Canon Pixma IP8720 won't recognize ink tanks despite cleaning + replacement...

[sodevious]

Hello!

I recently purchased a second hand Canon IP8720, knowing the "cyan ink doesn't work". I naively thought that I could fix this by replacing the ink cartridge or cleaning the printhead. Boy was I wrong.

To troubleshoot, I:
- Installed all new Canon ink tanks
- Reseated ink tanks/print head
- Cleaned print head multiple times, with warm water + 91% alcohol, then inkjet cleaning solution
- Purchased a (supposedly refurbished) print head on Ebay, installed
- Gently cleaned the electrical contacts on ink tanks, print head and printer

After each one of these steps, only some ink tanks were recognized, never all. I am at a loss if this machine can be saved, or if I should let it go. I would appreciate any insight or advice you may have for me!

 

[stratman]

Welcome to the forum, sodevious.

Make sure all ink cartridges have ink and are not marked as "Empty" by the printer. Then print a nozzle check, scan, crop and post.

Do not print anything else before you get feedback. Canon printers heat up the nozzles to spit out the ink onto the paper. The liquid ink also acts to cool the nozzles so they do not irreparably burn out.

 

[PeterBJ]

Maybe the printer will not print anything at all but gives the error message that one or more cartridges can not be recognised?

If so there is most likely a problem with either a chip or the chip contact springs for the problem cartridge.

Using a Q-tip moistened with isopropyl alcohol or an electronics contact cleaner you could try cleaning the chip contact springs in the printhead carriage. Here is a webcam shot from the similar but smaller iP7250, click to enlarge:

 

[sodevious]

Welcome to the forum, sodevious.

Make sure all ink cartridges have ink and are not marked as "Empty" by the printer. Then print a nozzle check, scan, crop and post.

Do not print anything else before you get feedback. Canon printers heat up the nozzles to spit out the ink onto the paper. The liquid ink also acts to cool the nozzles so they do not irreparably burn out.

Hello!

I cannot print a nozzle check because the printer won't recognize those two ink tanks, here is a screenshot when I try to print one. The ink tanks are brand new genuine ink tanks as well.

 

[stratman]

To troubleshoot, I:
- Installed all new Canon ink tanks
- Reseated ink tanks/print head
- Cleaned print head multiple times, with warm water + 91% alcohol, then inkjet cleaning solution
- Purchased a (supposedly refurbished) print head on Ebay, installed
- Gently cleaned the electrical contacts on ink tanks, print head and printer

You have done what the forum would recommend.

Difference might be flushing and then soaking in water with a few drops of Dawn or Fairy liquid dish washing soap, or similar, instead of alcohol. Patience is key. Soaking the print head for several days may be required for best results.

Care must be given to letting the electronics on the print head dry thoroughly before installing the print head or else you could have an electronic short and irreparably damage the print head and/or logic assay board in the printer.

As you know by now, buying a refurbished print head is a crap shoot. Even worse are print heads sold as new in what looks like OEM boxes and sealed in plastic bags but are refurbished in counterfeit packaging. These print heads appear to have a high failure rate.

----------------------------

There have been instances of a brand new, out of the box bad chip on an OEM Canon cartridge. Happened to me years ago. I called Canon and the sent me a new a cartridge.

But TWO at the same time?

Sure, they could both be malfunctioning chip and trying another cartridge could be the solution, or, it could be throwing good money away.

And a huge limiting factor is the use of a refurbished print head. All bets are off using these and having proper function.

Is this a mechanical issue of bad electrical contacts or an electronic failure in the print head circuitry or the logic assay board in the printer?

After each one of these steps, only some ink tanks were recognized, never all.

Are you saying the failure to recognize cartridges changes with some working and then not working and then working again???

Could you give a more detailed and chronological history from what you were told about the printer, if the printer ever printed at all and when it did and then did not print, the error messages, and what happened with different print heads (especially refurbished ones or sold as "new" out of China).

If you can, describe what you first saw, then did and the result. Continue your history to the present with two cartridges unrecognized and posting on the forum.

 

[sodevious]

You have done what the forum would recommend.

Difference might be flushing and then soaking in water with a few drops of Dawn or Fairy liquid dish washing soap, or similar, instead of alcohol. Patience is key. Soaking the print head for several days may be required for best results.

Care must be given to letting the electronics on the print head dry thoroughly before installing the print head or else you could have an electronic short and irreparably damage the print head and/or logic assay board in the printer.

As you know by now, buying a refurbished print head is a crap shoot. Even worse are print heads sold as new in what looks like OEM boxes and sealed in plastic bags but are refurbished in counterfeit packaging. These print heads appear to have a high failure rate.

----------------------------

There have been instances of a brand new, out of the box bad chip on an OEM Canon cartridge. Happened to me years ago. I called Canon and the sent me a new a cartridge.

But TWO at the same time?

