Cannon Ink Tank Error Message for the IP4300. Anything agreed on yet?

[KittyMarmalade]

Hi There

I bought an IP4300 back in October.

I've been using only OEM carts [2 sets] and refilling those via the German method with no problems
Went through the voided warranty 5 sec resume/reset on all carts.

I've probably refilled each cart about 7 times, all with no problems whatsoever [thanks to you guys and hours of reading]

For the first time, 2 days ago I got the "ink tank errors have occured, open the printer's cover and replace tanks of which the lights are off" message.
I pressed resume and turned the printer off, and it printed fine soon after and for a few more times.

The error occured again, and same thing, on/off and worked.

However.

Now, the message below occurrs permanently whenever I try to print anything and it can't be remedied by resume or on/off

I left it off all night but no change

Normally there are no lights on any of the carts [since voiding the warranty]. unless I took one of the carts out while the printer was switched on
- then it would start to flash when I put it back in again [while the printer is still on] and It still does that now. All the lights flash on all the carts if I take them out when the printer is on. [the lights all go off again when I put the printer lid back down, same as before]

I've tried my other set of refilled OEMs and same, so I guess I can assume [?] that the chips on all my carts are still working?

I've cleaned the contacts on the chips and the printer.

It seems to me that this is a preventative measure by Cannon, unless I'm missing something. I've read lots and lots of threads here, and seen the disagreements on
in built issues or self made ones from things going wrong, but this issue really does seem to be something more than that.

I can't see any threads relating to this directly, as others have used clone carts, and some have lights that wont go on.

All my cart lights go on, and BOTH sets of OEMs are getting the same results at exactly the same time.
[these sets have been mixed up while refilling though. I treat them more like 10 carts, than 2 different sets]

Can any of the cart experts shed any theories on this one?

Maybe there's an in built monitor which only allows a maximum number of pages to be printed per OEM carts used, and anything over that prompts the error message?

*confused*

 

[KittyMarmalade]

I guess the next thing for me to do is to buy a new set of OEMs and see how long they last being refilled to see if the problem recurs in the same way, but I really, really want to avoid having to do that due to issues

 

[KittyMarmalade]

one last point.

To test whether it was a particular cart that was causing problems, when I put my other set of carts in, I replaced each colour one at a time.
ie: swopped cyan for cyan, then tested to see if the message disappeared, then the next colour the same etc etc.

This didnt change anything

 

[websnail]

I would hazard a guess that one or more of the chips has been damaged or the sensors in the chip have been... I've had a similar issue in the past with chips on cartridges becoming loose, getting a bit of ink soiling the contacts or something similar... Worth checking them over to see if that's a possible cause.

 

[KittyMarmalade]

yeah, I tried that, and all the other avenues/leads I've seen here, but there doesn't seem to be an issue with that [from what I can see anyway]. If there's a problem with the chip, would the light on the cart still flash?

Also, it seems a little too coincidental that it happens to BOTH sets of carts - swopping the problem set for the reserve set and it does exactly the same.? Both sets coming up with the same message seems to be fishy to me. Especially given that I replaced each colour one by one to see if it had an effect and it didn't. If it were the chips [even more than one] that would indicate that exactly the same colours in each set were malfunctioning, which is a little too coincidental for my liking

 

[jru]

KittyMarmalade,

Before you go out and purchase another OEM set of cartridges, perhaps it might be worth trying one of your refilled sets in someone else's ip4300 to see if it gives the same error message, or not. That might say whether the problem was with the chips on the carts, or with your printer unit itself?

If these carts worked in someone else's ip4300 printer then it seems to be saying something is wrong with your printer (or its contacts...).
If they did not work in someone else's ip4300 printer then it seems to be saying something is up with the chips.

Can you post when you purchased your ip4300 and also, is there a way of determining what the date of manufacture was?

Cause I'm sure I read posts where people here with ip4300's said they refilled many, many times w/o problems.
(If this is true for someone reading this, could you post, and say how many times you refilled the same OEM carts, and what date you purchased your ip4300, and manufacture date, if you know?)

There were some posts that hypothesized that canon might have changed their ip4300's at some date of manufacture...
Hope they are wrong.

Just some ideas...

 

[KittyMarmalade]

Hi there

thanks for responding.

I'd be quite happy to send any UK residents a set of my carts if they're willing to try them. I don't know anyone with an IP4300 unfortunately.

I bought this one in October. If anyone can tell me where to look to confirm date of manufacture, that would be great, other than that I'm unsure of how to establish that.

Regarding filling lots and lots of time without issues. I think I qualify for that really. I'm about 3/4 into my second lot of bulk ink bottles [500ml for each full set of colours].

I've been reading here and elsewhere people theorising on maybe the number of times the cart is removed is recorded and that having an impact. I check my carts regularly, so I will have removed them quite a lot for that, but I could change that in the future and remove them less to extend their shelf life if it has an impact on their longevity

Can anyone confirm whether damaged chips still light up? Because all mine still do when I take them out. And there'd be no point sending them to someone else if they're just going to get the same results.

 

[websnail]

I could give them a shot in my iP4500 (which is at home)... unfortunately both of my iP4300's are in schools and in use with CIS kits installed so I really don't want to mess with those while they still work.

I have a few spare chips to hand for all except the CLI-8BK cartridge so let me know if those could help and I'll do what I can.

Martin (based near Sheffield)

 

[Trigger 37]

Kitty,... This may have been covered, but is seems to be the logic probable cause. The contacts that mate with each ink cart are nothing but tiny spring wires in the bottom of the printhead. It is just like the old contacts that are on the back of the printhead. This is the way any signal is passed back to the logic board.

Examine the contacts very closely and see if any of them are bent such that they would not make good contact with each pad on each chip on each ink cart. If any are dirty or wet with ink that spills from a refilled ink cart, this could cause such a problem. Then check the contacts on the back of the printhead and make sure they are clean and the spring loaded contacts in the Carriage ASM. Any one of these connections going bad can cause all kinds of problems.

 

[ltsang]

Hi Kitty
I am facing exactly the same problem, same error message you get every morning
when I start my computer and the ip4300. Forgot how many times I refill those cartridges
that comes with the printer when new (about 9 months ago). What I did to carry on with
my printing for the day is : I open the printer cover, the carriage move to the middle, and
there are always the one or three same cartridges that have not lighted up. I lift them and
click them back again, now the lights starts blinking. Close the cover and let the printer
do its thing for a minute of two, start printing. Sometimes the same error comes up again.
I repeat the process once more and it will resume printing for the rest of the day until I
turn the printer off. The next day when I have to use the printer again, I have to lift the
same cartridges once more. I have tried another set of used cli-8 cartridges, at first, they
went fine for a little while, now both sets behave the same. I don't think there is any thing
wrong with the cartridge because the printer prints fine once it starts working, and it must
have passed a month now since it happens. I hope someone will come up with a fix but
for now I think I'll have to bare the trouble because it is still my most reliable printer
compare with the other printers I have. If I left the computer and the printer power on
overnight, I don't have to reset the printer next morning.