IP4300 print head problems ? help

[bhelms100]

I have a Canon IP4300 which has worked great for years. Re-inked carts for a long time also. After re-inking 3 of the color carts today tried to print and got a service error 6A00, know it is a paper jam error but could not find a jam. But now none of the carts light up and the carriage does not move from left to right or right to left. The on/off button blinks and the orange light blinks 12 times then starts all over again. So is this a sign of a bad print head ? And replacing the print head fix my printer?

 

[PeterBJ]

According to the the simplified service manual for the iP4300 the error 6A00 and the twelve blinks means AP position error. I am not sure what the AP is but the error might be related to the purge unit. It is not related to the printhead, according to the manual.

You find this simplified service manual here: http://elektrotanya.com/canon_ip4300_sm.pdf/download.html and see this post for instructions for downloading files from electrotanya.com: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=61324#p61324

 

[The Hat]

I have a Canon IP4300 which has worked great for years. Re-inked carts for a long time also. After re-inking 3 of the color carts today tried to print and got a service error 6A00, know it is a paper jam error but could not find a jam. But now none of the carts light up and the carriage does not move from left to right or right to left. The on/off button blinks and the orange light blinks 12 times then starts all over again. So is this a sign of a bad print head ? And replacing the print head fix my printer?

The most lightly cause of your problem is some sort of obstruction in either the paper path or the print head path.

Before carrying out any of these suggestions please move the print head into the centre of the carriage way
and then pull the power plug for your own safety.

Try removing the paper from the back paper feed and the lower cassette also,
then check all around the paper inlet area and try blowing into the printer or even use compress air if you have some.

On the front of the printer remove all of the cartridges and print head then check all along the print head path for any particles of paper debris,
also move the carriageway back and forth to check for any obstruction in that area.

Power on your printer and install the paper again, all the cartridges then print head then see if your error has gone.
Reporting back to us with your findings would be appreciated..

 

[bhelms100]

I pulled the print head all the way to the left and cleaned the waste area. Took out the power supply and reinstalled it. Turned on printer now I have the red lights on all cartridges. Have tried refilling each cartridge and running several cleaning cycles but now having lots of lines through the page. Also the yellow cartridge just pours out ink so only last about 4 cleaning cycles. The PGI cartridge is doing the same. Never had this problem before. Any advice?

 

[bhelms100]

Also I noticed that one of the parking pads are missing. The one for the PGI. Where can I buy a replacement?

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

Also I noticed that one of the parking pads are missing. The one for the PGI. Where can I buy a replacement?

Are you sure? Are you sure you know where you're going to put it?

Some of these printers do not have a visible parking pad (parking garage?). Darned if I know where it is. It may be that they hide it when the lid opens.

 

[Harvey]

You have to look for the parking pad it is used to suck out the ink of your cartridge it makes a good seal under the printhead, so flip over your printer and it should fall anywhere, and reinstall. Or just dismantle your printer and reinstall it, that is the reason of the lines when printing because of bad cleaning of the pigment nozzles.

 

[bhelms100]

I've taken the cover off and shook it a lot and nothing fell out. So I can't find the piece. Any way of making one ?

 

[The Hat]

I've taken the cover off and shook it a lot and nothing fell out. So I can't find the piece. Any way of making one ?

The parking pad as you call it is hard and porous and not made rubber as you might think,
and the only place it could have got too is down inside your printer.

There is a lot of waste ink (gunk) down there and if its been missing a while
it may well have got stuck in this gung and wont move easily.

As you now have the top cover off, look in the general area below the purge unit,
use a screw driver to poke around inside and you might even hear it hit the missing piece.

I wouldnt recommend however leaving your printer upside down to long because this gunk on the bottom of the printer
can start to move with time and gravity and paste everything in sight, including the logic board,
you may have to remove more of the cover for further investigation..

 

[PeterBJ]

Hi bhelms100

I think the lost purge pad is stuck somewhere in the printer mechanism and is blocking something, so you will have to find the purge pad.

The simplified service manual doesn't have much info about taking the printer apart. But druckerchannel.de has this instruction for taking an iP4300 apart for absorber change: http://www.druckerchannel.de/artikel.php?ID=1562&seite=1&t=anleitung_zum_wechsel_des_ink_absorbers . This is in German, so here is a Google translation to English: http://translate.google.dk/translat...e=1&t=anleitung_zum_wechsel_des_ink_absorbers

Also see this post with a link to a good post about Canon purge units and pictures of the purge pads: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=63055#p63055

Good luck in locating the missing pad.
Peter.