IP3500 Grinding on startup

[infotheory]

Hello all,

I found a used Canon Pixma IP3500 a few years back and it has been dependable and saved me a ton on ink. The only problem I have had until now is a dead printer head which was a simple fix. However, seemingly out of the blue, when I start up my printer it now makes a loud grinding noise and refuses to print. I have attached a video of the startup process to provide any details I may not know are relevant.

The diagnostic flashing noted below is typical of my printer. I have to fiddle with the current cartridges to get it to work. We can probably disregard these.
Flashes: 4
Meaning: Ink tank is not installed properly / Ink may have run out.
Source: Page 64

However, when I try to print something I get a service error 5C00. Some googling suggests that this may be a 'purge cam sensor error' when in conjunction with 4 flashes. I can't seem to tie this to my specific model though; the only occurrences of this cam sensor error I am seeing are associated with different canon models.

I'm not sure where to go from here. I am happy to put in some work and a little money to get this thing running again if that's reasonable. Otherwise I will have to start scouring thrift stores again for a printer that is relatively refill friendly.

Thanks for your help!
~Odd

 

[The Hat]

Just looking at your video it sounds to me like your purge unit is jamming/getting stuck in the down position and therefore can’t go through its usual start-up routine.

Try lifting the top lid and when the cartridges move to the centre pull the plug that will enable you to move the print head right over to the left side of the printer out of the way, remover the cartridges and head at this time.

Now use some sort of flash light to light the inside of the printer and give the whole area in and around the purge station a good splashing of Windex and if you have a small paint brush give the whole thing a good clean.

You can also use kitchen paper towels to mop up any of the excess splashes and ink later, then give the purge pads a good soaking again, flood them, then plug in the printer and turn it on.

If you have managed to loosen some of the dried ink the purge unit can then move freely and the printer should now do the ritual clean and start-up routine without the grinding noise, only then reinstall the cartridges and head again..

 

[infotheory]

Thanks for your reply and advice, Hat.

That seems to agree with what I found and what I am seeing inside the printer. I have to admit that I didn't even know I was supposed to be cleaning the insides manually. Boy do I have a lot to learn! Well, I had my first run at cleaning it and have a rather large pile of (newly colored) napkins and cotton swabs. Anyway, I'm not sure what I am actually looking for. I have cleaned quite a bit of junk out but it's still acting up. I am in the process of removing the casing so I can get a better view and cleaning angle for round two. I posted two short videos below that might help better describe the issue; I don't know what I don't know, afterall.

Here I show what I think wipes the bottom of the print head (not sure what it's called) which seems to move freely (as shown) after my preliminary cleaning for some of its range but still sticks at the ends of what I believe should be its range of motion.

The purge pad is hard (normal?) and I show a different angle of the aforementioned wiper here.

Thanks again!

 

[PeterBJ]

I searched for a service manual for the iP3500 but found none. It seems that the iP3500 is similar to the iP3300 as the ip3500 service manual is only a supplement to the iP3300 service manual. The iP3300 service manual is found here. Before download see this instruction.

The blink pattern is not for an operator call error but for a service call error, and the corresponding error code is 5C00 which means purge cam sensor error, see page 8 in the service manual, so I agree with The Hat that the error is most likely in the purge unit.

The purge pads are made from a hard and porous plastic material. One side of these pads is flat and polished and this side must be towards the print head underside. If you remove the pads to clean them it is important that they are re-installed properly, see this.

A window cleaner with ammonia like the "Original Windex with Ammonia-D" is good for cleaning the pads and the purge unit. It is also a good print head cleaner.

Druckerchannel.de has some excellent instructions for taking apart printers to clean the ink absorbers, but sadly not for the iP3500. Maybe you will find some tips for removing the printer casing in one of the other instructions. A few of the instructions are available in both English and German, but most are in German only. You can use Google Translate if you don't read German. Here is the link to the instructions.

 

[infotheory]

Thanks for all the info PeterBJ. I am happy to hear another experienced member confirm the purge cam sensor error.

I can't make much progress on the cleaning until I can figure out how to get this casing off. I was only able to find a single youtube video of a similar printer but the video is 144p and very shaky so not only is it hard to see, gives me motion sickness watching it, but it also didn't quite match with my printer. The good news is I have almost the whole casing apart. The only big I can't figure out now is the connection on the face of the printer. It's actually pretty hard to describe in words so I made another quick video showing where it is still connected.

I can't seem to find the instructions even after translating that page, PeterBJ. I was just going to look for the IP3300 removal guide or another similar model but have had no luck.

 

[The Hat]

On viewing your video it wound seem to me like you have forgotten about the two plastic clips on the front of your printer, left and right side low, search carefully and you’ll find them..

 

[PeterBJ]

Here is the Druckerchannel instruction for taking apart the iP3300, and here is a Google translation to English. The mechanics of your printer might be very similar to the iP3300, but the casing is different. I think the casing of the iP4300 looks more like the iP3500, so maybe this instruction is better? A Google translation is here.

I hope this helps.

 

[infotheory]

Thanks for the help. I couldn't find those two tabs but I was able to get the casing off and get a better look at the purge unit. Unfortunately I couldn't really see anything of interest.

-Pulled the pads and soaked them in windex
-Flooded the pad holders
-Cleaned that wiper and its compartment really well
-Cleaned misc plastic pieces
-Sprayed a bunch of cleaner around the purge unit for good measure

Put it back together, plugged it in, and it still fails. I didn't see anything that I would suspect is a sensor. I also didn't get a look under the purge pad holders. Is there something in particular I should be looking for?

Edit: Might changing the waste ink pad at the bottom help?

 

[martin0reg]

...
Here I show what I think wipes the bottom of the print head (not sure what it's called) which seems to move freely (as shown) after my preliminary cleaning for some of its range but still sticks at the ends of what I believe should be its range of motion...

The mechanism of purge pad and wiper blade might be stuck in a wrong position.
In this case gently pressing or moving of the pads and/or of the wiper blade mechanism (with fingers and papertowel or rubbergloves) can make it "click" in the right position again.

Sorry I'm not able to explain better...here is a photo of the unit in normal position:
http://www.druckerchannel.de/bildgalerie.php?bgal=de7ce97fbb4d2b138c6da993e0bbbedb#1

There are countless postings on DC regarding similar errors....for more details I found this:
http://www.bretabennett.com/pubstuff/utils/BAB's_Fix_for_Canon_Pixma_IP4000R_Error_Code_5C00.pdf