What do you think of the Canon MP760 printer?

[Frankd1]

I have been shopping around for a 2nd/back-up printer and I came across a local listing for a Canon MP760 for $20!
It is listed as excellent condition....I will be going on Thursday afternoon to check it out and the current owner has no problem with me running a nozzle check on it. Is there anything else I can or should check for while I am there?
He mentioned the checks can be run without hooking up to a computer but I will likely bring my laptop anyways...

Are there drivers available for this printer so it can be used with newer versions of Windows? I currently run XP but if I get a new computer system it will likely be Windows 7....

What I like about this printer is that it uses non chipped cartridges!

My current printer is an MP530 that has provided me with good service, however the purge unit needs to be cleaned, I have managed to strip the printer down and remove the chassis from the bottom section but then I got busy with the move to my new house so I haven't been able to complete the repairs, but I will be able to do so soon and get it back up and running.....but I thought it would be a good idea to have a second printer on hand!

What do you think of the MP760??

 

[rehardwick]

Frankd1

The MP760 is an outstanding printer and of the MP750, 760 & 780 printer family, it has the best capability for scanning. They all use the same inks and print head as the ip4000 printer. Be sure to get the install disks because you can't download all the software needed from Canon.

If there is a problem with the test print process, it usually can be rectified by rinsing the print head with warm water in both directions.

 

[ghwellsjr]

I've had my MP760 for almost six years--it's my main printer. Drivers for all operating systems are available here.

If I could buy another MP760 for $20, I would snatch it up before the seller had a chance to change his mind. But I can see how if you don't already have one, you wouldn't want to buy it if it doesn't work or if you couldn't get it working with a $55 print head.

In the last couple months, I have purchased one MP760 and six MP780's, and all except one would not pass a nozzle check. Unless the seller has been using it right up to the point of selling it, it probably has been sitting idle, unplugged, maybe even with some cartridges removed for many months. The one that passed the nozzle check was still plugged into the seller's computer. So there's a good chance that this $20 MP760 will not pass a nozzle check. If that was the only problem, I would still buy it because you can get a new print head for $55 and $75 is an excellent price for this printer.

But here are the additional tests that I do when I check out a used printer for sale:

First, you want to see if the purge system is working, because without that, you will never get a good nozzle check. To check the purge system, you need to first do a nozzle check. Even if it looks good, open the cover and use a flashlight to view the two black purge pads off to the right where the print head parks. Using a syringe, eye dropper or pinched straw, put some Windex or other window cleaner or just plain water on the two purge pads. Observe how the liquid makes the pads look shiny. You can get a better view of them if you look through the hole just above the pads that the cover mechanism goes through. Close the cover for about ten seconds and reopen it. Make sure the two pads now look dull and almost dry. Repeat several times if it doesn't seem to work at first. If the liquid is not sucked away, you may still be able to get the printer to work but you won't be able to do it quickly so you will have to decide if you want to buy it anyway or if the seller will recognize that the printer is probably not worth much and lower the price. Although I would still buy the printer if the purge system doesn't work, none of the used printers that I bought recently had a purge system problem.

Second, you want to make sure all the nozzles work. The regular nozzle check is good for the pigment black nozzles but it is not good for determining if every one of the dye ink nozzles are working. For this you need the extended nozzle check. Here are the instructions for doing this. If there is at least one nozzle that isn't printing, repeat the test and see if the same nozzle(s) continue to malfunction. If you see that different ones don't work, you probably have an ink flow problem that may require a new print head.

Third, you want to see how full the waste ink tank is. The extended nozzle check will tell you this. Look on the top line in the image in the previous link for D=003.5 which means 3.5% full (that's because I had just reset it a few weeks earlier). If that number is much below 50%, you have a lot of life left in the printer. If it is much above 50%, there will be less time before you will need to replace the waste ink pads.

Fourth, you want to put something in the scanner and copy it. Do this in color and black. Look at the condition of the glass while the scanner is scanning nothing to see if there is a cloudy film on the underside of the glass.

You could also test the PictBridge connection (to a camera) and the card reader to make sure these work. The card reader will not work with HC (high capacity) serial digital cards so make sure you bring a regular one with some pictures taken by your camera if you want to test it.

But like I said, I would snap up this printer no matter what its condition.

 

[Frankd1]

Thanks for the information guys!

