ghwellsjr]

Printers are designed to take care of themselves but they cannot do this if they are turned off.

 

[leo8088]

I agree that Canon printers are designed to take care of themselves. But that may not mean they need to be left with power on all the time. Here is what I believe what those printer will do to take care of themselves.

The printer will prime the print head with a cleaning cycle when it thinks the print head needs to be primed. This does happen every time when a print job is sent to the printer. If the printer detects that any of the ink cartridges was removed and the same one or a new one is installed it will need to prime the print head before printing the job. If the printer finds that the printer has been idle (regardless the power is turned off or not) for a predefined period of time it will prime the print head before printing the job. If the printer has been printing continuously for many pages the risk of interrupted ink flow may be present in the ink system it will pause and prime the print head then continue printing. If the priter detects that the print head was removed and a new one or the same one is reinstalled it will prime the print head before printing.

All these print head priming happens right after the printer receives a print job and before it starts printing.

The printer does NOT prime the print head (like Epson printers do) right after powering up. It will do a self checking routine, which includes checking the paper path, all interlocks (lid closed, hood closed, etc.) power, motors, rollers, etc. This routine makes some strange noise and it may make you think that the printer is doing a cleaning cycle. It does not prime the print head at the powering up routine.

Right after powering up and after completing its checking routine the print head is positioned at the beginning of its printing path ready to get started to print. If the printer is used frequently it will start to print without a priming cycle even right after powering up. But if the printer has been sitting for a few days it will prime the print head right before it starts to print. If the printer waits for something like 30 seconds and there is no print job to work on it will move the print head to idle position which is to park the print head right on the purge unit. The purge unit covers the print head so keep it from drying up. The printer also does a checking routine to make sure the printing mechanism is OK (no paper jammed inside, etc.) before parking the print head. If the print head is already parked then a print job arrives it will decide if a priming cycle is needed. It is not needed in most cases if the printer is used frequently. But if it has been idle for a long time it may do a priming cycle.

When the print head is parked it will remain parked and does nothing else. It is basically put into a sleep mode waiting for a job call to wake up. regardless if the power is left on or off it will stay like that forever. The clock inside the printer keeps running regardless the power is left on or off. When it is given a print job it knows how long it has been in the idle mode and if a priming cycle is needed.

I really don't see a benefit to leave the power on overnight or even hours. There is a auto power on/off setup you can set to some printers. It goes off automatically after printing and wakes up to print when a print job arrives. This is evidence that Canon does not design the printer in a way that needs the power to remain on for taking care of itself.

 

[The Hat]

leo8088 wrote:-

I really don't see a benefit to leave the power on overnight or even hours. There is an auto power on/off setup you can set to some printers. It goes off automatically after printing and wakes up to print when a print job arrives. This is evidence that Canon does not design the printer in a way that needs the power to remain on for taking care of itself.

I totally agree with the above, its a complete waste of time and power to leave a Canon printer switched on all the time. Canon provides auto shutdown on most of their printers to help save power and money (Yes I know coming from Canon its a bit of a laugh) but still in all every bit helps.
I use auto shut off on all my printers and most certainly dont suffer the problems of clogging or streaks in my printing (That includes my pigment ink printer also) Some of the printers can be left for ten days or so before a print job could be ready for them. With the laser printers the same applies, all my printers are turned off by one power switch over night only.
With the auto shut down active on the Canon printers there is never a need to power up the printers with its own individual power switch eider. Saying that, I usually leave the printers to get on with their own personal hygiene...

 

[laserguy]

I put the the printhead back in on the 8th, reinstalled the carts and did a nozzle check. As before, perfect test. Did some printing, turned the printer off for the night. Turned it back on yesterday, did a nozzle check and as before, no Magenta. Did a head cleaning cycle, did another nozzle check and all colors printing fine. Did some additional printing and then left the printer on overnight. Just did another nozzle test and as I expected, no Magenta. It makes no difference whether the printer was turned off or left on. After 24 hours, the Magenta stops and only works after running a cleaning cycle. Any other ideas?

