Canon Pixma - too much cleaning

RickF

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Hi,

I searched the forum for this, but didn't find it addressed as yet. If it has been I apologize.

I have a Canon Pixma MG6800. It works okay, but I noticed that it cleans the ink cartridges way too often in my opinion. Every time it prints just a pg or two, it cleans the carts. I've noticed that the 'cyan' and 'magenta' are getting low because every time I print anything, I get a warning pop up on the computer screen that they're getting low. I haven't printed anything in color in over a month, but the level of the color carts continue to go down slightly. I assume it's the cleaning activity going on that's contributing to this. I've already been advised NOT to replace the low carts until they're completely empty so as not to waste any that's still in the cartridge.

Is there a way to manage how much cleaning is taking place?

Also, Costco in my area says they can refill these carts (PGI-270Xl, and the 271XLs). I think he said aroung $9 per cartridge. They also tell me they can reset the little chip so the printer will recognize them as full. Is it worth it to do this or — is it better to order a set of aftermarket carts from say Amazon?

Thanks in advance.
 

The Hat

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@RickF, whether you use colour ink or not the printer will still clean the colour nozzles to make sure that when you do wish to print, you’ll be sure to get a first class colour printout.

Now the Costco refill service is as good as any aftermarket carts are, so you can choose which one is best suited to your needs.

The cleaning maintenance cycles are a contentious issue with most small Canon printers and there are several ways you can reduce these nuisance cleaning cycles but it takes a bit of practice.

Try to change as many cartridges as possible at once, only removing one at a time will cause an automatic cleaning cycle, so if any of the others are looking a bit low at the same time then change them also, lose one to save many.

The next thing you can do is to print as regular as possible, daily is more preferable, even if it’s only a nozzle check and leaving the printer plugged into the power all the time can also help, some say leaving their printer powered on all of the time also works but that speculation on their part...
 

RickF

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Thanks 'The Hat' for replying. I'll keep these suggestions in mind.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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that's actually quite a common complaint - my printer is wasting too much ink with ongoing cleaning cycles . The cleaning activities - before print, after print, at power up, after a cartridge replacement are all firmware controlled and not accessible by the user. You may reduce your printing cost somewhat by using 3rd party material - you could buy compatible cartridges - via Amazon or Ebay or a refill ink supplier, you could get your cartridges refilled and resetted at a refill shop or you could get all refill accessories from specialized ink shops - cartridges, resetter if needed, needles and refill inks - e.g. at precisioncolors.com or at a local shop depending on your location or other online shops.
 

jtoolman

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Thanks 'The Hat' for replying. I'll keep these suggestions in mind.
Sure. CANON Printers will perform a cleaning cycle if you do not use the printer for more than 60 hours.
The length and therefore the amount of ink wasted doubles every time you DOUBLE the idle time.
As is 60-120-240-480 straight idle hours.
So print something within the 60 hours minimum and you will not be initiating cleanings/
Believe it or not you will save ink by printing more.

Joe
 

martin0reg

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...
but I noticed that it cleans the ink cartridges way too often in my opinion. Every time it prints just a pg or two, it cleans the carts...
There are sounds which you may consider as cleaning but only a few af them actually sucks ink out of the carts.
And IMHO it's better to spend some ink than far more money for a new printhead... but I have to add, this ink is not OEM..

I don't know about the mg6800, but this is from a service manual of an old ip4000:

CLEANING MODE AND AMOUNT OF INK PURGED
(only a part of the whole list)
- Timer cleaning - 0 (Black only) 0.14ml Black
If 24 to 60 hours have elapsed since the previous Black cleaning till the start of the next printing.
- Timer cleaning - 3 (Black/Color) 0.14ml Black 0.50ml Color
If 120 to 336 hours have elapsed since the previous Black/Color cleaning till the start of the next printing.
- At ink tank replacement (Black/Color)
0.30ml (Black) 1.00ml (Color)
- Manual cleaning (Black/Color/All at the same time)
0.14ml (Black) 0.50ml (Color)
- Deep cleaning (Black/Color/All at the same time)
1.58ml (Black) 1.00ml (Color)
 

RickF

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I appreciate all these replies. Thanks. I wasn't aware that too much 'downtime' meant more cleaning. I guess that makes sense.

I did buy some aftermarket ink carts on Amazon by Sherman I think it was. It was $42 for 2 of each — or 10 carts. I've only changed the PG Black cart so far and it works okay, but maybe the print is not quite as sharp. I only noticed this because I'm a musician and need to print out music quite often.

Thanks again.
 

The Hat

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When you purchase these unknown cartridges and ink, you can never be sure what they put in them for ink, but I’ll hazard a guess and say the PG black is in fact PK black, which tends to spread more... :(
 

RickF

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When you purchase these unknown cartridges and ink, you can never be sure what they put in them for ink, but I’ll hazard a guess and say the PG black is in fact PK black, which tends to spread more... :(

Thanks. Hmm? Maybe I should spring for a Canon PG Black if I want sharpest black and printing.
 

stratman

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I've only changed the PG Black cart so far and it works okay, but maybe the print is not quite as sharp.
The Pigment Black cartridge should be fairly water fast. One way to check is to print text - this should use the Pigment Black cartridge - and let the document dry thoroughly. Once dried, briefly run water over a portion of the printed text and compare to text on the page where no water has touched it. Pigment ink will resist washing off the page and look pretty much the same. If the "pigment ink" is water-based Dye ink, or part Pigment and Part Dye mixed ink, the the water soaked text will change color and/or wash off the page entirely.

The purpose of the pigmented composition of the ink is to give deeper blacks, sharper resolution of fonts, and resist streaking when using a highlighter on the text. It also useful if you intend to print labels for shipping or anything that may be exposed to water.
 
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