D=013.5

[sneezer2]

Ink absorber counter value.

D=013.5

I have several Canon printers showing various ink absorber counter values but am unable to find anything in the manuals
I have about how the values relate to the actual condition of the ink absorber.

An mp610 shows a value of D=013.5 and a total page count of 02517

An ip3000 shows a value of D=021.3 and a total page count of 00538

Another ip3000 has a page count of almost 9000 and D=000.5 though on this one I have cleaned the absorbers and
may have reset the counter.

Anyway, I don't really know how to interpret this number though I conjecture that it may count downwards.

Does anyone have more information on ink absorber counter values?

 

[OutOFtheinkwell]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I never claimed to be Mr. knowledge about printers anyway!
When it comes to printer absorber counter values how does any printer company set up a printer to do that?
I mean I understand the cartridge chip where electronic data is imbedded right in the chip I suppose working like a flash drive in a camera perhaps? But is there a mother board of sorts in a printer to do page counting or what? And if so, isn't there a way to override the board? Just one of my thoughts I get when I think on the way these things must be set up! Like, if a hacker can get into any computer, can't the same methods be used in a printer? ok! I'll go quietly..LOL!

 

[sneezer2]

@OutOOtheinkwell:

Well, first of all, I don't think any question is a dumb one if asked in the spirit of wanting to learn
something. At least, I hope so, as otherwise I've probably asked my share of them.

I'll try to answer your questions in a short form. There are others here who can do better, I'm sure.

There is the cartridge chip, of course, but as far as I know it stores only information relating to
cartridge use, ink level, etc.

In addition, any printer must have a "mother board" of some sort to control all the printer operations. With
Canon, it is generally referred to as the "logic board". On the logic board, there are memory storage chips,
one of which is referred to as the EEPROM. This chip stores such things as ink absorber count value, page count,
last print date, first service date, etc., etc., etc. By referring to various posts on this forum you can learn
a lot more about the EEPROM counts as well as plenty of other things on your own printer.

My difficulty at the moment is that although I can find the D values, I have found no info on just how to
relate them to how full the ink absorber actually is. There are a number of mentions of this value but
most of them seem to skirt around the issue of actual interpretation. I'm hoping someone knows this
because I think it might be handy to read this number and know directly from it that "I gotta clean that!"
or "Great, I can let it wait a bit".

Keep reading, you will be amazed at what you find.

 

[slocumeddie]

The IP3000 service manual explains the "D" value as the percentage of waste absorber capacity used. As the IP3000 has no

chips on the cartridges, this might relate to page count, cleaning cycles, phases of the moon, or Angelina Jolie's number of adopted children.........

Anyone have a definitive answer ??

 

[sneezer2]

I have an ip3000 manual somewhere. When I find it I'll have a look.

Also, the mp610 manual has something about absorber capacity stated as percentage in increments of 10% with
a method of writing an existing value to a new EEPROM but I don't find any correlation there between a
percentage and the D= number given on the EEPROM report.

Sure would be nice to know and I hope someone here does. I don't think Canon is going to tell us.
Proprietary information don'cha know.

 

[Ron350]

The way I understand it.
The logic board knows how many times the purge unit pumps ink into the ink absorber pads in the bottom of the printer.
The logic board estimates how much ink has been pumped and displays it as the D value in the eeprom print out.
The more ink pumped the higher the D value from 0-100.

Every one seams to have a different opinion when the pads should be cleaned or replaced.
Personally I wash out the pads and clean all the rubber rollers and etc when I see a D value of 40 max.

 

[jtoolman]

I have a PRO 9000 MKII and 9500 MKII. How does one access that information? Is it by entering service mode?

 

[sneezer2]

@jtoolman:

Yes, it is in service mode. Be careful and follow the suggestions found elsewhere in the forum to
avoid harm.

@Ron350:

You may be right about the count increasing with usage but this doesn't explain why I see a value of D=021.3 at
total pages = 538 and a value of D=013.5 at total pages = 2517. To be sure, these are different model printers
but it still doesn't make any sense.

Maybe it's not all that important anyway. I suppose the total number of pages printed could even be a more
direct indication. My old ip3000 at 9000 pages sure had a lot of old ink in the bottom but I wouldn't say it was
"full". Who even knows what that means? There were still a couple of white areas on the largest pad, albeit at
some distance from the purge unit. Then again, what difference would it make how clean or dirty the pads
are if the purge unit clogs up anyway. I'm beginning to think maybe there is no definitive guide at all and
possibly all these numbers should be taken only as a general indication.

 

[Ron350]

Not sure about the Pro 9000 MK2 and the 9500 MK2 but you have to enter Service Mode on older Canon printers for a eeprom print out.

http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=165

 

[PeterBJ]

The D-value is the percentage of ink contained in the ink absorbers. 0% means no ink in absorbers and 100% means absorbers are completely full. It is not necessarily proportional to number of pages printed, as it depends on number of nozzle cleanings and number of borderless photos printed. If you have to do a lot of nozzle cleanings D-value will go up much faster than you will expect from number of pages printed. The printer also cleans the nozzles when powered on, so it might be a good idea never to turn the printer off. It will then only clean the nozzles when a timer/counter gives the signal to do so.

You can reset the D-value from service mode, but it is not recommended to do so without changing or cleaning the ink absorbers. You risk a horrible ink spill if the absorbers overflow.

For newer Canon printers you will need the Canon service tool v2000 to perform service mode operations.: http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7416

In this description I tested the service tool on a Canon MP540, that had had severe clogging in the printhead, so D-value is 3.3% with only 33 pages printed. This high value compared to number of pages printed is due to a lot of printhead cleaning.