 

[ghwellsjr]

If the printer detects that any of the ink cartridges was removed and the same one or a new one is installed it will need to prime the print head before printing the job.

The iP3000 does not have chips in its cartridges so the above does not apply. In fact, these older printers can only tell the difference between a cartridge with an empty reservoir and any other condition (no cartridge at all or a cartridge with some ink in the reservoir). They will cue a prime cycle whenever a cartridge with an empty reservoir is removed from the printer and the cover is closed, whether or not another cartridge is put back in, no matter what its condition.

If the printer finds that the printer has been idle (regardless the power is turned off or not) for a predefined period of time it will prime the print head before printing the job.

Printers that do not have a battery-backed clock cannot tell how long they have been off if they have been unplugged. The iP3000 does not have a battery-backed clock. The only Canon printers that I am aware of that have battery-backed clocks are the all-in-ones that have fax capability.

If the printer is used frequently it will start to print without a priming cycle even right after powering up. But if the printer has been sitting for a few days it will prime the print head right before it starts to print.

I no longer have a working iP3000, but the very similar iP4000, will behave as you describe, as long as you leave it plugged in. Thanks for pointing this out. I was unaware of this behavior. However, my all-in-one printers (MP750, MP760, MP780) always do a prime cycle after powering up and just before the first print job, even the MP780 that has a battery-backed clock.

When the print head is parked it will remain parked and does nothing else. It is basically put into a sleep mode waiting for a job call to wake up. regardless if the power is left on or off it will stay like that forever. The clock inside the printer keeps running regardless the power is left on or off. When it is given a print job it knows how long it has been in the idle mode and if a priming cycle is needed.

I have not confirmed this myself, but I have read that at least the older printers will do periodic purge cycles if left on.

I really don't see a benefit to leave the power on overnight or even hours. There is a auto power on/off setup you can set to some printers. It goes off automatically after printing and wakes up to print when a print job arrives. This is evidence that Canon does not design the printer in a way that needs the power to remain on for taking care of itself.

I could not find an auto power setting on my older printers. I'm not sure if the iP3000 has one. But for my MP760, if I turn it off after using it and back on the next time I want to use it, I would have to go into another room from where I use my laptop to turn it on, wait for it to do its initialization, send the print job, wait for the prime cycle to end, and then wait for my printout. That is reason enough for me to leave it on all the time but another reason is that it wastes more ink doing unnecessary prime cycles if I'm always turning it off and on.

Keep in mind, I only asked laserguy to leave his printer on overnight to see if it had any bearing on his problem and it turns out it did not.

Now can we get our heads together and try to help laserguy solve his printer problem?

 

[ghwellsjr]

Laserguy, I have read through all the posts on this thread in an attempt to summarize the history of your problem and where we are at with it right now.

You originally had a problem with your pigment black not printing correctly after your printer had been left off for several months. This is an example of why you don't want to leave your printer powered off.

After several cleanings inside the printer, you removed the print head from the printer and washed it under warm tap water, dried it for two days and then reinstalled it back in your printer at which point your pigment black was printing correctly as well as all your colors which had not previously had a problem anyway.

But after leaving your printer off overnight, your printer started having problems with yellow and magenta. First the yellow stopped printing until a cleaning restores operation. Then you had a contamination problem where the magenta ink was getting into the yellow cartridge. Has this gone away?

Finally, it appears that the problem with yellow not printing after a day of idle has fixed itself but instead you now have the same problem with your magenta, after a day of idle it stops printing.

I would be interested in knowing if you tried what qwertydude suggested in the second post? The seals look like rubber washers but they are much thicker and have a weird shape to them. I would suggest that you remove all the ink cartridges and then repeatedly do head cleanings followed by a nozzle checks until nothing prints. This is to remove residual ink from your print head. Then remove the print head. Finally remove the rubber seals and examine them for cracks or other deformities. You might try swapping the cyan seal with the magental seal since you never had a problem with the cyan nozzles. Then reinstall everything and see if there is any improvement.

 

[Ron350]

Has Laserguy tried replacing magenta ink cart yet?