iP4300 Two-tone nozzle test

fotofreek said:

If $40 brings the printer back to proper function it is a risk I would take.

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msmart said:

They don't show up much there any more and prices are outrageous on eBay.

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Have been checking prices ($50+) and honestly having a very hard time considering a print head that costs almost as much as the printer did. Then again, it's just as hard trying to find a good replacement printer that doesn't have a ton of bells & whistles that won't be used.

So it's back to the internet checking printer reviews and monitoring head prices while continue to 'lightly' use my printer. At least I have some options obtain from your inputs. Thanks.

fotofreek said:

...One must have great patience to scan through Craig's list for the one gem out of a lot of clunkers! ..

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My latest purchases: One ip4500, bought only for the logic board, the clunker for 10€ turned out to be better than the one which I wanted to repair... (except for the printhead..)
And one R800 for 50€, barely used but clogged, which I wanted to declogg... with no success, though I tried all you can do with a piezo head. So the hoped for gem turned out to be the clunker.

@Gloryb 50 USD would be a bargain - for a new one, as they seem to be "out of print"...

martin0reg said:

My latest purchases: One ip4500, bought only for the logic board, the clunker for 10€ turned out to be better than the one which I wanted to repair... (except for the printhead..)

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Two years ago I found an ip4500 on craigs list. Turns out the seller was a young student from Japan who was studying English in San Francisco and was leaving to go home. He had only used the printer for class papers - text only, and had all the nearly full original OEM color carts still in the printer. He had just put a new OEM PGI -5 cart in to replace the original one that came with the printer. His total use was for the contents of one PGI-5 cart! Cost me $50. I cleaned the printhead and stored it. At this point I had enough stored good used printers to stop buying them, but I can't resist looking on craigs list in spite of my more than adequate supply of printers. I've caught the Printerknowledge printer hoarding virus!

fotofreek said:

.... I've caught the Printerknowledge printer hoarding virus!

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Me too, I own quite some printers using 525/526 carts (European) since it is the last Canon series where you can reset and refill the OEM carts.
But it is hard to find them at €20 as before, and if you have to pay 40-50, maybe better buy a new 5 carts printer under 70 (and use 3th party ARC carts).

Same for the pigment PGI-9 printers. I bought last year 2 nearly new PRO9500 MkII's for 175 and 155, an IX7000 for 50 and a backup MX7600 (my best printer ever, over 18K pages) for 10 !
Now the ask price has doubled (and MX7600's extinct) .

We need to regulate prices, stop hoarding !

Doubt if anyone is still following this...didn't realize there were printer hoarders!

Took me almost a month but decided to buy a printhead based on the advise I've gotten here (instead of a new printer). Have almost $100 worth of ink that would probably be tossed if I bought a new printer. Plus am probably the only person left that wants a plain printer without the multiple, breakable, unneeded add-ons. Quality single function printers are hard to find.

So many thanks again to those who responded and helped me think outside the box.

@Gloryb, Holy moly we’re not just hoarders, more like a collective of Printaholics that like the company of lots of these lovely printers.

Thank you for you feed back it’s much appreciated and we do like to follow every little success story..

Gloryb said:

Doubt if anyone is still following this...didn't realize there were printer hoarders!

Took me almost a month but decided to buy a printhead based on the advise I've gotten here (instead of a new printer). Have almost $100 worth of ink that would probably be tossed if I bought a new printer. Plus am probably the only person left that wants a plain printer without the multiple, breakable, unneeded add-ons. Quality single function printers are hard to find.

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@Gloryb, you aren't the only person who wants single function dedicated printers. I use the best color printer for my needs, the separate scanner of my choice, and separate industrial grade copy machine. If we didn't have to send less than half a dozen fax's a year I'd dump that for sure and just email scanned docs.

Just spotted this old thread:

I have to let you forum fellows know to have been infected by the Printerknowledge printer hoarding virus!

Is there any cure available??

O’ yes, be drowned in a room full of printers, what a way to go..

Update for all you hoarders. I purchased a printhead in original packaging for $60. Long story short, it worked a grand total of one time before my printer refused to work at all. I reinstalled the original head and the printer worked though with the same problem as before.


Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained except knowledge. I now have a big paperweight with a Canon logo on it if anyone is interested! Meanwhile, hope all you Printaholics live long and prosper!