IP4300 w/ a qy6-0061 print head

[videobruce]

I bought this printer used 2 years ago which replaced a i560 that I had for probably 10 years (it was replaced once IIRC)

The print head died with the dreaded blinking 5 orange LED error message. I had a spare, but that lasted a dozen prints and it starting streaking. I flushed the head out with hot water, that lasted 2 or 3 prints, the streaking returned.
I had a 2nd spare which is working ok so far, but now I'm looking for another spare printhead. I have just found that Canon doesn't manufacture these heads anymore. Something I didn't know after a lengthy research before I bought this printer. The spares I bought at the time were packaged in Canon boxes & pouches, or so I thought.

There are a number of sellers on e-bay that are still selling this print head, most claim it's new, but I doubt a no-name Chinese company is actually manufacturing these new.

Questions;
This flashing 3 orange error message, what is causing these heads to go bad? This seems very common. In fact, one seller even states this problem in his ad. And to make matters worse, I had one of these heads take out the mainboard in the printer which makes the printer toast. (You don't really want to disassemble one of these, it's probably the absolutely worst to work on)

I picked this printer for the ability to refill with bulk ink and to be able to reset the chip on the tanks (carts) without replacing the chip. The heads after this qy6 required replacing the chip on the carts IIRC and used different ink than what I already had (The i560 used the same ink formula as the IP4300).

I have a good stock of replacement tanks (both empty & filled). I also have all the service literature for this model. I'd hate to write off if I looked for a newer printer. I'm not sure what to do.

 

[stratman]

Sorry to hear of your troubles with the magnificent ip4300.

The print head died with the dreaded blinking 3 orange LED error message.

Based on your description, the print head is not the cause of the orange light error code.

I had a spare, but that lasted a dozen prints and it starting streaking. I flushed the head out with hot water, that lasted 2 or 3 prints, the streaking returned.

Streaking, or ink starvation, may or may not be due to a clog in the print head or an electrical malfunction of the print head and/or the logic board. Most time, based on anecdotal observations on the forum, ink starvation is due to poor cartridge performance and not the print head. A brand new cartridge or flushing and refilling of the used cartridge if you refill are the typical remedies.

Please post a nozzle check(s) of your issues in order for us to better diagnose the issue.

I flushed the head out with hot water, that lasted 2 or 3 prints, the streaking returned.

Hot water may damage the print head. That the "streaking" returned is more evidence the issue is related to poor cartridge performance, ie the sponge needs to be flushed.

Chinese company

Your print head has been out of manufacture for several years. While there may be new in the box print heads available somewhere, most likely a private individual, the likelihood of the Chinese print heads as new is remote. Most likely they are cleaned up and packaged in counterfeit bags and boxes. There is a high rate of failure with these print heads of Chinese origin. Beware.

Be prepared to buy a new printer.

 

[Artur5]

@videobruce:
It isn’t clear if you printer blinks 5 times (as you wrote in the beginning of your post ) or 3 (as you wrote afterwards )
Five times it’s printhead error, while 3 times it’s line feed error.
If it’s 5 ( I bet on this ..) then you’re not alone by any means. Dead printhead and no new spares available is a common occurrence in Canonland. I had to dispose of my IP4000 and IP4500 for this very reason. My IP3000 will be next.
One of the systems that Canon uses to ”encourage” their customers to buy a new printer is to stop manufacturing spare printheads for models not older than 6-8 years. Maybe a bit more for Pro series machines.
Surely there’re many thousands of printers ranging from the i560 up to the Pixma IP4500 that would be still working perfectly if it weren’t that their printheads died and new genuine spares are nowhere to be found. As Stratman said, the ones you purchased for your IP4300 in all likelihood were used and probably in not very good shape.

Anyway, if you have to purchase a new printer, IMHO your options (in no order of preference ) are :

1- Move away from Canon and try another brand - Epson, HP, etc. I can’t help here, knowing nothing about them.

2- Get one of the (refill unfriendly ) current Canon cartridge printers.

3- Try one of the Canon Megatank G series. No cartridge or chips to deal with. Just refill directly from the bottle into the ink tank.

4- Get a laser printer. This is another world and I would recommend it if you used the printer only for B&W. For what I know, color laser machines are quite expensive and more fussy or prone to problems than inkjets (laser experts here, correct me if I’m wrong),

P.S.
The i560 uses BCI-6 dyes and Bci-3eBk black pigment while the IP4300 uses CLI-8 dyes and PGI-5 black pigment. They’re not the same. Certainly the PGI-5 and the BCI-3eBk are very close, if not the same. Just plain black pigment ink for text. I’m using PGI-5 ink on my IP3000 with good results.
Color inks are another story. I don’t know what do you mean by ‘the same formula’. If that means that they’re physically compatible and can be used alternatively in both printers without issues, then yes, but having used both inks I can tell you that the color gamuts of CLI-8 and BCI-6 carts. are quite different, specially magentas and cyans. To get accurate colors with CLI-8 ink on a i560 or BCI-6 on a IP4300 would require a custom profile.

 

[stratman]

stop manufacturing spare printheads for models not older than 6-8 years

The customary time of production of print heads for a Canon inkjet printer is 5 years from release of that model printer.