I was just looking through my emails that I exchanged with the seller and the one dated from March 21, 2010 said that there are still ink cartridges in the printer that are about half full and the printer was put into storage around the 1st week of March - so its been in storage probably 3 weeks now....he said that he purchased a color laser printer so that is the reason for selling. I will run those tests as mentioned, thanks again, I appreciate it!!

 

[ghwellsjr]

I just thought of one more thing you ought to do. Open the scanner. Look at the bottom of the cover, the big white reflector. You will note that there are two handles on either side. Use these to remove the white reflector. On the back side of the removed reflector you should see two removable frames, one for scanning 35mm negative film strips and one for scanning 35mm slides. If these have been lost, you will be giving up one of the big features of the MP760 over the MP780.

You will note that there is a strip of white translucent glass in the scanner cover. It has a light behind it. The only way you can tell if this light is working is to install the software on a computer and press the Scan button on the printer. This will bring up a dialog box and you want to select MP Navigator. Then tell it you want to scan film. Make sure the cover is down but look to see if there is light coming from the inside. You can lift the cover at that point to see the light. Without that light, you won't be able to scan slides or film negatives.

If the film scanner won't work, either because the light won't come on or because the frames are missing, you will be giving up the main advantage of the MP760 over the MP780. The MP780 has an automatic document feeder instead of film scanning capability plus fax so it would be like buying an MP780 where those features don't work.

 

[Frankd1]

Well I think I got a great printer for $20! Actually two printers because the seller asked if I wanted a virtually brand new (used a few times) Samsung black and white laser printer, so he threw that in as well!!

Regarding the MP760: The first thing I noticed was that it was in excellent condition and looking inside the printer with the cover opened revealed a very clean unit, I tested the purge unit with windex and it passed with no problems, I closed and opened the cover twice and the windex had been sucked away.

I then did a regular nozzle check and no problems there, after I was satisified with that I did the extended nozzle check following the directions in your link and everything looks great there as well with all of the nozzles firing and no missed squares on any of the colors!!

I checked the level of the waste ink tank during the extended nozzle check and the number at the top of the page is D=027.9, so if I read that correctly it is at 27.9%...

The removable frames are all in place as well.

I realized when I got home that I didn't get the disks for the printer so I sent the seller an email this morning to see if he still has them which I'm sure he does.
In the meantime though, or if there are no disks can I still install using the drivers from the Canon website or is it a must that I have the original disks? I'm running Windows XP......

And to my delight, the ink cartridges in the printer are all Canon OEM - the seller got into the habbit of using OEM which I thought was a nice bonus!!

So far I'm happy with this $20 purchase!!!!

 

[ghwellsjr]

That has to be a classic! I'm happy for you.

You can download the drivers from Canon's website. There may be some additional utilities on the disk that aren't available on line but they won't keep you from using the printer. When I get some more time, I'll check.

Are you planning to refill or just buy Canon cartridges? Did the seller have any extra cartridges?

 

[Frankd1]

I am planning on refilling using the Canon OEM's that are currently in the printer, the BCI 6m is running low so I will go and purchse another one of those until my refill kits come in from Precision Colors.

He did include a full BCI 3eBK

I'm going to download the drivers now!

 

[Frankd1]

I'm having trouble scanning, I downloaded the driver from the Canon website along with the MP navigator v1.16 driver (even though I have v2.2 for my mp530) and when I try to scan I get an error message that says: cannot communicate with scanner. scanner may be turned off, a cable may be disconnected. Please check the status and try again. Scanner driver will be closed. Code: 155,0,0

So I'm not sure whats going here just yet....

 

[ruffin]

Frank: Be sure usb cable is plugged-in both at computer and printer. Be sure printer is plugged into AC outlet and is switched on. You need both "My Printer" and "MP Navigator" drivers available at Canon USA WEB site here:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/c...oadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=334&modelid=11010
You dont indicate your operating system, but confirm that printer is recognized in control panel under "printers and faxes". If all else fails, right click printer shown in "printers and faxes" and select delete to uninstall previous install. Then leave printer disconnected from computer and turned off. Reinstall drivers and when instructed, plugin printer usb and turn power on. Printer and scanner should be recognized. Better yet download Canon "Quick Start Guide" and also "Easy Setup Instructions" from the WEB page referenced above.