This is annoying: bad IP4300 print head. Replacement?

[GrantCee]

A year or so ago I found a NIB IP4300 on Craigslist for a bargain price. It was in fact new and unused, and over the time I've had it have printed about 2000 pages.

In the last month it's started displaying the dreaded signs of a delaminated print head: the cyan and magenta are getting cross-contaminated. A cleaning clears the problem, but within a few days the magenta starts getting darker and the cyan starts showing magenta streaks. Yep, I've swapped carts, made sure they're sealing, and all the other standard remedies. It's time to face the reality: this head is dying.

I really like the printer, and it's darned near new, so I'm weighing the alternatives. Has anyone come across a reputable source for printheads?

Barring that, which other Canon models use the same printhead? Perhaps I can pick up one on Craigslist.

 

[palombian]

Sadly there are no more spare printheads for the IP4300 available.
Don't buy so called "refurbished", they seldom work.

Anyway, since a replacement printhead would cost about the same as a new printer, you better find another bargain where you can use the same cartridges, ink and resetter.
Or at least the same as your IX6520.

IMO the quality of later series of Canon dye printers is not the same, I stopped stocking them.
For a little bit more you have a new Maxify for your office work (see recent post about bargain offer), refillable with pigment ink.

 

[PeterBJ]

The iP4300 uses the QY6-0061 print head. Other models that use this print head are iP5200, MP600, MP800 and MP830. Some of these models also come in an R-suffix version. The R-suffix version is identical to the standard model except for added network connectivity.

Good luck in finding one of these high quality printers.

 

[kdsdata]

The comment about a printhead costing about the same as a new printer is more likely true ONLY for the USA. Other countries do generally not offer the cheap deals as in the US. Ask me. In Canada I can buy a new Canon Pixma Pro-100, but it costs about CAD500. Not like the US125 deals that I see advertised in the USA.

A refurbished (usually meaning only flushed) printhead for the Pro-100 from AliExpress.com costs around CAD100. And that includes shipping from China to Canada, however it can take a month or more, so be prepared to wait. Over some years I have bought, separately and for different printers, 4 refurbished (flushed) printheads via AliExpress.com and they each did work when I needed them.

I understand there are the risks of the "refurbished" printheads not working. Yes, there could be lemons. I did buy one from a USA seller via eBay, 5 years ago for a Canon i9000, and that one did not work. I have not had that experience from China.

The other upside of refurbishing your current printer is that all your refill parts, pieces, and inks, are still usable. If you buy some other new printer and need to start all over with extra carts, flushing them, etc., and with new refill inks, consider those costs.

Hope this helps with your decision. kdsdata.

 

[Paul Verizzo]

I've owned several iP-4300's and am on an iP4500 for several years now. Been refilling BCI carts for many years, back to the S800? and even earlier printers.

As these are the last of the BCI carts, I just yesterday decided to look and buy another to keep as a backup. With some luck and good care, maybe both will last me for a couple of decades.

 

[PeterBJ]

I've owned several iP-4300's and am on an iP4500 for several years now. Been refilling BCI carts for many years, back to the S800? and even earlier printers.

As these are the last of the BCI carts, I just yesterday decided to look and buy another to keep as a backup. With some luck and good care, maybe both will last me for a couple of decades.

?
iP4300 and iP4500 both use the PGI-5 PGBK and CLI-8 C/M/Y/BK cartridges and not the unchipped BCI-3e PGBK and BCI-6 C/M/Y/BK cartrtidges. These BCI cartridges are found in for instance iP4000 and i865.

 

[Artur5]

Having gone through a IP4000 and then a IP4500, I went back to a IP3000 when the printhead of my IP4500 died. As you surely know, CLI8 carts are usable on a IP3000, being physically compatible with the BCI-6 series, but the PGI-5bk isn’t compatible with the BCI-3eBK. The later has two prongs on front that retain the cart in the slot but the PG-5bk hasn’t prongs and it won’t stay properly seated in the slot of a IP3000.
So, I bought three ‘new’ BCI-3eBK units, realizing that surely they haven’t been manufactured for years and the ones you find out there must be quite old. Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise that even if they were Canon genuine and sealed, the inkflow was weak from the beginning and all of them suffered from ink starvation when there was still some ink in the liquid chamber. Luckily, after a thorough flush, they’ve been working fine for more than one year with my third party pigmented ink.
Beware then when buying such old stock. In all likelihood the ink won’t be in optimal condition. Possibly the dye inks of the BCI-6 will stand better the pass of time, I don’t know, but if you buy nowadays BCI-3eBK carts I advice to remove the original ink inside and flush the cartridge before refilling.

 

[PeterBJ]

@Artur5 A slight modification will allow the PGI-5 PGBK cartridge to be used instead of a BCI-3e PGBK cartridge. See this post.

 

[martin0reg]

For the 4-color models (ip4000 etc.) printheads are hard to find ... or overpriced.
Only for the ip3000 new OEM printheads were available...at least last year..

As for the carts, it was easy to find a bunch of empty virgin carts on ebay, both CLI and BCI

 

[Artur5]

I’m afraid that brand new genuine IP3000 printheads won’t be available for long.
Just checked that reliable French site which had plenty of QY6-0064 heads a few months ago and now they’re all gone. Zero stock. Status says ‘on demand’. This usually means that Canon is no longer supplying this part.
Oh well,. if my IP3000 printhead dies, I’m gonna fetch a tough B&W laser printer and refill the toner instead of the cartridge. Powder mess vs. liquid mess. Not much difference really.