Sure, they could both be malfunctioning chip and trying another cartridge could be the solution, or, it could be throwing good money away.

And a huge limiting factor is the use of a refurbished print head. All bets are off using these and having proper function.

Is this a mechanical issue of bad electrical contacts or an electronic failure in the print head circuitry or the logic assay board in the printer?


Are you saying the failure to recognize cartridges changes with some working and then not working and then working again???

Could you give a more detailed and chronological history from what you were told about the printer, if the printer ever printed at all and when it did and then did not print, the error messages, and what happened with different print heads (especially refurbished ones or sold as "new" out of China).

If you can, describe what you first saw, then did and the result. Continue your history to the present with two cartridges unrecognized and posting on the forum.

The light on the ink heads would sometimes be recognized but not always. For a few minutes I got all the lights to turn on and printed 1 test page, but then they stopped being recognized. Makes me think it's an electrical contact issue. I doubt an electrical or circut board issue would be fixable...

BUT I have been pretty rough on the print head the past few days and just now I cleaned the electrical contacts, now I am getting the hardware failure error. I think I turned this thing into an expensive paper weight.

Do I just chuck the printer or is there any value in listing for parts on Ebay? Just opened the 7 new cartridges a few days ago but haven't gotten anything to print.

Waved the white flag & ordered the Pixma Pro 200 on Adorama.

---


UPDATE: Putting the original print head back in took away the hardware failure error. Still does not recognize some ink tanks after cleaning electrical contacts...

> Are you saying the failure to recognize cartridges changes with some working and then not working and then working again???

Yes. Testing after multiple cleanings gave me different results in terms of which ink tanks were recognized.

 

[sodevious]

This is what I knew about the printer prior to purchasing:

Canon Pixma IP8720 wireless inkjet photo printer, used. Great resolution at 9600x2400. Does not come with ink. Minor issue that could be troubleshooted. I just don’t have time to figure it out. The cyan ink cartridge isnt detecting. The rest of ink is perfectly fine. comes with power cord, printer, and a dust cover. Will ship in original box.

1. Received box, set up.
2. Opened and installed new genuine ink tanks, figuring this would just be the solution
3. All but the PG black + blue was recognized, tried a new PG black, nada
4. Manually cleaned print head multiple ways, many times. Warm water, water + 91% alc, inkjet cleaning solution, etc. I could never get the PG black sponge to look as clean as the other ones no matter what I did, despite soaking overnight, etc.
5. Tested and retested print head, reseated ink tanks and print head, etc. Still could not recognize all ink tanks.
6. Tried the new print head.
7. Posted here
8. Cleaned electrical contacts
9. Not recognizing yellow, pg black, cyan

 

[stratman]

From the beginning, the Cyan and PGBK cartridges were not recognized even with new OEM Canon cartridges.

Despite cleanings nothing changed. Cyan and and TWO different PGBK cartridges still were not recognized.

But, no other cartridge failed, meaning you did not make matters worse.

Then you tried the "new" refurbished print head. Cyan and PGBK continued to fail recognition and were joined by failures with Yellow and Black. In other words, the refurbished print head failed for all cartridges except Magenta and Gray.

Since cartridges have not been recognized from the beginning, I assume you were never able to print anything. Correct?

Thoughts:

• I have not heard stories of cartridge recognition failures occurring during storage or transport. Could it happen? Sure. Likely? No. Makes me wonder if the seller knew the PGBK was bad as well.
• The refurbished print head sold to you was theft of your money. If there were any warranties made or you paid by credit card or Pay Pal then open a dispute. Same if the web site allows such arbitration.
• That the new Cyan and two different new PGBK did not work with the second print head as well makes me suspicious there is something else wrong independent of the cartridge and print head. This would include issues with the electrical contacts on the printer opposite to the ones from the print head, OR a logic assay board malfunction, OR any PCB board solder / tracing / wire between the print head and the logic assay board. If under warranty, the print head and logic assay board would be replaced or you would just get a new printer altogether.

Try cleaning the all electrical contacts on the print head again and also those in the printer opposite to the contacts of the print head. Look for deformities or broken/missing pins.

You could try a different print head but the odds that the Cyan and PGBK not functioning with the second print head are probably not a coincidence, meaning the issue more likely resides in the printer somewhere. Buying another print head may just be a thought experiment and your money and time more wisely spent on a new printer.

Sorry.

 

[The Hat]

Whatever else is going wrong on you, you need to stop manually cleaning the print heads, the printer can do a better job of it and is less lightly to damage anything into the bargain, plus no amount of cleaning will ever fix an electrical problem, my two cent worth..

P.S. any second hand purchase of a Canon print head is never going to work (They are all refurbished and not new)..

 

[stratman]

any second hand purchase of a Canon print head is never going to work

I see it differently. The refurbished print head might work but assume the print head will fail. However long it does work, if it works at all, will then be a pleasant bonus.