How do I find number of pages printed? Canon MX870

[GaryS]

Is there a way to find out the total number of pages I have printed with my Canon MX870. I print very little and most of what I print is B&W. I have probably printed fewer than 100 pages total. Now I'm getting a warning that my color cartridges are low on ink. They are the original cartridges that came with the printer. Do they have less capacity than the ones you buy or is this typical of how long they last?

 

[stratman]

You need to make a printout of your EEPROM from within Service Mode.

You can get instruction by finding a Service Manual for your model of printer or someone here who knows the key press steps can inform you. Be careful tinkering with Service Mode as you can alter functioning of your printer if you do not do it properly. Fortunately, changes that effect function are generally reversible once you figure out what it was you accidentally changed in the first place.

 

[guyg]

I have not had any luck with my mx870 in service mode, and no manuals are available free that I know of. The capacity is the same on all of the color carts, the black pigment used for b/w documents is larger. I leave my printer on 24/7 in an effort to minimize maintainance cycles, as every time you turn it on it seems to go thru a cleaning cycle, this is an unfortunate trait of inkjets. Also try to avoid deep cleaning for a clogged nozzle, use windex instead as that will empty the carts quickly. Even if you only print b/w the color nozzles are still being cleaned, thus the low ink levels. If you get set up to refill properly, with quality ink, and a resetter the effort is well worth it as you will save alot of money vs Canon carts.
After market carts are readily available on Amazon or Ink owl very reasonable if you cant be bothered with refilling but results may vary, it's a crapshoot. I have gotten excellent results refilling, this forum will provide all you need to know, just look around some.

 

[GaryS]

Maybe it's time to go back to a laser printer. I still have a Canon MF5770. The only reason I stopped using it was because it ceased to function on my wireless network when I got a new Netgear wireless router after my Linksys wireless router failed. I installed the latest drivers but nothing worked. The new MX870 works fine so I think it is a case of Canon not updating their drivers for 5+ year old printers. During the 5 years I used the MF5770 I never had to replace a toner cartridge. The downside is I couldn't print color but in those 5 years I never had a need to print color and if I had I have an unused Canon color inkjet I could easily hookup.

I have to decide because I'm certainly not going to replace ink cartridges that get used up by the routine startup procedure and not by me printing color documents.

 

[guyg]

I believe that when you get a low ink warning, you can just press ok and the printer will work. the down side of this is you could damage your color nozzles, most likely burning them out. However if you are only printing b/w documents it may be an option, as the mx870 overall is a nice machine. You should get several hundred pages on a black cart, and non oem refills at around $2.00 each. Short of selling the printer and getting a laserjet I would run it that way if I were going to just put it on a shelf in the basement.